Concept2 Forum

I do upper body weight training Mondays and Thursdays evenings and use the Concept 2 rower five times a week during the day. I row for 30 minutes at the highest resistance.

Could rowing only 10-12 hours after strenuous weight lifting get in the way of muscle recovery and if so, how often a week should I row?

First question,

Why High resistance on the rower? You are already doing weight training, so why try and do it on the erg as well.

Secondly, if you are doing heavy weights regularly, heavy enough that you are damaging muscle tissue in order to build it up, the repetitive motion and resistance placed on these same muscles (particularly at high damper setting on the rower) can not exactly be a good thing for recovery.

As for how many days a week to row - I cant really say. What are your aims overall? Fast times or big guns?

I use high resistance to burn more calories. Basically, the rower is just another part of my cardio workout.

Secondly, if you are doing heavy weights regularly, heavy enough that you are damaging muscle tissue in order to build it up, the repetitive motion and resistance placed on these same muscles (particularly at high damper setting on the rower) can not exactly be a good thing for recovery.

I'm going to play it safe and not row the day after upper body training. That's 3 rowing days out of my 5 cardio days a week.

I think you'll find that, if you lowered the damper setting and rowed at the same speed (that is, the same time per 500m), you will burn roughly the same number of calories. It seems counter-intuitive, but give it a try!