Concept2 Forum

After a cycling accident, I will only be able to use one arm for the next 3/4 months.

I saw on the internet a one armed C2 attachment, but it was out of stock.

Question: How can I/can I buy something to be able to row with one arm. (preferably in a safe way, for myself and the machine.)

Don't buy anything.

Just put your finger (or two) through the loop that the chain connects to and row. It won't be as quick as usual but you can row.

Was this what you were looking at? https://equipproducts.com/products/sing ... t-the-hook
Depends where you're based I guess if its worthwhile with shipping/taxes, but does appear to be in stock.

However I suspect, if rowing with one arm, it will be difficult to keep the chain central and in trying to do so you might put potentially injurious rotational forces on your shoulders and torso. May be better to put a strong belt around your chest and attach the front centre of it to the chain link (after removing the handle). This would be similar to a harness for a sailing trapeze or windsurfer but higher on your body. You'd get the leg and swing exercise but obviously nothing on the arm(s) - so maybe not what you're after?

Being a cyclist, you probably have a collection of bicycle parts. Fit a bicycle handgrip to a piece of steel tubing a bit longer than the length of the grip and with a matching outside diameter. Remove the stock C2 handle. Run a steel cable through the chain swivel connector and through the steel tubing on which the bicycle grip is fitted. Use a couple of cable connectors to fasten the ends of the cable together, forming a loop. There you go.

When your injured arm gets better you could make up a second bicycle grip and fasten the two grip assemblies to the chain swivel connector with cable loops. This configuration will enable you to maintain a bio-mechanically correct alignment of your hands, wrists, and forearms, throughout the stroke. This is what you want - not just for your injured arm, but also for your uninjured arm. A rowing ergometer handle is a human/machine interface. At any such interface the machine should adapt to the natural movement of the user, not the user to the machine, as is the case with the stock, single-piece, rigid handle. Many, many users of the C2 rowing ergometer suffer from chronic wrist pain, sometimes so severe that they can no longer row. The stock handle is a bio-mechanical abomination. That does not prevent forum members from blaming the injured users, claiming that their injuries are a result of poor technique. Technique cannot overcome deficiencies in equipment design.

ChrisWilliam wrote: ↑

November 21st, 2022, 3:49 am

After a cycling accident, I will only be able to use one arm for the next 3/4 months.

I saw on the internet a one armed C2 attachment, but it was out of stock.

Question: How can I/can I buy something to be able to row with one arm. (preferably in a safe way, for myself and the machine.)

I did see someone who made a temporary handle by using the handle from a gardening fork, and drilled a hole through it, and connected it in the same way. He was a really strong rower, and it held up to some punishment, albeit one handed.

ChrisWilliam wrote: ↑

November 21st, 2022, 3:49 am

After a cycling accident, I will only be able to use one arm for the next 3/4 months.

I saw on the internet a one armed C2 attachment, but it was out of stock.

Question: How can I/can I buy something to be able to row with one arm. (preferably in a safe way, for myself and the machine.)

Must be something in the air. I’m currently laid up after a cycling accident and also down to one arm with a fractured elbow. Frustrating after the run I’ve had.

I would question/wonder though whether it may be wise to continue to row with only one arm albeit temporarily.
I’d have thought/assumed that in 3 to 4 months that you could introduce a fair amount of muscle unbalance and possibly technique issues (potential torso rotation) that will need dealing with once you get the arm back and also have to deal with the muscle atrophy from lack of use.

I’m still waiting to see a specialist as may require surgery due to poor guidance when I initially went to hospital but rightly or not I’ve decided to pack the erg away for a bit and sulk instead!

Just my thoughts anyway from the same sort of place you are in. Would equally be interested in the thoughts of others.

Good luck with your healing and recovery process.

Pulling with one arm for 3/4 months does not look very satisfactory. One arm may not be enough to carry loads produced by two legs at once, so putting a low limit on the work you can do. Maybe a harness round chest and shoulders could be better if it doesn't interfere, but the stroke would be short.

Possible alternatives are walking and climbing, hills and stairs. An hour a day in the hills if available.

If we weigh 80kg dressed and climb a 3m flight of stairs in 20 seconds, the Wattage is:
80g x 3/20 = 120W; which can be adjusted to taste by going faster and/or with extra load.

You'd need a building with 8-10 floors. Using one leg at a time the thrust per leg is high, as on a bike. Going down is also exercise, as the leg muscles work eccentrically. Make sure there's a handrail on your good arm side.

Hi, thanks for the feedback.

I do have some extra handlebars that I will try. (Or something similar)

But until now, I just need to improve. On leg kick, which you would think would be the same, I feel no connection yet.. I probably swivel my upper body a bit for more length - and those muscles are not strong enough to take the load. Also, I try to keep my arm in the middle, it would be much easier if I could pull in a straight line. I could try a harness around my back. (sorry I love to really pull with my back then arm. what will people think when they see the muscels in my one arm, and nothing in the other?)

No, I do not have a good solution yet. And my technique is in the dumpsters. I have a year or two like this so there is time to improve. If I get injured - then I can warn others what I may have done wrong. silver lining.

Personally would use a "single handle weights attachment", just look on ebay or amazon attach it to a carabina clip. No hassle having to make something.

I don't know if the OP's still around, but during a somewhat related search on the internet I happened to find this image:

(too big for the forum - surprise, surprise - so I'm just providing the link)

Rowing Competition

Army veteran Haywood Range, from Palm Beach, Fla., competes in indoor rowing during the 2017 Invictus Games at Mattamy Sports Centre in Toronto, Sept. 26, 2017. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Alexx Pons

https://dod.defense.gov/OIR/gallery/igphoto/2001818569/

Hope OP is all healed up and going full speed, however, I will have to try something like this. 2 weeks in a cast and I feel disgusted with myself. Dilemma I am having is that I must keep inside dry, which is impossible for me when doing any physical activity, especially in the summer. Even mowing had me sweating within a few minutes.

Ombrax wrote: ↑

January 9th, 2023, 8:53 pm

I don't know if the OP's still around, but during a somewhat related search on the internet I happened to find this image:

https://dod.defense.gov/OIR/gallery/igphoto/2001818569/

The single handle he is using is from Trak Sport. They also sell it as two singles connected to a cross-bar for two handed use. It is flawed for two handed use in that it restricts the user's reach at the catch. A YouTube video shows a stocky man using it, and even he looks cramped. I have eliminated that problem with an alternate design, but unfortunately the moderator here will not allow me to post an image - probably because it too plainly reveals the design deficiency of the stock C2 handle. We must preserve the myth that the C2 rowing ergometer is perfect in every detail.

Slidewinder wrote: ↑

June 21st, 2023, 9:23 am

Ombrax wrote: ↑

January 9th, 2023, 8:53 pm

I don't know if the OP's still around, but during a somewhat related search on the internet I happened to find this image:

https://dod.defense.gov/OIR/gallery/igphoto/2001818569/

The single handle he is using is from Trak Sport. They also sell it as two singles connected to a cross-bar for two handed use. It is flawed for two handed use in that it restricts the user's reach at the catch.

The two handed Sport Trak handle is suggested on C2's website as suitable for adaptive rowers. It is true that the Sport Trak handle ensures a bio-mechanically correct alignment of the hands, wrists, and forearms throughout the stroke, which makes it a vast improvement, in this aspect, over the stock C2 handle, but that advantage is lost for most users because the structure of the handle restricts the user's forward reach at the catch. For those adaptive rowers of limited core mobility and a short reach this would not be an issue, and thus the adaptive rower would enjoy the benefits of the Sport Trak handle (a:reduced risk of wrist injury; b: ability to orient the hands anywhere from horizontal to vertical, thereby engaging other muscle groups and adding variety and interest to the workout program).

But this raises the question: Why should only adaptive rowers enjoy these benefits? For universal application the design challenge was to retain the articulation of the Sport Trak handle without restricting the user's forward reach. Can that be done? Of course it can be done. The C2 stock handle can then go where it should have gone years ago - into the dustbin.

Slidewinder wrote: ↑

June 22nd, 2023, 7:59 am

But this raises the question: Why should only adaptive rowers enjoy these benefits?

Concept 2 endorses the use of the Sport Trak handle for adaptive rowers. There it is on their website. What therefore distinguishes the Sport Trak handle from the C2 stock handle, and what in those distinguishing features particularly recommends it for adaptive rower use? Well, it differs from the C2 stock handle in that it ensures a bio-mechanically correct alignment of the hands, wrists, and forearms, throughout the stroke. It also differs from the C2 stock handle by enabling rotation of the hands through any position from horizontal to vertical. Adaptive rowers, of course, welcome these features. But wait! Surely these described features, these handle improvements, would be welcome by all users.

Slidewinder wrote: ↑

June 23rd, 2023, 10:44 am

Slidewinder wrote: ↑

June 22nd, 2023, 7:59 am

Can't you give it a rest? - We all know you don't like the C2 handle design. You've made your point repeatedly; and now you're just quoting yourself....