Concept2 Forum

Hi All,
I've been doing a lot of reading on the Women's forum as well as the Weight Loss forum. I'm somewhat confused as to what approach I should take for maximum weight loss.

Some suggest the Pete Plan, especially for the newbies so that they can get used to the intensity and duration. While others have suggested that 30-45 minutes of rowing straight or one suggested (Grams) that you do 3 10 minute intervals.

So, my question is...what is the best approach for maximum weight loss as well as toning the lower body?

Currently I'm comfortable with a damper setting at 5 and I can average a 500m row at 2:30...that may not be impressive to most but for a newbie I think I've doing quite well. Right now I just want to focus on losing weight and definitely toning the butt and thighs rather than seeing how fast I can row for time. I have approximately 25% to drop and melt a ton of fat that has remained on my back side since dropping 100+ lbs two years ago. Sadly , my body fat percent is approximately 34% and I want to get it down to under 20%, which has been a long time goal of mine.

Can anyone give me some suggestions on this issue.

Thank you in advance,
Patti

magenta3604 wrote:Hi All,
I've been doing a lot of reading on the Women's forum as well as the Weight Loss forum. I'm somewhat confused as to what approach I should take for maximum weight loss.

Thank you in advance,
Patti :D

Check out:

http://www.concept2.co.uk/weightloss/interactive.php

It is specific for weight loss, so it should be better than those programs that are designed for improving speed.

Bob S.

Okay, I looked at the link and calculated what my workout should be; however, I have a question on what the chart means...I'm new, so bare with me


In the chart below, can someone explain what 2 x 18' etc means? I am assuming that the 2 preceeding the other numbers means intervals, but I'm confused with the other numbers though.

Week Session 1 Session 2 Session 3 Session 4 Session 5
Week 1 2 x 18' UT1 2 x 20' UT1 2 x 22' UT1 2 x 18' UT1 2 x 20' UT1
Week 2 2 x 25' UT1 4 x 12' UT1 3 x 18' UT1 2 x 25' UT1 4 x 12' UT1
Week 3 2 x 14' UT1 2 x 15' UT1 2 x 16' UT1 2 x 14' UT1 2 x 15' UT1

Thank you so much,
Patti

what is the best approach for maximum weight loss as well as toning the lower body?

It looks like you're off to a good start and are not afraid of hard work. So you know the only approach is to learn to row a good stroke and to use your legs to full extension, where the muscle is. In the end only this can make you work hard, load your CV system and so reach either result.

Have patience, losing weight by work means lots of work, and if unfit this will be impossible to start with. But you'll be amazed how fit you can get and what you can do. Keeping fit by rowing is a lifelong business, a few months to learn how are well spent.

If you're unfit, you won't be able to follow any schedule, except maybe the Interactive Weight Loss which lets you decide your fitness level and uses HR as control. Again, use the start to go slow and learn how.

2 x 18' UT1 means 18 minutes twice, at HR level UT1. Rest in between to let HR drop to 100-120.

UT1 and UT2 mean utilisation levels 1 and 2 and refer to HR levels as percents of your HR range. For example, if you have resting HR 70, and maximum 180, then 80% (the highest UT1 rate) would be 70 + 80% of 180-70, or 70+88=158.

I'd suggest you do more or less as you like, keeping HR below 150 or lower for now, so that you can keep going for some time. But never row a bad or weak stroke; your legs are there for the using. You can always drop the rating if it gets too tough. When doing UT1 and 2, start slow to warm up, it can take 10 minutes or more to get in range.

Damper 5 is too high to row well or fast, it's like trying to push over a brick wall, nothing happens. 2 or 3 is quicker and makes it much easier to pull a long stroke with work in it.

The essence of rowing is Legs and Length, not force; as you get stronger you can pull as hard as you like, but length must be there from day 1. It's good for your joints and tendons too, not just muscle.

Translated 2 x 18' = 2 intervals at 18 minutes each and a rest period of 2-3 minutes between the intervals

UT1 = 70-80 % maximum heart rate and 20-24 strokes per minute.

Thank you for explaining that chart; I had a feeling that 18' meant 18 minutes and so forth

I'm not exactly fit or unfit...I've been working on it for several years now. I started at 270 lbs in August 2006 with a BF % of 58 so now I just have 25 more lbs to go as well as getting rid of that aweful body fat to bring my BF % way down.

After eyeballing the rowing machine for 2 years and finally trying it I never thought how much I would enjoy it this much. It's not boring and I'm not continually watching to see how much more time I have left like on other machines at the gym.

I have been watching my form because ironically the rowing machines are right next to the mirror in the gym. This allows me to check my form from the side view.

Thank you again for all the replies; it has been quite helpful.

Patti

If you read the whole page that you got the data from, it explains it in detail, in very easy to understand terms. The notation is defined farther down on the page.