Hello to all & looking for a bit of advice.

[Dean Rogers]

Hello all,

I had a go on the concept2 rower a few days ago at my gym.just used to ignore it for years so thought I would give it a go.

I went for a 500m distance row and got 1:31 dead. (My legs also felt dead after).I used damper setting 10.
I have a training and bodybuilding background but am doing more fitness type stuff now with strength work.

I pulled a few 100m distances as well and got 16.4. I was watching the difference between watts output and tried some pulls @10 and some @5 and then 1. I could pull much higher wattage with the damper on 10 (670) and in setting 1 (480) but would this translate to a better time? Or would I be best working on a lower setting and concentrating on technique?

Got lots of questions but just getting into things so any advice would be welcome. I’m particularly interested in the up to 500m and possibly the 1000m.

41 years old, 95kg, approx 17% body fat, 6’1. Training 3/4 times per week. Mixing strength and some fitness.

Cheers

Rogers over.

[Citroen]

How clean is that machine?
Get the drag factor rather than the damper [not dampener] setting.

https://www.concept2.co.uk/indoor-rower ... etting-101
https://www.concept2.co.uk/news/debunki ... -intensity

[Dean Rogers]

Ok thanks for that.
I will check when in gym next what the drag factor is on the rowers rather than just concentrate on the damper setting.

I take it a clean machine is going to give a better/smoother row compared to one reading a high drag factor?

Thanks

[Citroen]

I take it a clean machine is going to give a better/smoother row compared to one reading a high drag factor?

A machine full of dust and cruft will block the airflow. So damper 10 on a dirty one, may be equivalent to damper 3 on a factory fresh machine (I've seen that in a hotel). If you can't get the drag factor above 100 the machine becomes hard to row.

Regardless of cleanliness, drag factor 100 will row the same on any machine (unless you're thousands of feet above sea-level).

[Dean Rogers]

Ok will likely be in tomorrow or Tuesday and will check the machines out.

Cheers

[jamesg]

Races afloat are 2000m, so this distance is used on the erg too, at about 30% lower power than the 500. 1000m will be done at 15% lower power than the 500, so 350-400 Watt in your case, time 3:15. This power may not be easy to maintain for 3 minutes plus.

For training you might be comfortable at say 220-240 Watt, rate 22 (Pace in the 1:50s, where pace is the time to go 500m). Power and speed (and so Pace) are related by a cube law: W= kV³. The erg does the sums for us and can display Pace or Watts.

Pulling about 5000m a day at 20-24 is usually enough for initial technique and endurance work.

Lowish drag helps pull a long fast stroke, but must not be so low as to make it impossible to pull hard, nor so high as to render the pull slow. Pressing some buttons on the PM and pulling a few strokes can show you the drag factor. Most oarsmen, whether internationals or beginners, settle on 130 drag factor, corresponding to the feel of a fast shell.

[Rod]

Ok will likely be in tomorrow or Tuesday and will check the machines out.

If the damper lever is on 5 (for example) on one machine it could have a very different level of resistance to 5 on another as they all vary depending on how much dust is accumulated in the fan cage so the way to know the resistance is ...the ''Drag Factor'' which is a measure of the speed at which the flywheel slows down. To set it.... On the monitor press ''More Options''.... then press ...''Display Drag Factor'' a box will come up with a number in it…that’s the drag factor...row some strokes raising or lowering the lever to adjust it. Raising the lever raises the number...lowering the lever lowers it. I'd suggest starting at 115 then experiment from there to find what suits you best, here's some useful info;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52gBjqVGWXs

[Dangerscouse]

They are really strong 500m and 100m results for a beginner. Very promising start and you sound like you're very suited to the short sharp distances.

[Dean Rogers]

Thanks Citroen, Rod, Jamesg & Dangerscouse for the replies. Have a few things to check now and will keep motivated to improve.
I like to set goals when training for any particular discipline as it helps to keep me focused so I will take that all in and post some results.

They are really strong 500m and 100m results for a beginner. Very promising start and you sound like you're very suited to the short sharp distances.

Thanks Dangerscouse, will try to improve on them over the next few weeks/months.

Cheers

Rogers over.

[hjs]

Hello all,

I had a go on the concept2 rower a few days ago at my gym.just used to ignore it for years so thought I would give it a go.

I went for a 500m distance row and got 1:31 dead. (My legs also felt dead after).I used damper setting 10.
I have a training and bodybuilding background but am doing more fitness type stuff now with strength work.

I pulled a few 100m distances as well and got 16.4. I was watching the difference between watts output and tried some pulls @10 and some @5 and then 1. I could pull much higher wattage with the damper on 10 (670) and in setting 1 (480) but would this translate to a better time? Or would I be best working on a lower setting and concentrating on technique?

Got lots of questions but just getting into things so any advice would be welcome. I’m particularly interested in the up to 500m and possibly the 1000m.

41 years old, 95kg, approx 17% body fat, 6’1. Training 3/4 times per week. Mixing strength and some fitness.

Cheers

Rogers over.

For 500m and below you need high drag, on lower drags you simply have to pull to fast, the speed will be the limiting factor.
For training, lower drag is certainly usefull, to train your technique.
And 500m is short but still 90 seconds, so fitness is still important.
Strenghtwise, deadlifts, squats and rows are important.

Lowpull is very telling, a higher maxpace almost always translates to faster 500 m times.

In short, try to get stronger, but also work a bit on your technique. You should be a good bit below 1.30 soon.
1.20 is already good, wr pace is 1.10.5 to give you an idea.

[Rowenfuul]

Hello all,

I had a go on the concept2 rower a few days ago at my gym.just used to ignore it for years so thought I would give it a go.

I went for a 500m distance row and got 1:31 dead. (My legs also felt dead after).I used damper setting 10.
I have a training and bodybuilding background but am doing more fitness type stuff now with strength work.

I pulled a few 100m distances as well and got 16.4. I was watching the difference between watts output and tried some pulls @10 and some @5 and then 1. I could pull much higher wattage with the damper on 10 (670) and in setting 1 (480) but would this translate to a better time? Or would I be best working on a lower setting and concentrating on technique?

Got lots of questions but just getting into things so any advice would be welcome. I’m particularly interested in the up to 500m and possibly the 1000m.

41 years old, 95kg, approx 17% body fat, 6’1. Training 3/4 times per week. Mixing strength and some fitness.

Cheers

Rogers over.

Welcome to the forums- I’m new here too. That 500m time you posted is very impressive- especially considering this was your first time hitting the rower (with the damper set to 10 no less). How did you get your rowing form down- I’m assuming you checked out youtube videos, etc? I’m sure I don’t have the strength that you do, but I also use the rower for strength training as well and typically run with higher drag factors to increase the difficulty. I like to row hard, and always try to do my hardest work at the end. Would be interesting for you to check out the force curve on the PM while you row... there plenty of info on that on the web and videos on youtube.

Awesome start on the rower, Dean... your rowing journey is just beginning!

[Dean Rogers]

Hello all,

I had a go on the concept2 rower a few days ago at my gym.just used to ignore it for years so thought I would give it a go.

I went for a 500m distance row and got 1:31 dead. (My legs also felt dead after).I used damper setting 10.
I have a training and bodybuilding background but am doing more fitness type stuff now with strength work.

I pulled a few 100m distances as well and got 16.4. I was watching the difference between watts output and tried some pulls @10 and some @5 and then 1. I could pull much higher wattage with the damper on 10 (670) and in setting 1 (480) but would this translate to a better time? Or would I be best working on a lower setting and concentrating on technique?

Got lots of questions but just getting into things so any advice would be welcome. I’m particularly interested in the up to 500m and possibly the 1000m.

41 years old, 95kg, approx 17% body fat, 6’1. Training 3/4 times per week. Mixing strength and some fitness.

Cheers

Rogers over.

Welcome to the forums- I’m new here too. That 500m time you posted is very impressive- especially considering this was your first time hitting the rower (with the damper set to 10 no less). How did you get your rowing form down- I’m assuming you checked out youtube videos, etc? I’m sure I don’t have the strength that you do, but I also use the rower for strength training as well and typically run with higher drag factors to increase the difficulty. I like to row hard, and always try to do my hardest work at the end. Would be interesting for you to check out the force curve on the PM while you row... there plenty of info on that on the web and videos on youtube.

Awesome start on the rower, Dean... your rowing journey is just beginning!

Thanks Mr Rowenfuul. Yes that’s actually what I done at the weekend, watched a couple of vids and thought ok give it a go!

I never bothered with the rowers before but I can see how they are a great all over strength and endurance machine for the whole body.

I linked my ErgData app to the rower today and pulled a 1:27.6 with a drag factor of 136. Quite happy with that although I’m sure things will slow down a bit at around 1:25/1:26.

Will work on the 1000m and 2000m to increase endurance a bit for a while and then go for another try at 500m.

Cheers

[Rowenfuul]

Dean-

I see you got an even better time with your 500m- good job! I have to chime-in on your comment about the rower... I am really having some fun with it these days too (and for the last year I’ve been rowing). I love the fact that you can get both cardio as well as strength training on this machine. I also really like that with the ErgData app and an acct at the Concept2 website, that you can then upload your workout data to the website and see a very nice graph of your workout session. These graphs can also include heart rate data as well if you have a suitable HRM (I have one on order that should be delivered in the next few days).

I have two workouts I’m doing these days... both are basically built on an initial longer moderate-effort row, followed by a shorter period consisting of several progressively higher-intensity sprint sessions. By the end of the last sprint (a max-out sprint), I’m pretty tapped-out on the rower, and then head over to strength training. Will try and post my workout graphs for these workouts if your interested. Would also like to hear about your workouts as well... I realize you might be new to the rower- but certainly not new to exercise and proper training. It will be interesting to see your improvement over the coming months.

Mike (aka, Rowenfuul = Rowin’ Fool)