Concept2 Forum

Dear all,

I am quite new to indoor rowing, getting my rower a few weeks ago. I train about three times per week and I greatly enjoy it, especially on bad weather days.
One problem I'm experiencing is that my bottom (butt) starts hurting after about 10 minutes of training. It feels like fallen-asleep arms/legs, but without tingling.
It is not really painful, but it is that unpleasant that I have to stop rowing, get up for about 1-2 minutes, then start rowing again, after 10 minutes it starts all over again.
First I thought I have to get used to the position etc., but doing it for weeks, without improvement seems strange to me.

Due to this I was wondering if there is anyone else, experiencing this kind of problem?
Or do you have any tips what I could try and do, so that it might get better?

What I already tried was to use a small towel as a base, but didn't help.
I am also especially careful to tense my abs/muscles.

I am excited for your help,
Thanks in advance!

Very common, the glutes go numb from restricted bloodflow. Getting bigger glutes helps not fat, but muscle. Easy said...
Over time it gets better, also rocking over well, moving enough on the seat helps. The 11/13.00 ovlock movement from tge hips/lower back during the stroke. Sitting straight up, like I often see in gyms is not the way to go. Get you hips working!

try a folded towel on the seat. if you stick with erging, even if you are a skinny person, EVENTUALLY there is a good chance your rear will adapt. Very hard sessions will still give glute pain but more from the effort than lack of adaption to a hard seat.

I find that the standard Concept 2 Seat Pad helps.

http://www.concept2.co.uk/indoor-rowers ... pad-deluxe

If you've not seen it before it fits the opposite way around to what you expect - the V cut out toward the back of the erg and those two painful bits in your bum rock over the two holes. Never going to rival any sofa, but its comfy enough for a full workout....

MPx wrote:I find that the standard Concept 2 Seat Pad helps.
http://www.concept2.co.uk/indoor-rowers ... pad-deluxe
If you've not seen it before it fits the opposite way around to what you expect - the V cut out toward the back of the erg and those two painful bits in your bum rock over the two holes. Never going to rival any sofa, but its comfy enough for a full workout....

Yes I agree - big fan of the C2 pad (and there are lots of others too)

I got my seat pad few days after i first got my C2. I have never had any butt issues ever, so maybe this was down to the seat pad!

Definitely should help

The grey seat on the Model D is like twice as soft as the black seat on the Model C, but that still will not help you unless you have built up your muscles in your butt.

Its no different from riding a bike, until your muscles adapt it hurts.

Just restrict your seat time and build up slowly.

Thanks to all of you for your answers!

I will definitely continue with my training, hoping to build butt muscles soon (I'm very skinny and don't have much fat there, maybe this is too an encouraging factor).
Until then, I will get up every 10 minutes and stand/walk for a minute, as I also did so far (this is just a bit annoying, cause I would like to row in one piece).
The seat pad sounds like a good option, which I will definitely keep in mind.

Thanks!

What came to my mind just recently - do you have and use rowing shorts (padded) or do you use normal sport shorts?

And what would you prefer: rowing shorts or the C2 seat pad?

"proper" rowers use an all-in-one and I'm pretty sure there's no padding in the seat. You could try compression shorts - something like a cycling short but without the chamois inside. I have a pair and use them sometimes on the erg but mainly I just use running shorts - short and not restrictive at all....and preserve your modesty with the liner inside.

I am skinny compared to most on here and I will say, as above, EVENTUALLY there is a good chance your butt will just get used to erg seat as it is. For me, it's OK but coincidentally I have been getting a bit of glute pain recently and in an attempt at a "marginal gain" when I come to doing HIT such as time-trials (for SB or PBs) or intervals, I've started going back to the folded towel on the seat for the other days I train where the emphasis is on long, slow distance work.

I am not a big fan of the C2 seat pad. It just doesn't provide enough cushioning. I found two alternatives that are inexpensive and work better for me. One is a piece of one inch thick high density foam rubber cut to the size of the C2 pad. Any store that sells foam rubber should have it in stock. The other one is bubble wrap. I use a couple of layers consisting of the larger one inch diameter bubbles. You can use an additional layer or two if you care to. The downside is that it wears out after a while and has to be replaced. But the cost is very low, so that's not a problem.

If the C2 pad works for you, fine. If it doesn't, try one or both of these alternatives.

Sore-No-More pad. Good pad, durable, choice of OTW crew, siiicone provides nonslip contact between shorts and seat which can be useful to erg sprinters who tend to become airborne. Pricey but you buy it once. Been the folded towel, bubblewrap, closed cell ethafoam, garden kneeling pad, home brewed route. Like this one best.

Some time ago, probably a year or more ago, someone on this forum suggested sitting at the forward edge of the seat. It's so long ago now I can't recall if I was even having that problem, but since then I've always done that, and no problems to the 1.25-hour mark or so.

Might be worth a try. The price is right!

This is merely anecdotal, but the basic C2 seat pad works well for me on my Model C rower at home.

I'm pretty sure that the Model D rower uses a different (somewhat softer) seat, or at least the one at the gym feels a bit softer. I don't need a pad on that one.

Try the C2 pad - they aren't expensive at all, and worth a shot.

Good Luck

if i strap in (faster pieces) then I'm usually uncomfortable after ~40 mins and have to wiggle a bit to releive the pain.
strapless i rarely get ass pain.

I lost a lot of mass (fat?) on my glutes on the first few years rowing and instead of finding it better - it was worse for me. rolling over the ischium (i think thats what its called) was painful and i had to use a seat pad.

it has got better, but i find strapless easier as the 11-1 pendulum action is enforced (else you fall of the back)