Concept2 Forum

I'm new to the Concept 2 and looking for advice from any senior rowers. I'm 86 years old, 170 pounds and 5'11(now). I started rowing when I was in college 65 years ago and have, off and on, used the Tunturi type rower since then. I'm limiting myself to working out about 20 minutes twice a day to start. The only challenge I've tried is 2000 m, 11:59 minutes @ 20-21s/m, damper on 3, pulse up to 105. My goal is to strengthen my core muscles without breaking anything, so I would like to hear from any seniors that have accomplished that. Also, my wife and I snack more than dine, so are there any supplemnts you would recommend?

Well done, keep at it. Your numbers say you know plenty already.

I started rowing in 1953, more or less, competitively from '55 to '61. Then nearly nothing til about 2002 when I got me a C2 and the year after a 1x. The erg works perfectly in all respects, if we use it; and we can, year round.

Normal appetite will cover any extra demand for energy; 1000 km a year is what everyone needs to do, or equivalent.

I've deduced via detailed and highly scientific calculations in my tortuous way that an extra bowl of peaches/strawberries and cream fits the bill ideally. Though of course if you like an extra dose of oil/butter/parmesan on your rice or pasta, feel free. If anyone asks, you need it.

a47bluejay wrote:I'm new to the Concept 2 and looking for advice from any senior rowers. I'm 86 years old, 170 pounds and 5'11(now). I started rowing when I was in college 65 years ago and have, off and on, used the Tunturi type rower since then. I'm limiting myself to working out about 20 minutes twice a day to start. The only challenge I've tried is 2000 m, 11:59 minutes @ 20-21s/m, damper on 3, pulse up to 105. My goal is to strengthen my core muscles without breaking anything, so I would like to hear from any seniors that have accomplished that. Also, my wife and I snack more than dine, so are there any supplemnts you would recommend?

I have an "erg buddy" Vincent Home who is 91, only started training about 4 years ago and is very good at it and training very hard.
His times are amazing - 2k is 9:20 and 1k 4:19 and 500 @1:59. He has done a half marathon and is training for a full soon!
Bob Spenger is similar age, even faster and has set a lot of 90+ WRs in the past 12 months from a life long on the water experience and is still training a lot.
The C2 is an amazing machine and just listen to your body and go for it I reckon. Great for fitness, strength and maintaining muscle mass.

Best of luck

a47bluejay wrote:I'm new to the Concept 2 and looking for advice from any senior rowers. I'm 86 years old, 170 pounds and 5'11(now). I started rowing when I was in college 65 years ago and have, off and on, used the Tunturi type rower since then. I'm limiting myself to working out about 20 minutes twice a day to start. The only challenge I've tried is 2000 m, 11:59 minutes @ 20-21s/m, damper on 3, pulse up to 105. My goal is to strengthen my core muscles without breaking anything, so I would like to hear from any seniors that have accomplished that. Also, my wife and I snack more than dine, so are there any supplemnts you would recommend?

FWIW, I'm 68, 180, 5'8' and just got my Concept 2 a couple of weeks ago. I've used a Concept rower many before at a gym but this is the 1st I've owned. Only had a spin bike -- a LeMond RevMaster Pro -- before. I've only recorded 5 rowing sessions so far at approximately the same steady state: 5200m in 30 mins @ 25 s/m w/an ave HR of 110 which is within my target HR zone. I'm rowing and biking every other day just to create some variety.

Frankly, find the workout rowing better than biking but both can be boring unless you set up a video display and run one of the compatible racing/training programs. I'll never win any races and my goal/use of the Concept 2 is much more mundane. Just want to lose/maintain weight, maintain my general heart health/physical strength/and conditioning. I've lost 16 lbs in 7 weeks. My target weight is 175, which isn't far off. After that, I'll just go into maintenance mode.

I was also doing some heavy weight lifting in my home gym to go along w/the biking and rowing but, of course, hurt myself (again) doing that last week. Injured my SI joint. How do I know? Did it before 3 years ago doing the same lift (squat) and it feels just the same; only the left instead of the right side this time. Am rehabing it myself this time; ice, brace and SI rehab exercises.

Been there, done that before. Not going to bother w/cortisone shots again; didn't work the last time. Only time, rest and rehab exercises did. Fortunately, I am still able to bike and row w/o pain.

Not sure about biking but I'm pretty sure that rowing helps strengthen the core but there's a limit to how much it can do in this regard. Weightlifting doing basic compound lifts and doing other core intensive exercises (like farmer's walks, landmine routines, sled pull/push and tire flipping/strikes) can take you beyond what the rower can do alone and I'll be getting back to that as soon as my current injury passes.

Not suggesting that you should do any heavy lifting or other strenuous routines at your age but you may want to look into doing some other body weight exercises for variety to improve your overall general conditioning. If in doubt, consult a personal trainer who is EXPERIENCED in working with SENIORS. There are NOT that many trainers who specialize in working w/seniors. So, if you go that route, BE SELECTIVE.

Good luck!

Bluejay, there are many ex-collegiate rowers on this forum. JamesG is, I think? Bob Spenger is another. 92 yrs. old with a fistful of recent erg records for age group 90-95. Not many posts recently but hope he will see your thread and post. And there are also young men here with interesting erging experience and advice. Welcome to the forum.

@Jackarabit: I did see it Jack, but I didn't feel that I had much to contribute. jamesg, as usual, gave excellent advice. My own successes are more a matter of luck than of anything else, starting with the "luck of the draw" from the gene pool and making to 90 still in condition to get on and off the erg. The other part is being a stubborn old (name your own expletive) and having solid goals that looked to be achievable. With those goals accomplished, my motivation went pffft and I have done zilch since. With regard to supplements - yeah - I use some - some might say that I overdose on them, but I don't have enough confidence to recommend them to others to others. Actually, a few of them were recommended by medical professionals, but I figure that they are specific to me and not necessarily applicable to any one else. I try to follow generally accepted rules, like lots of leafy greens, avoiding mono- and disaccharides, saturated fats, and heavily salted prepared foods.

I have a good guide for salt. Check the label on any packaged food. The normal Calorie requirement for an average adult is about 2200C/day. The recommended limit for sodium is 2400mg/day. In the words, close enough to equal in number to compare directly. I avoid anything that has too high a ratio of mg of sodium to Calories. Things like canned soup can often have a ratio of 10/1 - a 900% excess of sodium! Some would say to avoid all prepared food, which is excellent advice, but hard for us lazy ones to follow. But then there was my dad, who salted any meal set in front of him without even checking the taste first. He was an exceptionally strong guy and enjoyed excellent health well into his late 80s, making it almost to 91 before he died, in his sleep, of pulmonary edema.

Bob S.