Hello, New To Rowing

[sulaco]

Hello all, I just joined. I bought my Model D a couple of weeks ago and have been rowing off and on in the mornings before work. I'm working on my technique and building up my endurance. Compared to what I'm seeing, I have a LONG way to go.

I bought the rower primarily to use as my main form of exercise. I used to walk a lot and was in pretty decent shape, but the pounds have followed the years, and working a desk for a living hasn't been kind to me. So my initial goals are to lose weight, build endurance, and then continue using it for normal exercise.

My short term goal is to get to 5k meters per day, six days a week. So far the most I've done at once is about 1,500 meters and that was this morning. I figure if I set low goals they will be easier to attain in the beginning and then I can see where it takes me.

I am syncing my data to the logbook online and can see it, but I don't really know a whole lot about what I'm looking at. Is there a way to export it here so people can look at it and give me some insight, pointers, etc.?

Thanks!

[Erik A]

Hi welcome.
Like you I started rowing for fitness and weight loss. If you read through the forums you will see that the recommended sessions for weight loss are long steady state sessions. Not sure how to bring the info across other than to enter the details manually. Others may be better able to help with this.
Tell us a bit about yourself i.e. age weight height etc
I started about 6 months ago and am currently doing 50 min sessions 5 days a week. Another option is the interactive weight loss program which I found great and the beginner Pete plan. Which has it's own thread in the training forum.

[rr0ss0rr]

Take a look at viewtopic.php?f=7&t=170762

I started to do long rows ... 60-70 minutes while maintaining a low HR (using 180 - age which comes out at 120 for me + 5 being in somewhat decent shape with no medical conditions). Row to maintain your target HR (18-22 spm). The trick is to exercise without your body noticing that your exercising and eating without your body noticing that you dieting (cut the added sugars and fast carbohydrates). At the end, I feel that I get a better workout doing this compared to my 30 minute workouts with a HR of 165 I did in the past.

[Dangerscouse]

Welcome to the forum. Are you only able to row 1500m because you are exhausted? If you are, slow down to what ever pace is sustainable, and don't let your ego get in the way.

HR limited sessions as mentioned by rrossorr are a good way of keeping it sustainable.

At the moment your data isn't that important, as you need to concentrate on technique, low stroke rate and distance rather than thinking you aren't going fast enough when compared to others.

Never forget the times that you are seeing from others are from years and years of rowing. No one starts off really fast, it takes lots of patience and lots of sweat. There are no short cuts on the erg!

[hjs]

The two most important numbers are your speed pace/500 and your stroke rate. Strokes per min/spm

The idea us to keep your spm down, below 25 and use a full long stroke. Keep your breathing calm. In time your pace should go up. If you only can make it to 1500 you are going to fast. Even a beginner should be able to row for longer, compare it with cycling or walking. Both can be done for pretty long, if you go easy enough. You should not get out of breath.

[sulaco]

Thanks for all of the info. Obviously I have a lot to learn. Yes, I'm probably rowing too hard and need to slow it down. It's all new to me so this is helpful feedback. I'm not in shape at all so part of only rowing 1500 meters is that, and the other is rowing too hard. I guess going in to this my hope was I could work in a quick 20 minute row each morning to get some daily exercise, but it's obvious I need to allocate more time to it.

I'm 41, 6'2" and weigh about 250lbs. My ideal weight is probably somewhere around 200-215lbs and that's where I feel good. I have a good bit of muscle, just naturally I guess, and playing sports growing up, but I do need to lose some fat. I will work on slowing my pace down to my target HR and focus on my SPMs as well.

Thanks!

[rr0ss0rr]

I rowed for years on a Model A in the morning .. 20-25 minutes. Thought I was doing good, didn't lose much weight. Like you, I got a new Model E and thought that now I'm monitoring myself, I should strive to beat my times. How wrong I was. I moved my rowing session from the morning to after work and allocate time for longer rows with a low HR. my 500m splits are strictly used as guidance which should improve with my cardiovascular conditioning. My goal is to keep my HR between 125-130 and row (18-20 spm) at least 50 minutes (usually 60-70 minutes). The pounds are coming off, my fitness is improving and feeling great.