Drag setting

[mudgeg]

Can anyone help me please? I am relatively new to indoor rowing and have read a lot about the drag setting.

I row in a gym that has an old Concept 2 machine that has seen better days. I am not sure what the display is but it must be a PM2 or 3 at the most. My question is this - I can find the correct buttons to press to bring up the Drag box in the lower right hand corner. I then do, as suggested, five to ten hard pulls to bring up the drag rating but no matter how hard I pull I can't get a figure beyond about 75 which seems incredibly low and that is with the damper on 10. With the damper set lower at 5 I get a reading of about 65. My understanding was that the Concept 2 should be giving a reading somewhere between 100 - 150 depending on the damper set.

Am I just rowing on an old machine that hasn't been tended to in years and is worn out or am I doing something wrong?

Thanks

Gordon

[lindsayh]

Am I just rowing on an old machine that hasn't been tended to in years and is worn out or am I doing something wrong?
Thanks Gordon

Hi Gordon
What you have discovered is a common experience in many gyms around the world and is due to lack of maintenance at the gym.
Your machine is most likely not "worn out" so much as simply dirty. As dust blocks the flow of air into the fan cage the weight of air on the fan drops and the drag factor does as well. it is actually a very simple job to remove the covers and brush and vacuum the dirt - takes about 10-15 minutes. The drag factor will almost certainly go back to 200 again. The gym simply needs to vacuum weekly to keep the dust away but most don't have the knowledge to do it.

[hjs]

Horrible maintance. A clean machine, even an old one has 200 ish drag at 10. Look at the fancage it will be full of thick dust

[mudgeg]

Thank you Lindsay and hjs. I figured it might be poor maintenance but I very much suspect my gym won't do anything about it or allow me to look at it. I use them because of the convenience and the fact they are part of a small chain which means I can use any of their places around the UK.

I think the regularity of working out on the erg outweighs the problems. I row pretty much everyday and have a goal of a million metres by the end of 2016 - I am at 150,000 this year so far but that is after building up slowly following serious illness caused by a travel virus in 2015. I am now regularly rowing 25k/week often more.

I assume although my times may be affected by poor maintenance the workout I am getting will be just as good.

Thank again

Gordon

[hjs]

Mea, you would amazed how much better a clean machine would feel. Its a 5 min job to vacum the dust from the cage. Its simply a part of maintance that NEEDS to be done in a gym and at home.

[jamesg]

I can't get a figure beyond about 75 which seems incredibly low

Lucky you, or do you want a boat with brakes? The lower the drag, the faster they go, if you know how.

[ArmandoChavezUNC]

Erging at a drag factor of 75 is pretty useless... It's like trying to cycle on the first gear your bike has. It's a terrible waste of energy to have to jack up the rpm (or rate in this case) just to make up for the lack of resistance.

[mudgeg]

Erging at a drag factor of 75 is pretty useless... It's like trying to cycle on the first gear your bike has. It's a terrible waste of energy to have to jack up the rpm (or rate in this case) just to make up for the lack of resistance.

Yep, you are absolutely right. I was on a different ergo last evening at another gym. I set the drag to around 130, which is about right for my weight and pulled a 6247 for 30 min. Considering I am coming off a serious illness, am 59 and did absolutely no exercise of any kind for the whole of 2015 and only got back on an erg in February, I'm pretty pleased with that. Even more so because I felt I still had more in me.

Good news is that my regular gym have promised to sort their ergo out. I want to target a sub 20 minute 5k - bit of a way to go but I'll get there.

[jamesg]

have to jack up the rpm (or rate in this case) just to make up for the lack of resistance.

That's not how the erg works, it's the flywheel inertia that provides resistance, not the brake. The gearing depends on how we row: a long fast stroke is always high gear, it's the short rushed strokes that are low gear - and useless.

[hjs]

have to jack up the rpm (or rate in this case) just to make up for the lack of resistance.

That's not how the erg works, it's the flywheel inertia that provides resistance, not the brake. The gearing depends on how we row: a long fast stroke is always high gear, it's the short rushed strokes that are low gear - and useless.

Drag in itself has zero to do with drivelenght and rate. I myself use the same stroke for higher drag. This gives me a way to fast pace to sustain. Ofcourse high drag gives the potential faster stroke, not low drag.

[mudgeg]

Thanks for all the replies. The good news is that my gym cleaned the machine and hey presto the drag is back to normal - about 150 with the damper lever at 5.

Made today's workout of 7000m a very different experience. I was going to say pleasurable but that wouldn't quite be the correct term.

[LarryRow]

Am I just rowing on an old machine that hasn't been tended to in years and is worn out or am I doing something wrong?
Thanks Gordon

Hi Gordon
What you have discovered is a common experience in many gyms around the world and is due to lack of maintenance at the gym.
Your machine is most likely not "worn out" so much as simply dirty. As dust blocks the flow of air into the fan cage the weight of air on the fan drops and the drag factor does as well. it is actually a very simple job to remove the covers and brush and vacuum the dirt - takes about 10-15 minutes. The drag factor will almost certainly go back to 200 again. The gym simply needs to vacuum weekly to keep the dust away but most don't have the knowledge to do it.

I discovered this last week,when it took a setting of to over 5 to get a drag factor of 110 in the gym, but 3-4 at the rowing club. I suppose it will only get worse. Those gym guys can't row and I doubt they have any idea that dust buildup is a problem.

[chrisl]

All, a few days ago I stumbled across this fantastic 11 year-old thread on crossfit.com in which a couple of champion rowers go into detail about the drag factor, in particular drag factor for aerobic endurance rowing as opposed to anaerobic strength rowing. They also cover spm, technique and training.

http://board.crossfit.com/showthread.php?t=5310

I put the figures into a spreadsheet and plotted it, resulting in a roughly linear relationship which can be used to determine approximate ideal drag for a given weight. Obviously there will be other factors like individual strength, so it's a guide and will help you see if a drag of, say, 110 should ideally be up at 130 for a more comfortable, efficient workout. I've attached a screenshot of the graph for reference.

Regards,
Chris

[LarryRow]

So, it appears that my drag is too low because my weight is 188 pounds. Should I just jump up to 128 for the drag factor or increase it gradually?

I have no idea how I came up with 110, just found it in the 3-4 fan setting, so no science there.

[chrisl]

Funny enough I also did all my previous rowing at 110. I think I had it set to "4" and the drag factor was close to 110 so I just tweaked it and kind of stuck on it for no reason. I did a half-marathon today (the C2 Summer Solstice challenge) and rowed at 136 which is about right according to that table/graph for my weight. I have to say it did feel a lot easier than the 110 I've been using to date. It was just the right balance of acceleration and slowdown on each stroke and felt more in tune with how I was feeling. I completed it aerobically averaging around 22 spm, it felt nice and steady. When I've had it at 110 I have a tendency to up the stroke rate in order to 'catch' the flywheel, to the detriment of form/posture.

I guess you can just change it to around where that graph says it should be and try it for, say 10K, to give yourself enough time to get into the sustainable rhythm, and see how it feels. I'd be interested to read your feedback once you've played around with it a bit.

Regards,
Chris