Concept2 Forum

Hi all, this fall I bought my first rower and got into rowing and have been rowing daily between 7k and 10k a day, every day. I've managed to do a 7:53 2kand a 20:44 5k and feel like I've made a lot of progress considering I hadnt worked out in 10+ years and was completely out of shape at first. I really enjoy rowing and am trying to lose about 20lbs (im a little over weight im 6ft3in 240lbs, mostly just a spare tire).

I really had no issues until just this past week I am experiencing a really weird issue that is driving me a little nuts and hampering my rowing. I should add that I started lifting weights a few weeks ago in addition to rowing, mostly upperbody to supplement the rowing.

I started feeling like i am not centered when I row and I keep wanting to shift my weight to the left of the seat and feel like my stroke is crooked. I moved so much to the left side trying to feel centered that I even started to have the seat tilt/tip to the left. I then shift my butt back to the middle and then feel weird again.

A couple of ideas came to mind as possible causes...... One, maybe I just need to take a few days off from rowing after rowing for about 60 days straight. Two, perhaps I dont realize I am over using one leg or side of my body (I have a bad lower right back that could be invoved) and perhaps I have gotten stronger on one side and its making the row feel weird. Or perhaps its because my seat feels a bit loose after 500k on the machine, i can rock it to side to side a little bit, nothing major but I am not sure if it came like that or not. Or perhaps its completely mental and in my head.

Has anyone else experienced something like this? Any ideas what might be causing this odd sensation and how to fix it? If it's just in my head, any suggestions how to deal with it?

Thanks much.

Sounds like you may have developed a leg length discrepancy. A common cause of this can be a tight psoas muscle on one side.

When you stand, does one foot want to point outwards? Does one hip look higher than the other? Is one shoulder higher than the other?

The seats do rock a little.

Why on earth have you rowed 60 days straight? :-/

Maybe test it out by rowing favouring alternate legs. One stroke each : Right dominant, left dominant, both together, and repeat. After a few minutes of that it may straighten you out. I've not used the drill for your reason, but have used it on long steady state rows for a bit of variety and to help with the numb bum issue.

Probably overtraining. All that back n forth is bound to produce some slight objection by the brain. The head is heavy and quite high forces in the neck are needed to move it twice every stroke. Try taking a day or two off, or rowing with a different rhythm, or just a lot slower rating. With a big stroke, rate 20 is more than enough to get fit. I'm now checking whether 18 is enough too. The erg is certainly good for us, and using it even more so, but we mustn't push our luck too much. Or try a lot faster, somewhat like the Chinese cure for toothache. Or just ignore it, I sometimes get the impression I'm rowing sideways or like a corkscrew, but other bits of the brain tell me it can't be true. This only happens afloat when crossing a swell. Also check what you are actually doing, even slight head waving, rather than keeping the eyes fixed on something in line, can have an effect.