Slides, is it safe to row without them?

[sailgal]

Hi I've been rowing for about 2 months in my local gym and just ordered a model d pm3 for home since I love it. My question regards the optional slides which I never tried and have no room for. I read a post on this forum somewhere in which the person(s) states you should never row without them or risk injury. Thoughts??? They sure take up a lot of space.
I'm feeling kind of bummed and a we bit nervous about the prospect of injury. I feel my form is ok after hours of review. Thanks

[Dickie]

Hi I've been rowing for about 2 months in my local gym and just ordered a model d pm3 for home since I love it. My question regards the optional slides which I never tried and have no room for. I read a post on this forum somewhere in which the person(s) states you should never row without them or risk injury. Thoughts??? They sure take up a lot of space.
I'm feeling kind of bummed and a we bit nervous about the prospect of injury. I feel my form is ok after hours of review. Thanks

I know quite a few rowers, but very few use slides. Every year in February in Boston, 1900 of the best rowers in the world meet to compete, rowing an all-out 2k and none of them use slides.

I have 16,000,000 meters, all without slides and all injury free

Fred Dickie

[jamesg]

I've been using the erg for around seven years (without slides), plus some sculling, and all back problems have disappeared. In general keeping flexible, fit and strong protects us from back injury, and the erg is ideal. On the contrary, NOT keeping fit is a sure way to get back problems.

To be extra cautious, make sure your technique is good (no slouching, back straight, long relaxed stroke, low drag, low forces).

[tditmar]

In my opininion, you should use the slides. I believe they significantly reduce the risk of injury to the lower back compared to the static erg. That said, I'll bet fewer people use them than do not use them. Either way, you are probably more prone to injury running, or with many other forms of exercise vs the C2.

As for me though, I never had back problems of any kind until I rowed the static C2. Then someone explained to me it's like rowing an infinitely heavy boat vs the weight of the C2 itself on slides, it clicked for me and I bought the slides. The lower back pain disappeared for good very soon after, and it was no placebo effect. The workout even feels more intense, but that is probably attributed to the fact that your body sits primarily in one spot while the erg moves under you and you don't get the wind effect of your body moving back and forth.

As for space, while it takes up a little more room, it's not much more. Probably no more than the space you already have around the machine. They are only an inch and a half high or so very unobtrusive.

They rank as one of my best investments, and I believe are a must.

[Montanaandy]

The slides look like they would be a lot of fun to row with but to say that they take up a little more room than the stationary erg is not the case. The slides require at a minimum a 12' x 4' space which is actually a significant amount of space for many. My exercise room is approximately 12' x 12' but I cannot accommodate the slides because I can't find 12' of length space that does not involve abutting molding or door ways. I would think that you would need to row with the slides in a living room or great room area or perhaps an unfinished basement area. Wish that I could use them (or at least give them a try) but I can't.

I would agree with the others that proper form is always the key to preventing injury.

[Rockin Roland]

I used a stationary C2 erg for about 20 years until late last year when I purchased a set of slides. As I've always gone pretty hard and punished my body on ergs(using erg technique rather than the technique used on the water in boats), I immediately noticed the difference using slides.

From my experiemce slides certainly take the strain off your spine and most upper body muscles including the chest. They also help you row correctly as you can no longer use "cheats" technique that gets maximun spin out of the flywheel but does little to move a boat on the water.

The benefits of slides over stationary ergs are so great that our rowing organization here now does all testing of elite athletes on slides.

They do require more space to operate hence I use them outside on our timber decked verandah or put them in the car and take them down the rowing club to use in their hall.

Slides are a more enjoyable workout than the fixed erg but that's only my opinion. As they take some getting used too, most first timers have an awkward row on them and usually get off quickly making excuses so that they can go back to their grounded erg.

Slides still require some design tweaking to prevent the crashing into front and back stoppers. They require a curve in them so that the middle is lower. I've noticed that the new Rowperfect which has just gone into production has a dip/curve in the main bar/rail to prevent this. I recommend that C2 look at this to make the slides more user friendly.

[slwiser]

Could one of you with slides please measure the exact width of one? I have a window opening that the front end of my C2 rests in and it is easily wide enough for the C2 but it is not 48 inches in width. Maybe it is wide enough for a 42 inch slide. I know the recommended spaces for these devices are very generous and not as much as the device itself. Thanks

[Ducatista]

Could one of you with slides please measure the exact width of one?

The slides propped up against the wall of my garage are approx 24.5" wide.

Anybody in the Madison, WI area want a pair of mint-condition slides? $150 takes them if you haul. I used them for about half a million meters and concluded I was happier on a grounded erg. Of course, I'm risking life & limb on such a dangerous machine, but I'm a daredevil like that.

Cheers,
Ann

[Rockin Roland]

Could one of you with slides please measure the exact width of one? I have a window opening that the front end of my C2 rests in and it is easily wide enough for the C2 but it is not 48 inches in width. Maybe it is wide enough for a 42 inch slide. I know the recommended spaces for these devices are very generous and not as much as the device itself. Thanks

The width of a slide is 62 cm.
The length of floor space required by slides is 333 cm (which includes 47 cm spacing between front and rear slide).

[slwiser]

Thanks for the details.