What Do You Do While Erg-ing?

[[old] dneiss]

Im sure I didnt cover most of options here. You will probably have to add a reply for your case.

[[old] GeorgeD]

I always laugh at the people at the gym who get on and off the erg in 5 - 10 minutes who comment to me that it is not only tough but boring. Tough it can be but I have never been bored (not sure what that says about me )<br /><br />My mind is always active, looking at pace and rate, distance gone or to go (time as well), thinking about my stroke, feeling the stroke, monitoring my body etc. <br /><br />Always something to keep the mind occupied (that is so sad )<br /><br />George

[[old] dneiss]

<!--QuoteBegin-GeorgeD+Jun 12 2005, 01:26 PM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(GeorgeD @ Jun 12 2005, 01:26 PM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->I always laugh at the people at the gym who get on and off the erg in 5 - 10 minutes ...<br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />Its funny that you bring that up because at my gym at work there are 2 model Ds with the PM3 w/o the memory cards. Even w/o the memory cards, you can still review the recent rowing sessions. I looked last Friday and saw that all the rowing sessions on both machines were 5 minutes or less (I use mine at home, so dont log any sessions at that gym). Unfortunately, people dont seem to be taking to them like they would to the bikes or treadmills.<br /><br /><br />

[[old] Canoeist]

Watching my pace and heart rate keeps me occupied. Now with RowPro, I can watch the other rowers too. Sometimes for hour rows or longer, I might turn on the music. I have tried TV a few times, but there is rarely anything worth watching. Sports matches are probably best.<br /><br />Cheers,<br /><br />Paul Flack<br />

[[old] Neb154]

I used to watch tv, but generally at home when i row, i use music. I find it fills the space and doesn't distract me at all.

[[old] bazzat]

I find I have to stay pretty focussed to row well, so watching TV or letting my mind wander is definitely not on. But for anything over about 5k I have to have music. In fact if I had to sell all my stuff the C2 and the iPod would be the last things to go.<br /><br />I even have playlists tailored to individual sessions and effort levels. As I sometimes have trouble keeping my pace under control in LSD sessions I find really laid-back music can remind me to keep things cruisy. And conversely there's nothing better for a big finish than some Beastie Boys to get you over the pain barrier in the last 1,000m of a 10k.<br />

[[old] Xavier]

I try to keep my mind occupied by working out my average pace based on metres completed, doing splits in my head, and other general mind-numbing activities. Normally it's not that bad, but yesterday's hour was soooooo boring it was unbelievable.<br /><br />There's music in the background, but it's such utter twash that you have to zone it out.<br /><br />Xav

[[old] John Hendrie]

On rare occasions when I am shooting for a good performance I want to concentrate on pace, remaining time/meters, etc hence want no distractions. In a typical row my goal is to log many meters so I play mind games to distract me from the boredom. What I would really like to try for the longer sessions is to watch videos (I have a great collection of movie classics) but the volume would have to be turned so high that the neighbors (and the wife) might call the police. My small combination TV/VCR is so old it doesn't have a headset jack so that is not an option.<br /><br />john

[[old] R S T]

Without my tv and dvd I probably would not erg much at all. I also use a small MP3 player, particularly for erg use at the gym.<br /><br />The only problem with dvds is that they are not really conducive for PBs attempts. For PBs, I reckon the only way to go is to countdown the metres and watch the avg pace reading.<br /><br />I too have the issue of erg noise destroying TV/dvd soundtrack, however the way around this is to use headphones. If you dont have a headphone jack then even the cheapest dvd players have a headphone jack (mine does). Also, I sometimes watch dvds with the subtitles on.....helps pass the time while working up a very numb backside on the erg..... <br /><br />RichardT

[[old] The Matinator]

I tend to only to really think about my technique, pace and keeping a reasonable stroke rate for what ever piece i'm doing for example for 5k i would be looking to keep my rating at about 24 spm keeping the 500m spilt below 2:10 but for a 2k aim to for a spm of 26-28 while aiming to keep the 500 spilt below 2 minutes. at a bout 1k to go t then just strat to think about increasing the power and rate for the late 500m. <br /><br />In other Words when i row all i think about is rowing, nothing else.

[[old] ancho]

As I row in a gym, tv/dvd is not an option.<br />When I'm alone, I use to concentrate on the PM monitor and count strokes, sometimes listnen to music, and if I'm lucky, watching the girls go by... <br />On longer workouts I might think about work or domestic problems.<br />If I workout with my teammates, I like controlling my own and my mates pace, those workouts use to be pretty interesting, as we keep "competing". <br />Row-pro must be fantastic for this, but as the erg is not mine, this is also not an option.

[[old] Slow Boat]

Don't know why, but TV or music seems to make 30 minutes seem like an hour. Probably a reflection of the content.<br /><br />I like to watch the meters or time countdown, focus on each stroke, and alternatively, just let my mind wander. Seems to make the time go by rapidly this way.

[[old] Afterburner]

My alltime favorite, counting strokes!<br />I'll generally count sets of 5 or 10 strokes (it's amazing/disturbing how long I can do this for...) when going for distance. When going for time I'll generally count to 20 and then loop back to 1 for however many more I need to finish a minute, (ie if rowing at 24spm I'll count to 20 then count to 4). I'll usually keep this a bit more entertaining by cycling through the 3 languages I know how to count in. (english, german, and serbian)<br />Somehow doing this and concentrating on holding the splits I want manages to keep me occupied enough (usually) to keep from going crazy while I erg. Whatever works, right? <br /><br />Heather

[[old] Coach Gus]

Sweat. Breathe very heavily. Wonder why I'm not faster.

[[old] Citroen]

I nearly voted other. But plumped for watching the PM2 monitor.<br /><br />The TVs above the rowers in my gym are <ul><li>too high (the ones above the ergs)</li><li>too far away (the one I can see from the ergs)</li><li>silent</li><li>suffering from rolling pictures</li></ul><br />The ergs are facing the wall (angled at about 35 degrees) - so no squinting at the totty on the treadmills. I can turn to my left and just see the folks on the recumbent exercise bikes, but they are normally used by sweaty blokes.<br /><br />So I spend a lot of time watching my SPM, HR and 500m split times and time/metres to go. I then start doing the maths for projected time in my head.<br /><br />It's always a laugh to watch the PM2 monitor on the erg next to you. <ul><li>What crazy stroke rate are they doing?</li><li>How long?</li><li>Have they programmed the PM2 for a set time or set distance or did they just jump on and row?</li><li>Is that really set to 10 on the damper lever?</li><li>Will they choose watts, cals or 500m splits?</li></ul>