Concept2 Forum

Hi all, relative newbie here, been rowing 20-30 minutes per day, about 5-6 days per week. Recently I've had some soreness in my upper back between the shoulder blades. I assume it's sore muscles that I've never used before.

Anyway, should I row less to allow it to heal, or row through it?

Thanks for any thoughts!

I'll bet you're rowing with the damper lever on 10. So drop the damper lever. Get the drag factor down to somewhere between 120 and 135.

If you don't understand what I mean by drag factor search on here for it. It's an FAQ.

Thanks for the reply ... actually, I've been rowing at a damper of 3-4. I'm thinking I'm probably just deconditioned and my muscles are waking up. Thanks again.

I would agree with you that rowing as frequently as you have been right off the bat could be part of the cause of the problem.

I have had problems with my upper back/shoulder blades when I do not warm up properly. I have pulled/strained that muscle when I jump right into the row without warming up enough.

I personally have found that 500-750 meters or really light rowing (fighting the temptation to go faster) loosens up the back muscles and gets the blood flowing before I really get into the row. Granted I row between 9-11,000 meters per session and I am not trying to break any speed records - your sessions may be different in terms of intensity/length. Andy

Best is to post a video of yourself rowing and we can see if this is a technical issue or if you are just not used to rowing.

You could be overworking your arms. if you have a PM3 or PM4, then set the display to show the force curve. If you are not seeing a smooth decay of the force from the peak--either a straight line or somewhat parabolic--then you should work on being smoother. Two peaks or even something that looks like the profile of VW bug means you are working the upper body too much. Make sure you are driving with the legs and just hanging on to the handle with straight elbows at the catch then transition to the back swing and then just follow through with the arms not trying to use them much. At the finish you should feel your shoulders go back a little and your shoulder blades coming together.

One likely reason is that you're tensing your shoulders - try to show your neck off as you row by dropping your shoulders while keeping your back straight..