Question to owners and common users of the Skierg

[RoryClark]

I've been thinking of purchasing a skierg for daily aerobic exercise first thing in the morning. I'm not as big a fan of the Concept 2 rower, probably because I suck at it, and I'd rather not go outside to run. I've considered an airdyne bike as well but it's way too taxing on the legs and depletes my upper body only as an afterthought. I'd prefer a more balanced machine between the upper and lower body.

To those who either own a Skierg or use it on a regular basis in a crossfit gym, can you share your thoughts on how often you use the machine? Is it overkill (i.e. too tiring) to use it on a daily basis as a conditioning tool that targets the upper and lower body on a roughly equal basis? I've used it three times in the past and loved the beatdown I got each time, but these were three separate occasions. I'm slightly concerned that I may not utilize the machine as often as I would like if I were to make the purchase. I'm wondering if people find enough stimulation from the machine or have conditioned themselves to use the Skierg regularly as one might with a Concept 2 rower. Thank you!

[max_ratcliffe]

I've been thinking of purchasing a skierg for daily aerobic exercise first thing in the morning. I'm not as big a fan of the Concept 2 rower, probably because I suck at it, and I'd rather not go outside to run. I've considered an airdyne bike as well but it's way too taxing on the legs and depletes my upper body only as an afterthought. I'd prefer a more balanced machine between the upper and lower body.

To those who either own a Skierg or use it on a regular basis in a crossfit gym, can you share your thoughts on how often you use the machine? Is it overkill (i.e. too tiring) to use it on a daily basis as a conditioning tool that targets the upper and lower body on a roughly equal basis? I've used it three times in the past and loved the beatdown I got each time, but these were three separate occasions. I'm slightly concerned that I may not utilize the machine as often as I would like if I were to make the purchase. I'm wondering if people find enough stimulation from the machine or have conditioned themselves to use the Skierg regularly as one might with a Concept 2 rower. Thank you!

I'm not exactly in your intended answer base as I'm an occasional user (and not at all since lockdown). Nevertheless, I'll add my views for what they're worth. Very good quality machine (commercial quality at home gym prices), but you already know that.

I've found it really good fun, but unlike the rower, I only really enjoy the shorter stuff and have never gone over 5k on the SkiErg. If you're the same, then you may find yourself blasting through a lot of short stuff, but that may make it a less than ideal overall aerobic exercise machine. You can of course use it with the single poling technique, which is a bit more suited to longer pieces. I'll let others chime in on that side of it.

[mict450]

Hello Rory, I have an Italian made ski poling machine that works similarly to the skierg. I find the poling motion very pleasing. It is not as technically difficult as a rower & so is easier to learn, I feel. It gives me a good upper body workout & the lower body also dependent on how much knee bend & heel raise you incorporate in your stroke.

I use it roughly 4 times a week, duration of at least an hour per workout, LSD, using a variety of poling variations, viz: double pole, diagonal pole, kick double pole, V2, etc, etc....I aim for volume rather than intensity. That way I know I can recover between workouts.

Whether you would use it as often as you would like, I cannot hazard a guess. To me, it is much more gentle on the body than the rower. In truth, I find any type of cardio mind-numbingly boring, and so, I use a wide variety to keep myself sane. I feel the skierg would be a great addition for your physical training regimen.

[hjs]

I use the skierg, atm do not row. Overall I do think the rower does train the body overall a bit more, but the skierg uses the upperbody more. Skierg is a bit less fatique ing, the spine and less don,t get a beating like on the rower. The shoulders are the weak link. I do pretty long sessions. That might take a while to get used to.

Most people are a bit slower on the skierg, but if you have a strong upperbody that might be different.

[kini62]

I have both the rower and skierg and was using them in about a 2:1 rower/skierg ratio. Been Zwifting mostly these days but, anyway, both will give you a great aerobic workout. I found the rower easier to do longer pieces. Also the skierg really doesn't give much of a lower body workout. It's not a XC ski simulator. It pretty much limits muscular involvement to the hip flexors and up. You will still need to do some lower body specific exercises, like squats, lunges etc... Easy enough to do like between skierg intervals or after the session.

[mict450]

Rory, both Henry & kini62 are absolutely correct about the skierg being predominantly an upper body exerciser. Do a search in YouTube of "skierg variations" & you will find many examples that will involve your legs to a greater extent than just regular double poling. I also "auditioned" the poling machine by using a pair of exercise stretch bands jammed in a door way before purchase. That way, I could determine if the purchase was "right" for me. It's a lot harder than a poling machine as you need to control the eccentric return of the bands to the starting position, and you miss out on that little bit of rest as the handles passively returning to the top. Hope this makes sense to you.

[hjs]

Re Legs, its not that they nothing, the stroke is a not so deep squat / goodmorning, with no weight ofcourse, but still thats absolute work.

[mict450]

Very true Henry. In fact your post brought something to mind, viz: the good morning/hip hinge motion of the skierg is a great way to ingrain that motion into the torso swing as applied to the rower, something I've had trouble remembering & doing. Good way to differentiate between bending at the lower back vs bending at the hip.

[brookwaters]

I own all three, bikeerg, rower, skierg (assault air runner and rogue air bike). Of the ergs the Skierg kills me the most, but it’s a brilliant piece of equipment. I use the rower the most though. But for upper body it is great. You can alternate with both arms together or left-right, which gives you a different kind of workout. I have also seen people just in a chair doing it too (injured leg).

[c2jonw]

Use it as much as you feel comfortable with. Done properly it will crush you, including the legs!
https://www.concept2.com/skierg/training/technique

[swingshiftworker]

I own a rower and have put a modest (as compared w/others) 5M meters on it in 4 yrs of ownership (3 yrs of actual rowing). I don't own a SkiErg yet but I have used one and I have x-country skied before.

Most of the demos and "training" videos I've seen regarding the use of a SkiErg are worse (in terms of just plain "wrong" info) than I've seen for rowers (and the demos/training videos for the rower are pretty bad too).

I am on the Wait List to buy a SkiErg when they become available again. My ETA is around mid July to get one.

You can get a good idea of what kind of workout you'd get w/a SkiErg by doing a SkiErg simulation exercise involving the use of light dumbbells 3-5# is all you need and mimicing the movements you'd use to single or double pole while x-country skiing.

You do use both your upper and lower body while x-country skiing (as you do in rowing) but there is greater emphasis on the upper (than lower) body. Google x-country skiing technique videos for instruction in this regard. The techniques are fully transferable to the SkiErg even though there isn't any actual "ski movement" as would be the case on a Nordic Track or similar x-country training devices.

Most of the SkiErg "training" videos I've seen emphasize the double poling technique and setting the fan lever as high as 10 and thereby increasing the drag factor at a unrealistically high setting, which as we know from rowing is entirely inappropriate and unnecessary.

In order to "ski" any distance on a SkiErg, you will probably have to set the damper LOWER than you use for rowing and will need to mostly single (not double) pole; a mixture of both, as you would do on a x-country trail makes the most sense.

You should be easily able to SkiErg thousands of meters in a workout using this method BUT, if all you take to do is double pole using all of your strength, you will quickly tire yourself out and question why you bothered to use/buy a SkiErg in the 1st place.

[mict450]

Most of the demos and "training" videos I've seen regarding the use of a SkiErg are worse (in terms of just plain "wrong" info) than I've seen for rowers (and the demos/training videos for the rower are pretty bad too).

Agree with this. Most of the skierg videos seem to be mainly aimed at the crossfit crowd. I don't think there is anything wrong with this, but if you are interested in using it for cross country on-the-snow training, you need to chose wisely. Here is a link that shows the difference between the cross fit style vs one geared towards double poling on the snow:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVLE3Od5hOQ&t=512s

[hjs]

I own a rower and have put a modest (as compared w/others) 5M meters on it in 4 yrs of ownership (3 yrs of actual rowing). I don't own a SkiErg yet but I have used one and I have x-country skied before.

Most of the demos and "training" videos I've seen regarding the use of a SkiErg are worse (in terms of just plain "wrong" info) than I've seen for rowers (and the demos/training videos for the rower are pretty bad too).

I am on the Wait List to buy a SkiErg when they become available again. My ETA is around mid July to get one.

You can get a good idea of what kind of workout you'd get w/a SkiErg by doing a SkiErg simulation exercise involving the use of light dumbbells 3-5# is all you need and mimicing the movements you'd use to single or double pole while x-country skiing.

You do use both your upper and lower body while x-country skiing (as you do in rowing) but there is greater emphasis on the upper (than lower) body. Google x-country skiing technique videos for instruction in this regard. The techniques are fully transferable to the SkiErg even though there isn't any actual "ski movement" as would be the case on a Nordic Track or similar x-country training devices.

Most of the SkiErg "training" videos I've seen emphasize the double poling technique and setting the fan lever as high as 10 and thereby increasing the drag factor at a unrealistically high setting, which as we know from rowing is entirely inappropriate and unnecessary.

In order to "ski" any distance on a SkiErg, you will probably have to set the damper LOWER than you use for rowing and will need to mostly single (not double) pole; a mixture of both, as you would do on a x-country trail makes the most sense.

You should be easily able to SkiErg thousands of meters in a workout using this method BUT, if all you take to do is double pole using all of your strength, you will quickly tire yourself out and question why you bothered to use/buy a SkiErg in the 1st place.

Point it, the skierg does not mimic snow ski much. It is much more an exercise on itself.

Re double, single poling. Single poling gets you nowhere, cause al you do is use your arms, which is ofcourse not much.

Re Double poling, this is the only way to go, if you want speed and its perfectly possible to do this for long times, every fast skierger will 100% do double poling only.

Re drag, high is used for sprints, anything longer 120 or even a good bit lower is best. This will make the stroke the most smooth.

[swingshiftworker]

Point it, the skierg does not mimic snow ski much. It is much more an exercise on itself.

Re double, single poling. Single poling gets you nowhere, cause al you do is use your arms, which is ofcourse not much.

Re Double poling, this is the only way to go, if you want speed and its perfectly possible to do this for long times, every fast skierger will 100% do double poling only.

Re drag, high is used for sprints, anything longer 120 or even a good bit lower is best. This will make the stroke the most smooth.

I have x-country skied before and while the SkiErg does not exactly mimic the movements, it does IMO simulate the key movements which involve lifting your pole and planting/pushing it backward in the snow at the same time as you plant your weight on the ski on the same side to achieve the traction necessary to propel yourself forward.

However, you're obviously more experienced in the intricacies of the use of the SkiErg than I am (you have one and I don't) but I already know that can't double pole on the SkiErg at max (or even moderate) effort for more than 30-60 secs w/o totally wearing myself.

Everyone says you don't get "anything" out of single poling on the SkiErg but I don't see how you can't get "anything" out of doing a 15-30 min routine doing it. It might not be "much" but it's certainly better than doing "nothing" and, in terms of general exercise/effort for a senior like me, it's more than enough to meet recommended guidelines.

All I know is that when I do my simulated SkiErg routine w/3" weights in my hand (pretending to single and double pole while x-country skiing in my mind), my legs and shoulder/arms get tired, my HR goes up a little and I "feel" like I've done "something," even if it might not be what other stronger and better fit users of the machine may be doing.

As I mentioned, on the rower I do not exert all that much effort and am mainly interested in the fitness effects.

On the rower, the PM5 says that I burn about (an un-weight adjusted) 650 cals/hr at a pace of about 2:20-230 min/500m but I end each rowing session w/1 min of (for me) max intensity rowing between 750-800 cals/hr. This gets my HR up to around 100-110 (which if the 220-Age=max HR fomula is to be believe is around 60-70% of my max HR) and I sweat a little.

"Good enough" as far as the general fitness/exercise recommendations for seniors is concerned.

I plan to do the same w/the SkiErg if/when I get one by beginning and ending each rowing session w/a moderate to high intensity double pole movement of about 30-60 secs to simulate the start and finish of a x-country skiing run.

If/when I get stronger using the machine, I'll dry to do more but, in the meantime, I'll just do what I can.

[hjs]

Re max effort, everything we do at max effort can only be done for a short while. Row, run, swim at any technique at max effort and you are done if you do this over 3o seconds. Double poling on the skierg can be done combined with jumping, this really gets you going. But ofcourse only for a sprint.

Re single poling, ski on snow is very much a full body movement, the legs push a lot. This complete is not the case on the skierg. A single pole stroke will give very low pace numbers. To get any pace you the goodmorning movement and that needs the double pool.

Think that there is a big different is users, rowers do use machines, the motion is more or less the same. Users of the skierg are looking for the fitness, crossfitters etc, but serious skiers I do see them use it much. The motion is to different. Going outside using roller skies makes much more sence.

If you get your machine no doubt you will find out what you can do and what does work and not. Single poling can be done, but will be slow. Think most people are looking to go slow, but want a technique that does the most for their fitness.

Yesterday, I did this https://log.concept2.com/profile/193225/log/44967496 workout.

Almost 2 hours, continues, double poling, at “talking” effort. Trying to stay fully aerobic. Never above 25% of max effort, powerwise. Max effort would be around 1,15/500 pace. At much higher drag.