Concept2 Forum

Part of my physical therapy for my back a few months ago was using a C2, changing my grip every 2 minutes from overhand to underhand. (Using the C2 during PT made me want to get a rower SO BAD!).
Does anyone change grips during a training session?

Perhaps as a diversion from the norm, but to do so as a rule would not be "normal" in what I have observed over the last 25 years.

Though there are folks that use the Mode D handle upside down because they didn't know any better, or grip underhanded for the same reason.

Health clubs are the best place to observe every form of Rowing Machine technical abomination known to exist, and just when you think you have seen it all, you will see something new and unusual.

Let's face it, if there really were that many ways of "Rowing Well" why does everyone at the FISA World Champs look so similar?

Still contemplating a feature length film: "The Good, the Bad, and the Ergly".

PaulS wrote:Health clubs are the best place to observe every form of Rowing Machine technical abomination known to exist, and just when you think you have seen it all, you will see something new and unusual.

No kidding...

My physical therapy wasn't about proper competitive rowing technique, as it was about strengthening the upper back and shoulders.
The therapy wasn't at a health club, but at the therapists office.

I wasn't suggesting changing grip as part of competitive training, but rather as a way to work on different muscle groups.

>>Health clubs are the best place to observe every form of Rowing Machine technical abomination known to exist.<<

Agreed - But I saw a few people at CRASH B's who's technique was just comical. Of course they stood out becuase they were usually the ones who were still erging long after everyone else was finished.

nstrik wrote:My physical therapy wasn't about proper competitive rowing technique, as it was about strengthening the upper back and shoulders.
The therapy wasn't at a health club, but at the therapists office.

I wasn't suggesting changing grip as part of competitive training, but rather as a way to work on different muscle groups.

Your question was:

Does anyone change grips during a training session?

My question is: training for what? Most erg training is for 1) competition 2) weight loss 3) general conditioning 4) some combination of these. I don't think that most ergers would find any point in changing to an underhanded grip unless they were just fooling around to see how it felt.

Perhaps there are some that do this to develop a somewhat different set of arm muscles. It will be interesting see if this thread brings any of them out. I am puzzled as to how that sort of change would make a difference in the shoulders and back, but muscle interactions are very subtle and complex. No doubt your PT has something specific in mind.

Bob S.

nstrik wrote:Does anyone change grips during a training session?

Well, you do, and probably others doing that therapy. It is not, however, in the set of common drills for competitive rowers.

nstrik wrote:I wasn't suggesting changing grip as part of competitive training, but rather as a way to work on different muscle groups?

I think you don't need to worry about working different musclegroups on the erg, "all" are already working, but you can work them in different ways. And yes, by changing something, you've made a difference. Variation is usually good for therapy. For performance it's the other way around, specificity is more important.

Also, the rower is very hand for working "all" muscles, but if you wan't to work one muscle in particular and come to the rower, it shouldn't be the lats, the quads, bicep or other skeletal muscles, but the heart. This is what the rower is superior at. I say this not because of your post in particular, but because of different common misconceptions I've come across before.

Carl Henrik wrote:

nstrik wrote:Does anyone change grips during a training session?

Well, you do, and probably others doing that therapy. It is not, however, in the set of common drills for competitive rowers.

nstrik wrote:I wasn't suggesting changing grip as part of competitive training, but rather as a way to work on different muscle groups?

I think you don't need to worry about working different musclegroups on the erg, "all" are already working, but you can work them in different ways. And yes, by changing something, you've made a difference. Variation is usually good for therapy. For performance it's the other way around, specificity is more important.

Also, the rower is very hand for working "all" muscles, but if you wan't to work one muscle in particular and come to the rower, it shouldn't be the lats, the quads, bicep or other skeletal muscles, but the heart. This is what the rower is superior at.

Thanks Carl!
I guess that I really should have asked my physical therapist what he had in mind when he had me change grips every 2 minutes.

I love my C2. Thinking of trying the "Pete Plan" as a training routine.
Any thoughts?

nstrik wrote:I guess that I really should have asked my physical therapist what he had in mind when he had me change grips every 2 minutes.

I sometimes get an uncomfortable feeling in my wrists from the D model's handle, then I do change the grip a few strokes and then it feels better. ...and I'm pretty sure it's screwed on right side up.

Carl Henrik wrote:

nstrik wrote:I guess that I really should have asked my physical therapist what he had in mind when he had me change grips every 2 minutes.

I sometimes get an uncomfortable feeling in my wrists from the D model's handle, then I do change the grip a few strokes and then it feels better. ...and I'm pretty sure it's screwed on right side up. :? :wink:

Actually, it is on a swivel, so it can't be screwed on incorrectly, but apparently some people have used the handle (of a D model) with it turned upside down on the swivel, which is very easy to do. All this does is position the ends of the handle angled up from the straight center instead of down. On my old model B, the entire handle was straight; there were no angles. My guess is the the new handles are angled to give a closer feel to rowing in a boat, since the oars are angled down when the blades are in the water. Of course, that applies only to the drive.

In any case, upwardly angled erg handle ends feel quite awkward to me. If I accidently started with the handle flipped over, it would be immediately obvious that some thing wasn't right.

I don't know what a model C has.

Bob S.

The C has a straight handle.

I think one way to motivate the change to an angled handle is that when rowing otw the catch and the release are at different absolute angles. So the mean angle of the oarhandles during the entire drive is not straight but shifted in the direction of the D handle. It does make for a more extreme wrist angle at the finish though.

Carl Henrik wrote:The C has a straight handle.

I think one way to motivate the change to an angled handle is that when rowing otw the catch and the release are at different absolute angles. So the mean angle of the oarhandles during the entire drive is not straight but shifted in the direction of the D handle. It does make for a more extreme wrist angle at the finish though.

Only if your grip puts your hands wider than your shoulders.

The problem I had with the new handle is that my hands had already adapted to a habit of having the knuckles at a bit of an angle across the straight handle to allow the wrist to maintain line with the forearm. Now that the angle is built into the handle itself I end up having to constantly remind myself to get the knuckles inline since they tend back to the old habit, even after several million meters on the new handle. At least it's not causing blisters anymore.

nstrik wrote:Part of my physical therapy for my back a few months ago was using a C2, changing my grip every 2 minutes from overhand to underhand. (Using the C2 during PT made me want to get a rower SO BAD!).
Does anyone change grips during a training session?

I tried it this morning while erging. Seems like it did use different muscle groups, but I didn't do it for very long so those muscle groups aren't screaming at me.

I found it was more comfortable when I swivelled the handle over so it was upsidedown when I did underhand - more of an ergonomic grip. When I just changed the hands, my wrists weren't aligned very well.

bw