Concept2 Forum

I weigh about 148lbs, and am currently shooting to pull a 7:20 2000K. As I am constantly reminded on YouTube, there are 15 year olds besting my time by minutes, but I'm 32, new to rowing, and am happy with my progress.

That said, I am tempted to bulk up a bit. This is probably a stupid question but what does 15lbs do for you?

Cheers

John

John,

Well it will depend on what composes that 15lbs. Obviously 15lbs lean mass would be great, especially in the legs and core.

As I've gone on about before, as a new rower starting training in last January, I gained about 35lbs between then and early summer. Since then, I've been refining that gain by doing strength-training/mass building cycles in which I put on a bunch of weight -- some 10-15lbs -- then cut down about 5-8lbs, which primarily leaves lean mass. At the end of spring I pulled ~7:30 2k, and I pulled ~7:15 after refining my composition to maximize muscle and minimize fat whilst performing no aerobic training.

But, I'd like to mention that gaining weight just to gain weight may be futile. I was able to gain almost 20lbs over my winter break during which I performed little cardio and focused on gaining mass and strength. Then afterwards, I adjusted my diet slightly and got back on the erg, resulting in the loss of some 8lbs -- primarily of fat. This was all largely possible because I seem to have a "natural weight" of about 165lbs. If you're 148lbs, and you're always about there, and you eat well, then that might just generally be a good weight for you. That's not to say it's impossible to gain weight if you want to. But in order for you to sustain that new mass, you need to basically sustain whatever it was you did to get it. That can be problematic. I now eat 6-9, yes, six to nine full meals a day to sustain 1) my "extra/new" mass, and 2) my rowing, which nowadays is basically all endurance training. And with all of my long distance rowing, I usually don't have a lot of energy to devote to weights and hence usually just don't do any. This leaves me with a ~6-7% body fat, according to last calculations.

Simplified, more good mass = more muscle (mostly) = more calories = sustained lifting to some degree

Phil

Phil,

Thanks for the detailed and thoughtful response. As with many things, it sounds like it all comes down to what you're after. I have been at this weight for a long time, so I'm pretty certain that putting on 15 lbs would require a fairly drastic change in routine. Eating 9 meals a day would probably leave me feeling lethargic and stuffed, especially when combined with a hectic work /life schedule.

Good luck with your training, and thanks again.

John

John,
If you are new to rowing you may put on a little weight from just rowing. 15 lbs is a lot and it will likely get you significantly less benefit then putting the same effort in to rowing. 5 lbs of muscle may be a much smarter /safer goal.

Everyone's physiology is a little different, but keep in mind that it will be hard to gain more than about 1/2 lb of muscle per week (this is what I've been told on multiple body building forums). So, to bulk up 15 lbs of lean weight, expect it to take 6+ months.

I lost about 75 lbs of fat from 10/06-5/07 and have kept it off since then, and have been doing lots of rowing to prepare for the indoor race I just did. I still have a BF% of about 17% (6' 2", 188 lbs), so you can tell I am quite deficient in lean mass (I have no shoulders!). For the next 8 weeks I'm going to almost exclusively weight lifting. As phil alluded to, lifting heavy weights is probably a far better way to build mass and strength than lots of rowing/cardio, which is more likely to make you catabolic, not anabolic. I'll report back if the squats, etc., lead to good results. Hopefully they will and I can cycle like phil (alternating 1-2 month periods of bulking/lifting with cutting/rowing) to get the BF down to the 10-12% range.

The other motivation (for me) is that I just did a PB 6:53.1 at my race (I'm 40 years old), and the guy next to me was far more muscular than me but only beat me by 5.3 seconds. I'm convinced that with my current endurance and technique but even a 20% increase in strength, I can top him next year.