Concept2 Forum

Rowing novice here--I've started the Beginner Pete Plan with week 1 splits of 2:17.40 on 500m and 2:30.70 on 5k. Currently focusing on maintaining a constant SPM & split and a 1:2 drive-recovery ratio--you can see me slow down around 0:23 of the attached video to lower SPM & increase recovery time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6n_qPCPnyI

Any & all critiques to help me achieve perfect form are much appreciated!

Looking fit and probably (insiders) you are not so big. Which is not directly a plus, but so be it.

At the moment you are not rowing but more cycling. And your drag (search drag on the forum) looks to low.

You are not using your back at all, this should change first. At the catch/beginning you chest should be very close to your thighs, you now have a big gap, at the end of the stroke you should lean back. Think 11 oclock/23.00 oclock.
Doing this will lenghten your stroke and will use your body more overall.

Drag, after you found that out start between 110/130. It now looks lower.

Arms, keep those straight at first, and pull them in after the first 50% of the stroke.

Strokerate, wayyyy to high, your stroke is soft and you try to compensate that with lots if strokes. Try building a stronger stroke with less strokes per minute. If you get your back rocking back and forth and learn to hang on the handle this will rapidly come. Think HARD stroke, EASY revovery. It now looks like one motion, like cycling.

I´m no expert and the angle is not perfect to "judge" but in my opinion you should not go that far with the seat at the catch. That makes your shins go beyond 90 degrees and that´s not optimal. Second I think that you should lean forward a little bit more at the catch to make a longer stroke. Third you should release your hands faster at the recovery so the handle is further ahead before you bend your legs.

If my advices are not confirmed by the others here forget what I wrote.

To see how rowing is done, see this video and text. Try the backstop drill, with plenty of swing, adding legs after the swing forward when warm.

http://www.concept2.com/indoor-rowers/t ... que-videos

HJS already touched upon this, but I think increasing the drag is key here. In the video you are unable to "connect" properly at the catch because the flywheel is already spinning really fast. Increasing the drag will make the flywheel slow down quicker, thus making it much easier for you to feel the resistance right from the start of the stroke. Then, with your shoulders in front of your hips (the one o'clock position), you extend your legs > pull with your back > pull with your arms finishing in the 11 o'clock position. The better you are able to transition power between those three steps, the better. You can visualize this on the C2 monitor by using the power curve - ideally, you will see a bell shaped curve.

https://renegaderowing.com/2016/04/04/b ... wer-curve/