Resistance Question

7seat · Post by **7seat** » June 22nd, 2006, 10:24 pm

Resistance Question

Hey guys, I have a question on the resistance of the erg. When trying to do ones personal best on a 2k, where should the little level on the side of the erg is set at? I’m sure there is some technical vocabulary I am missing but I am refereeing to the little stick that can be set anywhere from 1-10 on concept 2 ergs. I find that it is easier to pull a low number on higher resistances, but harder to pull the actual handle if that makes any sense at all. Is there a general consensus and where this should be set. Also, does the type of rower you are make a difference? Personally, I consider myself to be more of a stronger guy with a little less endurance.

Thanks A Lot

jbell · Post by **jbell** » June 22nd, 2006, 10:38 pm

That lever is called the damper and it controls the drag factor. The lower the lever, the easier it is to pull, but the split is higher. The higher, the harder it is to pull but the split is lower, like you said. Its mostly a personnal taste thing, but usually somewhere between 120 and 150 should be good for most people. I use a 130 drag factor. To checkl the drag factor, press the menu button, then go to more options, and choose drag factor, then take a couple strokes.

Sean Seamus · Post by **Sean Seamus** » June 23rd, 2006, 6:44 am

maybe pull about 10 strokes to ensure the number has stabilized

start with a lower drag factor, maybe 100, to avoid injury, and after awhile - weeks or months - increase it by 5 or 10 points at a time until you find the level that suits you best

there is a clue to the drag factor's role in the fact that you can race at any setting you like - so there is no real inherent advantage or penalty in high or low

in general, most people set it about 110 - 130 most of the time

Do a search on Drag Factor - there is a lot of good writing on this detail - it is a wonderfully subtle aspect of indoor rowing.

Finally, the key thing is that if it seems too easy, then get that pace / 500 number on the monitor down low and keep it there for a few minutes.

Andy Nield · Post by **Andy Nield** » June 23rd, 2006, 6:59 am

I find that it is easier to pull a low number on higher resistances

That's because your technique sucks

People with poor technique tend to be able to do better at higher settings.

You need to connect with the legs.
Check out the technique pages on the c2 site and/or the video that came with the erg.

Also try doing some sessions at low ratings 18-20, that might help.

7seat · Post by **7seat** » June 24th, 2006, 10:13 am

isknay on the ondesentioncay

I think most people would agree that one must pull harder on a lower drag factor to get the split down.

johnlvs2run · Post by **johnlvs2run** » June 24th, 2006, 12:17 pm

I'm currently using a drag factor of 84 for all of my rowing.

ragiarn · Post by **ragiarn** » June 24th, 2006, 6:57 pm

7seat wrote:isknay on the ondesentioncay

I think most people would agree that one must pull harder on a lower drag factor to get the split down.

I don't understand how you could make such a statement. Increasing the drag is the same as rowing a heavier boat or draging an anchor. Teams spend thousands of dollars to develop boats with the lowest possible drag so that they can inscreas the speed of the boat. It is my understanding that the Olympic level rowers train with a drag factor in the 100 range.

Using a higher drag might be a good way to increase overall strength but in a race situation you would want to use the lowest drag setting that feels comfortable.

Ralph Giarnella MD
Southington Ct, USA

7seat · Post by **7seat** » June 25th, 2006, 11:26 am

so, are you telling me if you were to do a 2K test where you needed the best time possible, you would put the damper on 1? I think a lot of people disagree with that.

johnlvs2run · Post by **johnlvs2run** » June 25th, 2006, 11:57 am

My 500m PB was a drag factor of 109.

I'd done attempts and PB's at higher ones, i.e. 120 to 170, but the pace was getting destroyed the last 100, especially the higher the setting.

ragiarn · Post by **ragiarn** » June 25th, 2006, 12:03 pm

7seat wrote:so, are you telling me if you were to do a 2K test where you needed the best time possible, you would put the damper on 1? I think a lot of people disagree with that.

I would set the drag at the lowest possible drag that feels comfortable. I will put the question another way for you. If you were in a boat and trying to win a race would you add another extra 100 lbs ballast to the boat in order to go faster?

The reason that the recommended drag on the C2 for light weights is between 110-120 and for heavy weights is between 130-140 is to simulate the feel of a boat with light weights or heavy weights respectively. However if your goal is to race your fastest 2k on a C2 erg and not a boat you should use the lowest drag that feels comfortable.

Using your reasoning you should be able to do a 2K with a setting of 10 faster than with a setting of 5. I have not heard of anyone who sets the drag at the highest resistance (10) when racing a 2K.

Ralph Giarnella MD
Southington Ct, USA

dsikes · Post by **dsikes** » June 25th, 2006, 12:56 pm

I thought (I am very newbie) that the computer gave you credit for more meters at a higher drag setting, i.e. the boat would go farther per stroke. Drag/damper settings is very confusing.

ragiarn wrote:
7seat wrote:so, are you telling me if you were to do a 2K test where you needed the best time possible, you would put the damper on 1? I think a lot of people disagree with that.
I would set the drag at the lowest possible drag that feels comfortable. I will put the question another way for you. If you were in a boat and trying to win a race would you add another extra 100 lbs ballast to the boat in order to go faster?

The reason that the recommended drag on the C2 for light weights is between 110-120 and for heavy weights is between 130-140 is to simulate the feel of a boat with light weights or heavy weights respectively. However if your goal is to race your fastest 2k on a C2 erg and not a boat you should use the lowest drag that feels comfortable.

Using your reasoning you should be able to do a 2K with a setting of 10 faster than with a setting of 5. I have not heard of anyone who sets the drag at the highest resistance (10) when racing a 2K.

Ralph Giarnella MD
Southington Ct, USA

johnlvs2run · Post by **johnlvs2run** » June 25th, 2006, 1:20 pm

dsikes wrote:I thought (I am very newbie) that the computer gave you credit for more meters at a higher drag setting, i.e. the boat would go farther per stroke. Drag/damper settings is very confusing.

You are driving through faster when the resistance is lighter, so it balances out.

You can test the meters you are getting, by setting the damper on 10, rowing 12 strokes in 1 minute, i.e. a stroke each 5 seconds, then checking at the end of the minute to see how many meters you got.

Now do the same with the damper setting on 1 and compare.

JohnBove · Post by **JohnBove** » June 26th, 2006, 12:05 pm

I would set the drag at the lowest possible drag that feels comfortable. I will put the question another way for you. If you were in a boat and trying to win a race would you add another extra 100 lbs ballast to the boat in order to go faster? ... I have not heard of anyone who sets the drag at the highest resistance (10) when racing a 2K.

Understanding drag is vexing for most people. I don't think the above analogy to adding ballast is correct or helpful. A better, though still imperfect, analogy might be to gears on a bicycle and, similar to gears, ideal choice of drag factor will be different for people of differing degrees of strength, endurance, etc. It's certainly not helpful to tell you without qualification to use the lowest possible drag factor. (It is also probably true for most people that they are more successful at a higher drag factor before they get their technique down.)

As was suggested, experiment and find out what's comfortable for you.

As for racing at high drag -- it's my understanding that Andy Ripley who owns the 50+ heavyweight record, rowed at drag 10.

ab1904 · Post by **ab1904** » August 15th, 2006, 5:36 pm

i've recently gotten into rowing and i've been using resistance level 10 on the rowing machine at the y to do 2k. about the 4th or 5th time rowing i went all out i got a 7min 2k. so should i be using a lower resistance for more of a long term benefit in racing 2k's.

hjs · Post by **hjs** » August 16th, 2006, 4:16 am

The lever setting from 1 to 10 (dragfactor) is not the same on any machine. A new clean machine has the highest drag, in time this drops quit an bit. To prevent this you have to clean the machine regularly.

What is drag: The word says it in itself. The higher the dragfactor, the more airresistant and the faster the fan slows down. For a rower this means the higher the resistant the more air you have to push aside and the slower the stroke will be. (think high drag = a heavy slow boat that doesn,t tavels smooth through the waters)

Most beginning rowers think that a high drag will be better and use that.
This will give them more time to pull (slow) per stroke.

What do the best rowers do? almost all WR on the ergs are set on lower drags. Av 110 for woman/130 for man. So these settings are the settings in which the best results do come out.

How is pace generated on the pm2/3? Not the speed of the fan but the power on the chain is messured. The amount of rotations is not the direct speed.

maybe this helps a bit. For more info search for "drag" do te same on the uk forum. Most of he time you will find more over there.

Good luck everybody