Hi all, about to get my own Concept 2 rower.

[Twonks]

Thought I'd join this community to read, learn and hopefully eventually give something back

At 50 years young I've loved the C2 for probably 30 years although never really taken it seriously beyond a warm up means for weights or a 30 minute session at work lunch.

I did get into it a bit some years ago, with the occasional half marathon - not sure if that's even a thing on a rower, but it was good fun.

Now I find myself hugely overweight (270lb @ 5 foot 11) and having just bought a second hand C2 model C from work as they are disbanding their own gym. The machine has been well looked after and I have a PM5 on order already.

My main passion in life is mountain biking but I am now feeling my age and weight so have to do something about it. Age can't be played with too much, so food will be addressed. A 5:2 diet has worked in the past and I intend to use either the C2 or indoor bike for at least 30 minutes before work every day, with longer outdoor rides during summer evenings and weekends all year.

Need to make some space for the C2 as I didn't realise just how big they are, and it will be home within a couple of weeks so the log book will start to fill - can't wait

[MPx]

Best of luck with that Twonks. Bought my Model C back in 1997 and have made it part of what I do. You do the same and I'm sure you'll make your goals. The 3 or 4 hours a week on the erg obviously burn a fair few calories, but it also increases metabolic rate so more calories burn even when you aren't on it. Having said that, there's no amount of effort you can put into the erg that will match a bad diet and over eating so deffo something to be addressed in tandem. Do what you need to do to make it enjoyable and you'll keep doing it.

[Ombrax]

I intend to use either the C2 or indoor bike for at least 30 minutes before work every day

Welcome to the forum.

A random comment: In my experience rowing indoors is not nearly as boring as a bike on rollers or stationary trainer indoors. Maybe it's because my brain is just too used to being outside when I cycle, but because I find that I have to concentrate on the PM if I want to maintain my pace (otherwise I just slack off and end up rowing at a pace way lower than my goal) my mind is much more occupied when rowing, and unlike cycling indoors where it turns to mush, I much prefer erging inside. (Plus, on the erg I feel that 30 minutes is enough for a good workout, whereas on the bike that feels like nothing at all.)

Good Luck

[Carl Watts]

Long term motivation on the rower in a problem for most people.

Sooner or later you loose interest in it, especially as your performance hits a plateau.

Look at the likes of RowPro or you can connect you Erg to Zwift with the RowedBiker App on your phone and a PM5 monitor.

Typically you need to be able to add another dimension to the indoor rower if you want to keep on going year after year.

[Twonks]

Thanks for the comments, most welcome.

My indoor bike is set up to avoid boredom and make is easy to just get on and ride. Learnt the hard way years ago that if I have to mess about setting things up, I won’t do it - sad but true. It’s an old bike permanently set up on a Wahoo KickR with big tv and 20” fan, so quite a decent set up that is used with Zwift or Sufferfest for turbo sessions.

Getting bored on the rower previously never bothered me for some reason although as said maybe it will once I get to a good place with it and have to push harder to make progress. Luckily it will also be left in a state of readiness, so no excuses for not getting on it.

However I didn’t know about using Zwift with the rower, this sounds intriguing and I’ll have a look later today.

[Carl Watts]

However I didn’t know about using Zwift with the rower, this sounds intriguing and I’ll have a look later today.

Makes perfect sense if your already paying for and using Zwift.

The only Tip is make sure the name of your phone thats used to ID it is short and contains no special characters. I wasted days trying different laptops all because my default phone name on my Samsung was to long and contained an apostrophe and it stuffed the phones Bluetooth connection to Zwift on my PC. RowedBiker is very easy to use and setup.

[Tsnor]

Also, some good success stories here: viewforum.php?f=9 Sometimes it helps to see what others did.

For rowing technique consider https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDJEgtM3t2Y&t=1s and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxpSfL3CFtA to safely row with a larger chest/belly.

For training plan, 30 mins/day sounds excellent. There is some research showing 45 mins or more in a single session drives adaptations that shorter sessions don't get. As you work into your plan consider combining 2 days of 30 minutes into 1 day of 45 to 60 mins.

[Twonks]

Thanks again, will look into software etc soon.
The C2 is now in our house, albeit in 2 bits awaiting a clean and the missed PM5 delivery

On closer inspection it is missing a couple of bolts, which I have to source as they are all imperial.
The foot plates are also worn, with ridges where I presume shoes of differing sizes have been pressing down over the years.

All relatively minor considering the age and price I paid for it, so I'm not grumbling just making observations.
Will be clearing its intended location this week and aiming to have the first row over the weekend

[Citroen]

On closer inspection it is missing a couple of bolts, which I have to source as they are all imperial.

The Concept2 shop has their American threaded bolts.

https://www.concept2.co.uk/shop
or
https://shop.concept2.com/

(Other shops for other countries exist.)

[Twonks]

Well it's in



Need to tidy up and move the bike down a little but so far so good. There is enough space to the wall, even though it looks tight in the pic.

Did an impromptu 500m row (523 overall). 2.04 average with stroke rate @ 29spm, average watts 181, 61 strokes and a drag factor of 141 with it on cover position 5, so that needs some tweaking down.

Was only messing about and couldn't resist but had the wrong clothes on and not prepared for it at all so didn't go all out by any means.
The old feelings came back quickly, it's a brutal machine - bit noisy (air rush) though, which is a worry for being in a house.

Have set the log book up and use the ergdata app which sync to Strava automatically.
Now I need to see how to allow my other half to row and use her own logbook etc, without cocking each others up.

[Dangerscouse]

Have set the log book up and use the ergdata app which sync to Strava automatically.
Now I need to see how to allow my other half to row and use her own logbook etc, without cocking each others up.

There's no issue with logbooks if you're using Ergdata or Ergzone, and have your own smartphones, but just make sure you check the footplates and drag factor if you're both using it. That will be the easiest mistake to make.

[Tsnor]

Have set the log book up and use the ergdata app which sync to Strava automatically.
Now I need to see how to allow my other half to row and use her own logbook etc, without cocking each others up.

Assuming you are each using your own phone for ergdata then key is getting the right phone and ergdata to pm5 connection for each row. If the ergdata to phone bluetooth connection is still active from the prior user then next rower's session ends up on the prior user's phone.

When you finfish hit the menu button 4 times slowly on the PM5 -- it will drop the bluetooth connection and power down. You can also go into the "connect" menu item and disconnect.

When you start a new session If your phone has near field communication (NFC) then touching your phone to the PM5 will override any prior bluetooth connection that might still be there and set up a new one. https://www.concept2.com/service/softwa ... munication

(disclaimer: I don't have a lot of experience with this, no one else in my family rows. There have been other posts in this forum about misattributed sessions. the NFC approach seems perfect, but I don't use it. If you try it and it doesn't work please post.)