Concept2 Forum

I have started rowing twice a week for the past couple months.

I have noticed that I feel like I am tired a lot of the time. Is this normal for a newbie? It takes about 3 days to feel like I am recovered. By then, I hit the C2 again and I'm tired and slightly sore (good sore) until about three days later.

Will I get to a point where this level of tiredness will subside as I grow my stamina and strength?

Joe

missread, thought twice a day.

Twice a week should never be a problem. How do you sleep eat?

Joe, how far and fast are you rowing? Do you know your heart rate average? What other sports / activity are you doing and what is your age and weight?

Joefish wrote:I have started rowing twice a week for the past couple months. I have noticed that I feel like I am tired a lot of the time. Is this normal for a newbie? It takes about 3 days to feel like I am recovered. By then, I hit the C2 again and I'm tired and slightly sore (good sore) until about three days later.
Will I get to a point where this level of tiredness will subside as I grow my stamina and strength? Joe

twice a week is not a lot of training so it depends on what sort of training I guess. You could be overtraining the sessions you are doing or maybe the wrong sort so will need to share some details of what you are doing. You will get fitter of course as you work at it.

I read in the beginning rowing 2 times per week is the sweet spot for seeing improvements before building up to more weekly sessions. I done the complete opposite, and was rowing mostly daily in the beginning, i don't remember being tired or sore from any of it though If you could elaborate on what sort of work you're doing, and how hard on a scale of 1-10 the sessions feel for you, 10 being the hardest.

Sleep is also very important so any trouble there will be massively detrimental to you and your training. You are a couple months in now so the body "should" have adapted somewhat by now, so it's a bit strange until we know more about the things i just mentioned.

I'm doing the Darkhorse rowing program. Every workout is different. Some are relatively easy, other are hard. Most total around 5-6K total. On average it's about 45 minutes of time, 2x week. My heart rate hovers around 155 for most of it. One a rare occasion I'll hit MHR 170.

I don't do any other exercise. I am thinking about adding 10min of kettlebell per day on the off days but I haven't started that.

I am 48yr old, 6'-2" , 215lb

Feel like I need extra sleep but I don't get it. (3 young kids, twins)

I'm thinking it's one of these?

Not enough protien
Not enough sleep
Not eating enough

I don't think it's over training because how can I overtrain when I'm only doing something 2X week.

By the way, my goal is to get fit - build strength and stamina. I figure if I get fit, I can loose weight to but that's not my goal. I just feel myself getting more and more out of shape and just hit 48 and decided I need to make a change for myself.

For what it's worth, my wife is training for the NYC marathon. SHe said when she first started running 5K she felt tired during the week. Now she can run an 18 mile run and feel just a little sore the next day and not tired the next day. She is 10 years younger and in great shape. I'm the one with the gut!

1. get a blood test - could be iron levels
2. won't be protein unless your diet is awful
3. did you feel tired alot prior to rowing? if so, then it's your kids! sleep is a big one, let alone when getting into sport.
4. try to ensure you have some carbs prior to training. if you're only training twice a week (and assuming you're not on a strict diet) you should be replenishing your glycogen stores ok.
5. wouldn't it be better to start feeling like you're assimilating the erg training before you start something else as well like kettlebells?
6. what is your absolute max HR?

Don't take it too seriously. Feeling tired can be deceptive. I often go for a workout feeling nearly dead, then everything goes well.

Best take chronic fatigue seriously. Blood panel including glucose elevation and/or A1C might be in order.

I had done 0 exercise in 15 years and the day I started I felt it was a pain to do 10 mins of eliptical bycycle on the lowest resistance. I had more weight than you and I'm shorter, that's true, but I was nearly 10 years younger. And to put it in perspective, nowadays I use the eliptical to have a "rest" when I stop rowing. What I mean is that the rower can be really painful, specially if you are out of shape. I'm glad I found the rower 2.5 months after I started taking exercise cos during that time previous to rowing I could build the strength and stamina you are probably also lacking. This evil machine can defeat you even within a minute if you dont take it easy.

Now that you mention DarkHorse, if you check their last 3 videos about drills for weight loss they start suggesting (at the end of the video) 1-3 mins of practice on the rower for a few weeks (part1) before going for 2-3 sets of 5 mins (part 2). And you are doing 45 mins???

If I were you I'd row every other day, that is 3-4 days a week, but only 15 mins (maybe 1x15min, or 3x5 mins.. whatever you feel more comfortable with). As you feel comfortable and find it easy to row 15 mins, then it's up to you which path you want to follow. Maybe you could do 10-15 mins of kettlebells before the rowing or do them on the rest days, or just dont do them and increase your rowing times. But my advices is not rowing over 30 mins or starting with kettlebells before you've rowed those 15 mins for 3-4 weeks .

Just take it easy and put some music on while rowing. Rowing should be the "joy" time of the day. At some point those 45 mins will be something enjoyable but until then, take it easy.

I agree with Neorticros.

Try to get your HR average down to circa 135bpm and tailor the effort / pace accordingly. 155bpm is possibly too high if you're not used to exercise and 170bpm will definitely leave you feeling drained. You should feel the benefit of lowering your HR.

jackarabit wrote:Best take chronic fatigue seriously. Blood panel including glucose elevation and/or A1C might be in order.

Agreed. There is probably a fairly benign explanation, but you should definitely check in with a doctor nonetheless. If nothing else this should pick up if you're low on any micronutrients like iron or B vitamins (both of which can lead to fatigue).

Assuming there's nothing major wrong then, as others have suggested, I think spending a few weeks building up your capacity to do longish slow rows three times a week is a good idea. Start somewhere manageable (15min at a pace that gets you sweaty and breathing more heavily but where you could still hold a conversation seems reasonable) then slowly increase the time week by week whilst maintaining the pace.

As for sleep, it sounds like you don't have the option of getting more sleep, but try to make sure what sleep you do get is as good as possible. Avoid computer and tv screens for, ideally, an hour before you go to bed, try to avoid thinking about stressful stuff before you go to bed, if you're sensitive to caffeine don't drink coffee too late etc. I'm sure there are hundreds of websites that will list a whole host of advice on how to improve your sleep but it's mostly common sense.

I want to thank everyone for the great feedback. I was very helpful. A couple of thoughts as I digest the comments:

I agree that I probably should lower my typical heart rate in the 135 area. I am generally over that. I certainly can not keep a conversation!
I'll get a general panel blood test to check out all my standard levels. I don't suspect anything is wrong but it's worth checking into.
Given that I haven't done any regular exercise or sports for the last 20 years, it's understandable that I'd be tired by pushing myself too hard, too fast.
I'll try to get more sleep. Even an extra 30 minutes will be a good start.
It should be fun. Which it is, but at times it busts my $^#. Maybe that's a sign I'm going too hard.

With regard to going at a slower pace. It seems as if my sweetspot always falls in around 24 s/m. As other have mentioned, 20sm might be a good place for me. The problem is that if I am down at 20sm or lower, it feels so slow that I feel like I almost need to pull and stop moving and then catch pull again. I know it's not good to stop your movement but man 20 seems slow. Any suggestions?

Thanks again for helping the newbie!

Joe,

If I were you I'd consider shooting for a stroke rate of 20-22 spm, but 24 isn't insanely fast at all, and if you're confident in your technique and feel more comfortable at 24, I say go for it.

I'm no expert, but plenty of folks here are, and if you'd like some feedback on your technique you can post a video and provide a link to it.

Good Luck

BTW, just for grins I sometimes check the memory of the rower at gym and there's someone out there who's been doing 30 minute pieces at a 4 min / 500m pace at a stroke rate of 34-35 spm. This wasn't a fluke, because I've seen it several times over the last few weeks. I'd hate to witness that in person, and I have no idea what I'd say if I did, but I do know that that's not the way to do it. I mention it as an example of something that's clearly wrong. 24 spm isn't clearly wrong.

Joefish wrote: It should be fun. Which it is, but at times it busts my $^#. Maybe that's a sign I'm going too hard.

If you're really working on the erg it's not fun trust me. Sessions can feel enjoyable and rewarding however. The erg is not something for fun and certainly not easy no matter what you do, if you're training properly.

Re SR, of course 20spm will feel bizarre because you're used to going r24 which is a big difference. Simply practice r20 to get used to it and develop stronger stroke power.