Beat up runner asks: Can rowing replace running?

[Anth_F]

Our Model D will be delivered Tuesday! I had NO IDEA that there was this kind of rowing community. Very excited!

Enjoy the new C2! I too had no idea such a community existed when i first got my C2, it was certainly a great discovery

Jack posted up the important things to get you started in the right way!!!!! Good technique is of primary importance, spending some time working on that from the get go will pay off in the long run.

Enjoy

[Carl Watts]

If you were in a commercial gym doing the same thing, what else are you gonna stare at that would be really anymore interesting?

Your kidding right ? half of the people who go to the Gym are only there to checkout the chicks in the Aerobics classes. Sorry but that is way better than staring at a blank wall

[Carl Watts]

Our Model D will be delivered Tuesday! I had NO IDEA that there was this kind of rowing community. Very excited!

Apart from one or two obvious Trolls on this site its not bad, however if you want a community get RowPro or join a rowing club. This forum is good for technical issues with your rower but I wouldn't go as far as calling it a community.

[Anth_F]

If you were in a commercial gym doing the same thing, what else are you gonna stare at that would be really anymore interesting?

Your kidding right ? half of the people who go to the Gym are only there to checkout the chicks in the Aerobics classes.

Love to know where you get all of these wildly speculative ideas from.

[Ombrax]

Apart from one or two obvious Trolls on this site its not bad, however if you want a community get RowPro or join a rowing club. This forum is good for technical issues with your rower but I wouldn't go as far as calling it a community.

Gosh Carl, I don't know about you, but the rest of us have been getting together every other Saturday morning to row marathons as we crank the tunes - the time just flies by. Afterwards we hang out for a while, refuel, then call it a day. And we thought you weren't joining us (virtually, in your case) because you didn't like us.

(jk, I don't think I'll ever even dream of rowing a half marathon, let alone a full)

[hjs]

If you were in a commercial gym doing the same thing, what else are you gonna stare at that would be really anymore interesting?

Your kidding right ? half of the people who go to the Gym are only there to checkout the chicks in the Aerobics classes.

Love to know where you get all of these wildly speculative ideas from.

Pretty bizar , I am going to gyms for 30 years now, and seen a few, but can,t remember even been able to see an Aerobicsclass. Seeing people looking at themselves in the mirror is more a thing than watching girls.
Most people really train though..... Even after 40 where in some parts of the world you seem to fall apart..
I have been the owner on a gym though, aspecialy for woman classes. I can tell you thats a pain in the but to keep those classes going. There are always injured/sick instructors. You are always on the look for new ones.

[Anth_F]

Your kidding right ? half of the people who go to the Gym are only there to checkout the chicks in the Aerobics classes.

Love to know where you get all of these wildly speculative ideas from.

Pretty bizar , I am going to gyms for 30 years now, and seen a few, but can,t remember even been able to see an Aerobicsclass. Seeing people looking at themselves in the mirror is more a thing than watching girls.
Most people really train though..... Even after 40 where in some parts of the world you seem to fall apart..
I have been the owner on a gym though, aspecialy for woman classes. I can tell you thats a pain in the but to keep those classes going. There are always injured/sick instructors. You are always on the look for new ones.

Exactly, Henry. They go for the right reasons which is to train. To come out with something very outlandish as half of the people who go to the gym are merely there to ogle over the women, was just a desperate attempt of a laddish style comeback in response to my post. Found it pretty funny stuff tbh

[lindsayh]

Exactly, Henry. They go for the right reasons which is to train. To come out with something very outlandish as half of the people who go to the gym are merely there to ogle over the women, was just a desperate attempt of a laddish style comeback in response to my post. Found it pretty funny stuff tbh

After about 6000 gym visits in the last 35 years I don't think I have ever had an ogle! (...well maybe a couple!) Most classes though are in rooms isolated from the general punters. I agree that (IMO) vast majority are there for the "right" reason or to ogle themselves in the mirrors as Henry suggests (guilty of that too). It seems to me though that there are gym people and non gym people who "hate" them and wont be convinced of the value of training with others in a friendly place.
(Carl you say weird things sometimes I reckon - maybe just to get reaction? - I do think you could call all this a supportive/friendly virtual community)

[Anth_F]

Exactly, Henry. They go for the right reasons which is to train. To come out with something very outlandish as half of the people who go to the gym are merely there to ogle over the women, was just a desperate attempt of a laddish style comeback in response to my post. Found it pretty funny stuff tbh

After about 6000 gym visits in the last 35 years I don't think I have ever had an ogle! (...well maybe a couple!) Most classes though are in rooms isolated from the general punters. I agree that (IMO) vast majority are there for the "right" reason or to ogle themselves in the mirrors as Henry suggests (guilty of that too). It seems to me though that there are gym people and non gym people who "hate" them and wont be convinced of the value of training with others in a friendly place.
(Carl you say weird things sometimes I reckon - maybe just to get reaction? - I do think you could call all this a supportive/friendly virtual community)

Carl does say some crazy things sometimes, Lindsay.

It might be just me, or maybe not just me who sees this, but mostly every time he posts it usually makes for such depressing and negative reading.

And indeed this is a supportive/friendly virtual community.

[G-dub]

It is because of the community that the motivation stays high for me for a large part. Carl is talking nonsense again. Would love to know which of us is "the obvious one or two trolls" he refers to. Shame really because he has a lot to offer and adds lots of value when it comes to the actual rower itself and keeping care of it.

[Gammmmo]

I do think you could call all this a supportive/friendly virtual community)

This.

It is because of the community that the motivation stays high for me for a large part. Carl is talking nonsense again.

And this.

(I also get motivated by the C2 rankings page, of course my own self motivation and the prospect of soon hopefully being vaguely competitive at the sharp(er) end for competitions.)

[Anth_F]

It is because of the community that the motivation stays high for me for a large part. Carl is talking nonsense again.

And this.

(of course my own self motivation)

Amen.

This is exactly how it is for me as well.

[john_n]

I'm 52 and have been running pretty much since high school. I'm running 50-60 miles/week. (6', 150) I'm getting really beat up and trying to figure out if rowing could take the place of running.

For background, I run outside, usually before work in the dark. Miles are between 8:00 to 8:30, depending on the day. My left knee is jacked up and right knee hurts and my hip is killing me.

My wife thinks I'll be too bored on a rower. I don't do any strength training so I like that rowing uses pretty much everything. Considering the Concept2 Model D.
Anyone made the switch?

Your cup overflows with answers already, but I'll add another two cents' worth: I ran for about 26 years, every day that I could find the time, for usually an hour or longer each day. After about 16 or 17 years of that, I had knee surgery due to an injury that happened in the military many years before and which started causing problems. After the knee surgery, I resumed running and kept at it until knee pain started to return after the total of about 26 years of running.

So I looked in gyms and health clubs for a machine that I could use to raise my heart rate without impact and the rowing machine turned out to be the perfect answer. I've been using RowPro software along with the Concept2 model D and though I've usually been rowing alone and doing a training program lately ... if I want to compete or row in the virtual company of others, I go online and row in real time with up to 15 other rowers.

I've been using the rowing machine as my main aerobic activity for more than 12 years now and it is seldom boring .... it depends on me and my mindset, whether it is boring or not.

Highly recommend.

[john_n]

I heard that the average Rowpro user opens the program only a few times before he becomes frustrated, eats his hat, and has no further use for the C2.

If true, that might be because those people are technology-averse or techno-minimalists. I'm sure a lot of people have tried it who did not end up using it because RowPro offers a free trial, nothing-to-lose, no-payment-to-make unless they decide they want to continue using it. But a lot of people also get rowing machines and other exercise equipment and end up using them to collect dust and hang clothes on instead of for their fitness use.

I've found RowPro indispensable for my indoor rowing. And if a person would like to once in a while row in the virtual company of others or compete with others in real-time online without leaving the comfort of home, there is no substitute for RowPro.

But... since it's software, it needs to be updated once in a while. And there are occasional problems such as with a power failure in the middle of a rowing session, etc. I'd say that 90% to 99% of the time, RowPro and its related hardware, host computer, the main RowPro server (located physically in Houston Texas, last I heard) etc all manage to work perfectly. We tend to forget when things work perfectly and get disproportionately disturbed when there are glitches - that's human nature.

RowPro and related hardware is tech. Tech and problems go hand in hand. The most recent problem I had which might have been RowPro or it might have been Concept 2 hardware was that I couldn't get any HR readout, from either of my two heart straps. Fussed with that for a couple days. The problem finally cleared up after I unplugged all 3 cables from the PM3 (HR receiver cable, USB cable to desktop computer running RowPro and the cable between the PM3 and the generator device inside the Model D flywheel housing) - and also removed and re-installed the HR receiver from where it is mounted under the rowing machine rail.

After all those were disconnected and then re-connected, everything worked okay again with HR reception.

Of all the things I do with RowPro, the online rowing in real time with other people who are all around the world is worth the price of RowPro. I haven't used that feature much lately, but its great to race and also row "socially" with others online. Everything else RowPro does is gravy, but its all good gravy in my 12 years+ of using it opinion.

[Steve1960VA]

I heard that the average Rowpro user opens the program only a few times before he becomes frustrated, eats his hat, and has no further use for the C2.

If true, that might be because those people are technology-averse or techno-minimalists. I'm sure a lot of people have tried it who did not end up using it because RowPro offers a free trial...

A nice assessment, I think. I've heard of RowPro, but never used it, or even considered using it so far. Your comments are enlightening though. Thanks for taking the time...