Turning to rowing for all my fitness needs...

[Shades6091]

Well I am pretty new to the board and I thought I would start posting as a way of stying motivated. I am an orthopaedic surgery resident that has been pretty hardcore into weight training for the past 10 years or so. Recently the demands of residency have cut back my ability to consistently make it into the gym. My gains would come very slowly or not come at all and that was very discouraging. I recently was on a trauma rotation that ate ALL my time and I didn't go to the gym once for two months. I decided to start back with something new and fresh. I thought rowing would be an ideal workout as it is a total body workout plus a great cardiovascular workout. Well I rowed for the first time in over 3 years yesterday.


I am out of cardiovascular shape.

2000 m 8:16.9 at 5'11 and about 185lbs.

I want to see how far I can take this and see just how good at it I can be. Hopefully you all will be able to help me get there.

[Carl Watts]

Well not sure of your age but the Concept 2 rower will get you into great shape. There is a point in life when you get past doing just weights and need to focus more on just controlling your weight and trying to maintain a decent level of fitness. Did over 10 years of weights myself and it will help you on the Erg, just be prepaired to spend at least 6 months coming up to speed with the cardio to match.

Motivation is the hardest part for most people so look at RowPro to solve that problem.

http://www.digitalrowing.com/

[Shades6091]

Sorry I didn't include my age - 28 which makes the 8:16.9 more embarrassing.

[Rumping]

As far as motivation is concerned, while RowPro is great, joining a virtual team has its merits as well. There's plenty of encouragement through the forums as well as tips, tricks and just finding out that those little quirks you have are shared by plenty of others.

If 8:16.9 for 2k is your first attempt at rowing, you're certainly not doing too badly. As your technique and CV system improve, you'll be improving that time significantly very soon.

[Bob S.]

Well I rowed for the first time in over 3 years yesterday.

How much experience do you have? Was your previous rowing on the water or on an indoor machine?

Bob S.

[Shades6091]

Previously it was on an indoor rower and that was for about a month.

[Bob S.]

Previously it was on an indoor rower and that was for about a month.

O.K., that suggests that you don't have much experience and could probably benefit from technique suggestions. Technique improvements can make a whopping difference in erg scores. To start with there is a lot of jargon used on this forum so it helps to have a glossary:

The decoder:

http://www.c2forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=38

It is a bit dated, but still useful.

For technique itself there is this:

The Thames Rowing Club technique video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqVmMd7FdAA

Best bet is to get a video of yourself on the erg, taken from the side, post on some video site and post the URL for it here for members to critique.

One item that is often a mystery at first is drag factor (DF). This one explains that:

Understanding Drag Factor:

http://www.concept2.com/us/training/adv ... factor.asp

I hope that you find these to be useful.

Bob S.

[Shades6091]

Thanks for all the help.

I just did a 5000m row for 21:59.1. I really concentrated on a low stroke rate ~20 and my technique. I really tried to use my the recovery phase to its fullest as well as really engaging my legs in the catch. I could tell a real difference when I didn't get my legs engaged during the catch. The stoke was never as powerful when I didn't get the timing right. I had the drag at 3.

[Bob S.]

I had the drag at 3.

Note that a damper setting of 3 does not mean too much. The drag factor is damper setting dependent, of course, but the other factors like cage cleanliness, atmospheric pressure, and air temperature are also significant. A clogged up cage can cause a large drop in drag factor. The best bet for record keeping is to check the drag factor each time you start a workout.
I believe that the site on drag factor covers that. If it doesn't, you can check out the C2 website to find out how to get the drag factor. Most rowers seem to prefer a drag factor in the range 110-140.

Bob S.

[aharmer]

Good luck with the erg, it will get you into tremendous shape. When you have brief periods of free time, heavy dead lifts and squats will help your erging a lot. I do some really heavy, intense dead or squat workouts in under 10 minutes. When I started erging my 2 k was similar to yours. Tech ique is the key. Solid technique will make you significantly faster with the same effort. Videotape yourself and post it here, the experts will help you a lot. After several months I pulled a 6:38 and we're almost the same size so don't get discouraged during the times when you feel like you're not improving.

[Shades6091]

Checked the drag and with the damper at 3 the drag factor was around 95.

Did my baseline 500m and I pulled at 1:40.1.

I then did interval training 1 minute on 1 minute off x 6 intervals. Finished up with 10 minutes on Jacob's Ladder (great machine everyone should try it out).

[wsmith]

i am an ortho trauma surgeon .. have been teaching residents many years . now i row almost exclusively (but am in my 50s)..concept 2 rower is a great option for what you are doing now but despite strong athletic background i found it took me about 6 months of focused training to get reasonable at technique, pacing and achieve proper fitness levels. weekly intervals interpersed with brief weights: short workouts and a few longer, easy rows for aerobic fitness and mental break will be efficient for you. most important: enjoy your training and be flexible. lots of good advice from expert rowers on these websites ...i found the pete plan helpful and doable despite a "trauma lifestyle", though 6days a week may be a bit much for a resident...my experience: indoor rowing is the most time efficient training technique. racing aspect provides fun and motivation but is accessible despite job and family..go for it....have fun...don't worry about the times...some of these men and women are olympic level rowers!! wade