Weight Loss

[[old] maxima54]

Hi there everyone! I am a 35 year old woman who needs to lose some weight and get in shape. I have a Model C that I just bought on Sunday. I am starting gradually rowing for about 15 minutes per day. My monitor says I've burned 45 calories...could that be right? the strokes counted are 320. On a regular elliptical I burn about 200 calories in 25 minutes and I thoght rowing would do better than that. How many calories should be burned on average rowing slowly for 30 minutes? I think there may be a problem with the monitor. I'm not going that slow!!!! Please advise. Thanks a million! Maria<br /><br />

[[old] Gibbon]

Doesn’t sound quite right to me. I believe that the monitor gives a minimum reading of 300 calories/hour – a credit just for sitting on the machine. So for 15 minutes you should get at least 75 calories.<br /><br />Having said that I would take a calorie reading from any exercise machine with a pinch of salt, I would expect them to be ballpark figures rather than exactly accurate numbers and I don’t think you can meaningfully compare figures from different machines.<br /><br />I think to help with weight loss you will need to be doing more than 15 minutes, probably 45 minutes to an hour most days. Over two years I lost 20kg doing about five 45 minute sessions a week and cutting out food I didn’t need – snacks, drinks, sweets - that kind of thing and I’ve kept the weight off for nearly 2 years now. You may of course want to lose it a bit faster than that . My advice would be do plenty of exercise, eat sensibly, don’t get obsessed with weight loss and you’ll find yourself getting skinner and fitter. Not as easy as it sounds, but becoming an obsessive erger (like most of the people who post here) will help. I can’t now imagine not erging almost every day.<br />Nick

[[old] dmhayden]

The concept2 website says that the calorie counts on the PM2 monitor are really just approximations. Personally, I'd pay more attention to the meters rowed and pace. These are much more accurate and can help motivate you as the pace goes down and the meters rowed go up!<br /><br />Also, I'd like to relay the story of a guy I used to work with. He started swimming again after many years of working behind a desk. For several months, his weight didn't change much at all, but then it suddenly started coming off and before long, he'd lost about 50 lbs (30kg, I think). He thinks that during the first few months, he was losing fat while simultaneously gaining muscle. The result was little or no weight loss. Once his muscle mass reached its full potential, his weight started to fall.<br /><br />The point here is that you shouldn't get discouraged if you start to feel stronger but don't see weight coming off. Does anyone know if this is a common phenomenon?<br /><br />Dave

[[old] slo_boat]

Maria,<br /><br />The calorie counters on most exercise machines are interesting, but they are not very useful. By all means, use them to compare workout to workout on the same machine if you want, but don't expect them to work as a machine to machine comparison.<br /><br />Fifteen minutes a day is a great start. I started with 10 minutes when I started trying to get back in to shape again. Forget about setting some arbritrary goal of 45 minutes to an hour. As you become a better rower, you will row more. <br /><br />Since you are first starting out, you probably do not have the strength to row "quickly" or for long periods of time. That will change fairly quickly. You'll be surprised at how the meters fly by.<br /><br />Unless you already knew how to row or were lucky enough to just get it right the first time, your technique needs some work. Spend time on your technique in the beginning. Rowing will be more fun, and it will be a "better" exercise that way. There is a lot of good information on this forum. some of it is not so good. If you think about how a boat moves through the water, how the oars have to work, and how your body is designed, you can probably figure out which is the good information and which is not so good.<br /><br />Even though this is exercise and you are doing it to lose weight, don't lose site of the fact that it should be fun. Unless you have some specific training goal that requires hours of steady state or intervals, just get on the machine and row and have a good time. Some people make a game of mixing up the pace or of racing themselves. You can even make a game of working on your technique. (Have you ever noticed how children can be active all day? They call it play. It's only adults that call it training and make a burden out of it.)<br /><br />Best of luck!<br />

[[old] snappyrower]

"(Have you ever noticed how children can be active all day? They call it play. It's only adults that call it training and make a burden out of it.)"<br /><br />Well said! <br />

[[old] KathiS]

Hi Maria,<br /><br />I have to agree with Slo Boat on this. When I first decided to get back into shape (I weighed 270 pounds) I couldn't even walk for more than 10 minutes at sea level. I kept at it, adding more and more time to my walks and eventually adding other exercises as well. I lost over 100 pounds in about a year. Now I can hike ten mile at 10,000 feet elevation. <br /><br />I just recently started rowing and am definitely not an expert by any means. I just know that if someone had told me that I had to walk for even a half hour when I first started to lose weight, I would have gotten very discouraged very quickly. <br /><br />I also agree that in the beginning you should be working on your technique and rowing should definitely be fun. I usually set my pace boat at my previous fastest time and race myself whenever I row. I also watch t.v. while rowing to help pass time more quickly. <br /><br />