Bodybuilding and Rowing: Are They Mutually Exclusive?

[SixSixRower]

After years of bodybuilding (non-competitive) I want to combine rowing (competitive) and bodybuilding. All the workout plans I've been given and found only have lifting weights 2 or 3 days/week. I'd like to find a better combination of weights and cardio. eg: lifting 5 days/week and cardio 5-6 days/week.

Can anyone suggest a training plan that combines the two and is not rowing training with some lifting tacked on?

Thanks!

[rowland]

I would check out the www.crossfit.com/ web site, they are strong advocates of the c2 and being in excellent physical condition

[badocter]

I anticipate that the challenge with finding 5 day a week lifting plans for rowers is that most 5 day lift plans assume an intermediate to advanced level of lifting, whereas most of us here are at most novice lifters for which 3 day a week plans are sufficient for progression. You may want to try the C2 UK forum since there are more folks over there and at least a few that have an advanced weightlifting or powerlifting background.

http://www.concept2.co.uk/forum

[romad63]

Six,

Ask 20 people what you should do and you'll prolly get 20 different answers, lol.... so here's mine

I've been doing both for a little over 2 years now. I've lifted for about 30 years now and consider myself fairly advanced when it comes to lifting.

Overall it's going to depend on what your goal is. If you are looking to build mass then as you prolly know you want to keep the cardio down and do low rep/high weight.

I weight train basically to maintain my strength and to benefit my rowing so I do the following training days:

Monday - Chest
Tuesday - Arms
Wed - Off
Thurs - Legs
Fri - Back
Sat - Shoulders
Sun - Off

I usually don't do more than 30-45 minutes of weights each day usually at lunch time. I also do ab training nightly as well as Yoga 2x a week.I do mostly high rep(12-20)/low weight training because as stated before I am not looking to build but maintain.

In the winter on the erg I work with a rowing coach and on average we spend 60-75 minutes of training 3-4 nights a week. Most of the work is geared towards racing (i'd say average splits for short pieces are sub 1:45 for distance sub 2:00). On "off" days with the coach I erg on my own.

In the summer we are on the water for about 90 minutes a day-5x a week so that is my cardio

overall it works for me - i've dropped my Bodyfat % by about 10 percent in the past year and am prolly in the best shape of my life since college (i'm 45).

It takes a lot of dedication to go at this pace so unless you are like me and a total gym rat it might get to the point you quit. If you are reaching that point my suggestion would be to cut back to 3 days of weights.

As for a program of what to lift - that's too personal to really tell you. I'd STRONGLY suggest you contact a personal trainer and pay for a couple of sessions with them. Tell them what your goal is and let them give you a plan that is tailored to you. A good trainer can give you a plan that will vary things to match your goals and prolly more important keep you from getting bored.

[tom pinckney]

Clarence Bass is a 60+ year old bodybuilder (wrote the Ripped series of books) and writes sensiibly about how to train. He combines weights, aerobics anda proper diet to stay in incredible shape for any age. You might read his books.

I've tried his methods and they work exteremely well, especially for an older person that needs a little more time to recover. Basically you want to cross-train. Clarence does his areobics the same day as he lifts. If you are doing a split routine, it is suggested you do something like this (or similar):

Four days per week weight training:
1. day one: pushing muscles: walk on a treadmill or bike
2. day trwo: pulling mucsles: row or do a stepping type machine.
3: day off (walk)
4. repeat day one
5. repeat day two
6. off (walk)
7. off walk)

OR

Three days on - one day off: (I like this one a lot because it only works your muscles directly every four days and gives you recover time before your next workout with the same muscles).

1. day one: Chest, Shoulders, Triceps: stepping machine
2. day two: Back, Biceps: Rowing machine
3. day three: legs - treadmill
4. day four: take the day off. (walk)
Start over after day four.

Of course you can also lift one day and do aerobics the next. However, you lmust give yourself time to recover.

Any of these methods give you plenty time to recover and if you look at the weights/aerobic machines listed you will note that the same bodyparts are used in tossing around the "iron pills" as used on the aerobic machines. Thus, you never hit the same bodyparts directly two days in a row. Walkng is part of active recovery. I purchased a dog to get me to do it. This has worked very well for me.

Of course, any combination of other machines that do the same things would also work. I have tried this and it is very good. Of course there's also periodization (vary the intensity over the year) and hard/easy days during the week.

Of course, right now a lot of us are doing the JVC and rowing every day. We must be careful not to overtriain and wear ourselves out or (even worse) - hurt ourselves. Hope this helps you.

[romad63]

Tom that's a pretty good program. Interesting though that he doesn't seperate the lifting days (4 day plan) with walking days - ie walk day two, lift day three and so on. Do you know why?

[sophia99]

I just want to remind you that you must have a proper form of exercise. This is so critical in using the rowing machine. You risk injury and just plain not getting a good workout. Anyone i see in the gym who uses these machines does it so horribly incorrect that I just have to shake my head and walk away. Please please please learn how to use it, and enjoy.

[hjs]

After years of bodybuilding (non-competitive) I want to combine rowing (competitive) and bodybuilding. All the workout plans I've been given and found only have lifting weights 2 or 3 days/week. I'd like to find a better combination of weights and cardio. eg: lifting 5 days/week and cardio 5-6 days/week.

Can anyone suggest a training plan that combines the two and is not rowing training with some lifting tacked on?

Thanks!

Depends on what you want, rowing is a power endurance sport. On the erg extra mass won,t help but relative speaking doesn,t hinder you much either. The longer work on the erg and BB don,t work along together but sprinting on the erg and power go hand in hand in hand very well.

[Carl Watts]

Weights alone will help your power but the weights will not help your cardio much, or put simply your endurance to sustain that power for any length of time. Primarily because weights are short interval training and your just not on the clock to even begin the next set. A mix of both is good however I confess to doing some rowing at very low ratings which is starting to simulate equipment like the leg press and seated rows at the gym anyway.If you have a history of bodybuilding you will most likley find you already have the power, it's just going to be technique and building the cardio fitness to support the muscle mass. Thats what I'm finding anyway, somehow the heart didn't improve at the same rate as the rest of the body and it's taking a while to get it to catch up !