New Model D user with sweaty palms and sore seat

[kenzo]

Hi,
I am new to indoor rowing and enojoying it a lot. I always row for at least 5K meters, intervals usually. Due to time constraints, I have been trying to row harder for less time- 30 min. max. I have kept in pretty good shape over the years and I feel comfortable working hard for 30 minutes per session.

I do have two questions at this point.

1: My palms get pretty sweaty and this gets annoying and worrisome pulling the Model D handgrip. Do others have this problem and if so, what to people do about it?

2: The seat of course lacks padding and gets pretty uncomfortable after about 15 minutes. What do folks suggest for that problem?

Thanks!
Ken

[luckylindy]

My Father In Law swears by his 'folded towel on the seat' technique for reducing saddle soreness. C2 also sells a seat pad for only $3.50 that might be worth a try ( https://www2.concept2.com/VIA/viaListPr ... ccessories )

[Bob S.]

1: My palms get pretty sweaty and this gets annoying and worrisome pulling the Model D handgrip. Do others have this problem and if so, what to people do about it?

A pair of thick cotton socks over the handles was suggested on this forum some time ago.

Bob S.

[Bob S.]

My Father In Law swears by his 'folded towel on the seat' technique for reducing saddle soreness. C2 also sells a seat pad for only $3.50 that might be worth a try ( https://www2.concept2.com/VIA/viaListPr ... ccessories )

I have found that the seat pad gives me about 80 minutes before I get sore. For longer stuff like the marathon and building up to the marathon, I use two small towels (hand towels) folded with a space between for cooling. My marathon time is up around 200', so, even with the towels, it gets pretty painful for the last 10-15km. You just have to ignore it by concentrating on other things.

Bob S.

[Bryan]

I use my cycling gloves and they work great . I also use my cycling bib to protect my back side ; It's made by Castelli .

[Citroen]

I use my cycling gloves and they work great . I also use my cycling bib to protect my back side ; It's made by Castelli .

Cycling bibs don't have the padding in the right place for sitting flat on the rower, they're designed for a bike saddle. Also you shouldn't need gloves - if you do you're gripping the handle too tight.

[Bryan]

I use my cycling gloves and they work great . I also use my cycling bib to protect my back side ; It's made by Castelli .

Cycling bibs don't have the padding in the right place for sitting flat on the rower, they're designed for a bike saddle. Also you shouldn't need gloves - if you do you're gripping the handle too tight.

You're right about the bib shorts design , but this particular model , I belive they are called kiss by Castelli , does give me more comfort than in just a pair of reg shorts . I have rowed with and without cycling gloves and I have found , for me , that It did cure any sweat issues and any movment that would possibly cause enough friction to irritate my hands during a long row ; the long rows were awhile ago since I have just started back after a long and broken absence from the erg and am only doing 30/40 min workouts at ther moment , but working toward my old level of fittness .

[Slidewinder]

If you have mechanical skills, keep an eye out for discarded old piston-style rowing machines. Those machines deserve to be trashed, but some of them have excellent seats. The seat I found should be on every C2 machine - smaller, but padded in just the right places.

[kenzo]

1: My palms get pretty sweaty and this gets annoying and worrisome pulling the Model D handgrip. Do others have this problem and if so, what to people do about it?

A pair of thick cotton socks over the handles was suggested on this forum some time ago.

Bob S.

Worked for me. I ended up using a pair of my 4 year old's socks, mine are just too big. And they are thin socks but work fine- no more slippery handbar! And the bonus was that he got a big kick out of watching me row with his socks.

kenzo

[jlawson58]

I use my cycling gloves and they work great . I also use my cycling bib to protect my back side ; It's made by Castelli .

Cycling bibs don't have the padding in the right place for sitting flat on the rower, they're designed for a bike saddle. Also you shouldn't need gloves - if you do you're gripping the handle too tight.

My problem isn't with gripping the handle too tightly, it's that the handle becomes too slippery to grip when I am sweating like crazy. I'm not sure it the plastic model D/E handle would help me at all but the wooden C handle is very hard to grip when it's wet

[TabbRows]

Cycling bibs don't have the padding in the right place for sitting flat on the rower, they're designed for a bike saddle. Also you shouldn't need gloves - if you do you're gripping the handle too tight.

My problem isn't with gripping the handle too tightly, it's that the handle becomes too slippery to grip when I am sweating like crazy. I'm not sure it the plastic model D/E handle would help me at all but the wooden C handle is very hard to grip when it's wet

The D/E handles aren't that expensive and are easy to swap out. The wooden handles can get a bit slippery on longer pieces. But if you have to "grip" the handle at all, you ARE holding it too tight. Don't hold it like a golf club or baseball bat. Your palms shouldn't really be touching the handle at all, Just wrap your fingers over the front of the handle and apply pressure on the drive and relax on the recovery. A C2 seat pad or a removeable JL racing pad will aid in sore bottoms.

[Den-J]

try a pair of wrist bands I found its not so much the palms sweating its sweat running down the arms onto the hands thats the problem

[carlb]

A pair of thick cotton socks over the handles was suggested on this forum some time ago.

I used the cotton socks for the last 300k and they did help a lot. The sweating was not bothering me as much as callouses on my palms made my hands sore.

A few days ago I replaced my handle with a new one from C2 and the new rubber feels much nicer. I did 60 mins today and my hands didn't hurt during or after.

It was only $15 from C2. I had a Model D so it was the identical handle, just new grip rubber and the rubber did feel better/softer. My machine was 3 years old and the rubber did feel harder. It's possible my grip technique improved.

So if your handle is making your hands hurt I would suggest trying a new one from C2.

[gregsmith01748]

My hands are always a sweaty mess, but it doesn't seem to interfere with my grip on the wooden or plastic version of the handle. It used to, but now I have gotten in the habit of doing a little bit of finger wiggling during my recovery, kind of like drumming your fingers on a table top to show someone you are annoyed and impatient. I found that helps keep my mind on maintaining a loose grip, gets air circulating around my sweaty palms and even helps keep my shoulders relaxed.

[tropicalm]

My Father In Law swears by his 'folded towel on the seat' technique for reducing saddle soreness

So do I. The little folded towel works really well for over an hour rows, like HMs or Ms, or if I row often.

As for the sweaty hands, I've always heard from my rowing coach that "that's the way", and we "shouldn't use gloves", so, out of tradition, I do the same, and just dry my palms on another little hand towel that I have ready at the head of the beam (rail).

However, I found too that the model D grip design is a real sweat catalyser, unlike some other models.
I also noticed that my palm sweat mostly comes from my forearms, so I dry those ones first.
When rowing a marathon, the last hour is really jsut about drying hand arms and hands really, this is really annoying.
For hotter weathers, I suggest a floor fan set appropriately, blowing full on straight on the hands and arms, it does reduce sweating on the arms and hands.