New to Rowing...Want to lose 15-20lbs...suggestions?

[shorelinelaw]

Hi!

I'm brand new. My model E is downstairs and I've loved rowing the last few days. I have a son interested in crew - so we share it.

i used to be VERY BIG (325lbs). A strict-Atkins diet dropped me to 199lbs. But I skyrocketed back to 245. About a year and a half ago, I got serious. Cut my refined carbs. Read Joel Fuhrmans books. Dropped Refined carbs; Then Red Meat; Then Chicken; Then Dairy; Then Fish. Went from 246 - 179lb. Popped up to a trading range of 183-185 for a while. That was great. At 6', in the low 180's I'm actually skinny. (I have a big frame). Cholesterol is fantastic.

However, the winter, holidays, and a recent trip to Rome has put me in the low-mid 190s. Too big! I want to nip this in the bud before it gets worse.

My breakfasts include a mix of tofu and veggies and some soy cheese. Salads for lunch. Dinners have some soy product. I tend to drink a large amount of coffee or espresso. I find, I know this is controversial, that a glass of red wine most nights HELPS weight loss. (More than 1 - not such a good idea.).

Outside of the recent rowing, my primary exercise is walking my dogs for 2.5 miles.

Any suggestions as to a good training path to start out on the rower? I' have been doing 2,500 meters a day set at 3 just to get myself started. I have a gym in my house, so I use the mirrors to make sure i've got the technique "ok".

What about rowing with digitial rowing? Is that a good thing to at first?

Thanks for any advice!

[Bob S.]

I' have been doing 2,500 meters a day set at 3 just to get myself started. I have a gym in my house, so I use the mirrors to make sure i've got the technique "ok".
Thanks for any advice!

If your current goal is general fitness, I think that it would be worthwhile to get in a couple longer pieces (10-15km) in each week.

Bob S.

[shorelinelaw]

Tomorrow I want to head up to 3k...I want to start my way to 5k....then 10k. Is that reasonable?

[Bob S.]

Tomorrow I want to head up to 3k...I want to start my way to 5k....then 10k. Is that reasonable?

Well, it depends on how long a time period you plan to take for the progression and on how your body responds. Since you plan a 500m increase tomorrow, you could try the same increase each day. If it is too taxing, you could back off and do it every other day or every third workout. If it comes easy, you could switch to a larger increase and try that.

Since you goal is weight loss, you might take a look at this:

http://concept2.co.uk/weightloss/interactive

Bob S.

[gregsmith01748]

Hi,

Welcome to the forum. I started rowing about a year and a half ago to lose weight, and it worked like a champ for me. I read your story, and I'm really impressed at the sustained effort that you've put in and the results you've achieved by changing your diet.

A lot of this depends on your personality and background. What hooked me on rowing was the online community and rankings. The folks on this forum were extremely helpful to me with comments and suggestions, and got me really interested in the science behind exercise. The online rankings totally tapped into my competitive side. When I started to rank some workouts, like 2000m trials, it really motivated me to try to get faster. Getting faster gave me another reason to exercise beyond just weight loss. All of the sudden, I was training instead of "working out". This enabled me to put together a whole structure and kept the workouts varied and interesting.

I agree with Bob, on both of his points. You should definitely work to extend your distance and times on the erg. Long, slow rowing is a real fat burner and helps to build a strong aerobic base. Also, I used the UK interactive weight loss program for a while before I switched over to do 2K training, and it is a well researched and explained workout plan. I highly recommend it.

If you don't have one, I highly recommend investing in a heart rate monitor. The UK plans are very much heart rate based, and a monitor is pretty essential to make sure that you are working out in the right "zone". I knew nothing about heart rate based training before I got into this, and I am now a strong believer in it.

If you decide to do the UK interactive plan, or pretty much any other structured plan, you will find that it will present you with a mixture of long and slow workouts and shorter, faster ones. This variety will balance out your training and also keep it interesting.

As for digital rowing, I just got rowpro for my birthday, and have been using it in stand alone mode. I will eventually get around to trying to row online with others, but I haven't taken that step. It sounds like a blast, and there are a bunch of folks on the forum that row regularly online. I'm sure they will jump in with advice and recommendations.

One thing you may find if you start to ramp up the amount of training that you do is that will need to carefully increase the amount of carbohydrates you eat. Some intense workouts will burn a thousand calories or more, and rely upon you having a reasonable amount of glycogen ready to be burned. I found that I needed to add more whole grains and fruit to my diet as my training volume increased.

Please feel free to drop me a PM if you have any specific questions. I'd be happy to help out, if I can.

[shorelinelaw]

Thank you! This is enormously helpful. This is a bit of an undiscovered country for me. 3,000 meters today was fine. My plan is to do another, slower row tonight when I get home. Largely, I want to keep watching my form. Then 3,500 tomorrow. I'll go up 500 a time until I find my level.

On to weight loss - do you guys have a sense as to what "speed" is normal for a beginner? I have no idea if I'm fast or slow or foolishly paying attention to it at all. Am I better off on a relaxed 5,000 (or hopefully 10,000 soon) meters than pushign myself through 3,500?

[carlb]

Any suggestions as to a good training path to start out on the rower? I' have been doing 2,500 meters a day set at 3 just to get myself started. I have a gym in my house, so I use the mirrors to make sure i've got the technique "ok".

I'd suggest working up to 5000 to 6000 meter workouts so you are working 25 to 30 minutes each day. Add 500 meters per week and you'll be there in a month. If you don't feel good sitting in the seat that long it is fine to break it into parts i.e. 4k=2000m, rest 2 min, 2000m.

Work on getting your technique right, especially the recovery. As workouts get longer take the time to warmup for 5min/1000m, row 2 min easy, 10 strokes hard, 10 easy, 10 harder, 10 easy, 5 harder still, finish easy, stretch, drink.

Mix up the effort and pace. I like the Fartlek of 200m hard, 200m easy, 600m normal, repeat. C2 newsletter archives have many workouts. There is also the Workout of the day on the C2 site that mixes things up.

Do a 25-30 minute workout for 5 to 6 days per week for 3 months and you should feel a substantial change in your fitness. Then move on to a UK site interactive programme.

[gregsmith01748]

regarding speed: Everyone is different. To give your self an idea, check out the online rankings on the concept2 site. Here is the link: http://www.concept2.com/sranking03/rankings.asp

By picking the distance, and your age range and weight class, you can see statistics for how fast people row. Keep in mind that this has a built in bias, since people enter their best times, and people with more experience (and speed) tend to enter times more often, but it will give you an idea. When I started, I was low in the rankings, but it was a real rush to see improvements in my ranking as my fitness improved.

The good gauge is to do a 2000m row as fast as you can, a real maximal effort. That time is used in a lot of workout plans as a reference point to set paces for other rowing. Another rule of thumb, is Paul's Rule, which is basically that your 500m split times will go up by about 5 seconds when you double the distance you row. I used that as a rule of thumb when I started to try to row longer distances.

[enrage]

Hi!

I'm brand new. My model E is downstairs and I've loved rowing the last few days. I have a son interested in crew - so we share it.

i used to be VERY BIG (325lbs). A strict-Atkins diet dropped me to 199lbs. But I skyrocketed back to 245. About a year and a half ago, I got serious. Cut my refined carbs. Read Joel Fuhrmans books. Dropped Refined carbs; Then Red Meat; Then Chicken; Then Dairy; Then Fish. Went from 246 - 179lb. Popped up to a trading range of 183-185 for a while. That was great. At 6', in the low 180's I'm actually skinny. (I have a big frame). Cholesterol is fantastic.

However, the winter, holidays, and a recent trip to Rome has put me in the low-mid 190s. Too big! I want to nip this in the bud before it gets worse.

My breakfasts include a mix of tofu and veggies and some soy cheese. Salads for lunch. Dinners have some soy product. I tend to drink a large amount of coffee or espresso. I find, I know this is controversial, that a glass of red wine most nights HELPS weight loss. (More than 1 - not such a good idea.).

Outside of the recent rowing, my primary exercise is walking my dogs for 2.5 miles.

Any suggestions as to a good training path to start out on the rower? I' have been doing 2,500 meters a day set at 3 just to get myself started. I have a gym in my house, so I use the mirrors to make sure i've got the technique "ok".

What about rowing with digitial rowing? Is that a good thing to at first?

Thanks for any advice!

impressive weightloss from 325 to 199lbs.
Do you mind telling me how long it took you to reach that goal?

[Corkster52]

I just received my Model D today and am very interested in your successes. Great to read the posts here as I have basically no idea how to begin. I have been a "flash in the pan" in regards to fitness for many years. Hit something very hard for a while, burn out and never go back. At the age of 58, I don't have many more trial and errors to go.

[gregsmith01748]

@corkster52: What are your goals? fitness, weight loss, competition, all three? There are great plans available for all of these.

The best thing you could do to avoid burn out is to start with working on technique. There are good technique videos that show the right way to row. You will avoid frustration and injury by working on doing it right from the beginning.

The next thing to do is to keep the drag low, setting the damper at 4 or below. This will help protect your back from injury.

If you like reading, I got a lot out of the training guide on the UK site at this link: http://concept2.co.uk/training/guide

[shorelinelaw]

Hi guys.

Today I did my 3,000 meters in the morning. But I did a more relaxed 2,000 in the evening. Frankly, I love the way I feel afterward. However, I'm still clearly working on my technique. My biceps are pretty sore - so I wonder if I'm using my legs enough. Having a mirrored wall helps.

@greg - Thanks for the speed advice. That's really helpful. My goal is first - to lose weight; second - to have a regular, efficient workout; But third - If I still like this as much a few months from now - I'd love to learn more about competing. The idea of meeting people for digital rowing in the morning is incredibly interesting. However - my first goal is to drop some pounds. A trip to Rome has an extra 10lbs on me and I want it gone ASAP. I'd like to then drop the add'l 5-10lbs to my target weight.

@enrage. The weightloss is a long story. The drop from 325 to 199 on severe carb restriction happened from July 4th through Thanksgiving one year. I don't recommend doing it that way. It's unsustainable. I've read the China Study and others - and I'm convinced it also isn't good for you. However, a better story. Going from 245 to 179 by eating predominately as a vegetarian who eschews simple carbs was actually much faster! That started again, from mid-july and the weight was off by October. However, in that case, I lost fast and felt fabulous. Also, it was easy to maintain from Oct 2009 through holidays 2011 between 180-185. Holidays had me add 3lbs to 188. But...my trip to Rome and all that incredible pasta and desert put me up to 193-195. I'm not comfortable at that weight. Also, I really want to be down around 175lbs. So, while 10lbs gets me to a level that is very comfortable, I'd very much like to test my low of 179 and beat it by 4 or 5 lbs.

Thanks

[Corkster52]

Greg, goals are a lot the same. First and foremost is the weight loss. My BMI has me in the obese category and I really do not want to be there. Secondly would be for me to attain a level of fitness that I could maintain for the rest of my life! Yes, and last, but least, once I get to a level where I believe I can compete, I would like to do so....in the old codger bracket of course. I am a little stiff from what little bit I did yesterday afternoon right after getting the machine out of the box and assembled, but tonight I begin in earnest.

Thanks

[shorelinelaw]

Wow! Now...to be fair, I was pretty careful with my eating. And I rowed twice yesterday (3,000 and then a relaxed 2,000 at night). But I stepped on the scale 2.5lbs lighter!

I've seen drops like that before. Could also just be a weird blip. But...y'never know!

Thus far today - went 3,500 with a pace boat going along. Downloaded RowPro, but haven't hooked it up yet.

[Corkster52]

Was my first day on my machine. Yeah, I pulled a few times when I got it out of the box, but today was the real thing. Worried about overdoing it and wishing I hadn't, I did 2500 meters at about a 22-24 spm pace. Not sure if that is good, bad, or indifferent, but am glad that I am finally doing something!