Long journey ahead ......

[Pluto man]

Hi everyone,
Just received my new concept D rower today and so begins a journey of reducing weight and increasing fitness. The good lady and I have looked and pondered on this purchase for a while, but eventually we just bit the bullet and went ahead, after all life isn’t a rehearsal people!

So a little bit about my fitness and weight. Currently weight is 17 stone 3 pounds, which is around 110 Kgs. Height is 6 foot 1 or 182cm. Main priorities for me are to lose weight, watch my diet and generally improve fitness. I have also bought some weights to also supplement my rowing with free weight exercises.

Been reading a lot about start slow and steady, get a feel for the rower without ‘blasting away’ so after assembly decided to just row for 10 minutes and then a gentle 5 minutes later on. Too steady?
Would like advice and feel I could row for maybe 30 minutes at the 24/25 pace. Also do you guys recommend a couple of sessions a day at this pace or one long session when starting off.
Even after my gentle 15 minutes I can feel it slightly in my legs and arms, so something is happening.

Anyway thanks for reading and looking forward to hearing all your suggestions.

Regards, Neil.

[jamesg]

One way to learn to swim is to jump in at the deep end. Since on the erg there's no risk of drowning, why not do same. Keep it simple; and take your time to learn to row using the legs most of all, what all the buttons are for, how to monitor and control your effort level and reactions, how to increase your effort level as your condition improves.

Most of all, never miss more than a day aboard, and enjoy. Most problems sort themselves, and there's always a solution here anyway.

[Slothful1]

What James said.

Get into a regular habit and it will be easy to maintain into the long term. Find an approach that suits your personality - some people need the structure of a formal training plan, others prefer to go with what they feel like on the day. Some get motivated by accumulating metres and chasing better positions on the rankings.

Search on here for the thread on the Beginners Pete Plan or go to the original source. I'm a fan of the Interactive Training Programmes.

This forum is useful for offering training advice, or you could post a video of your rowing to get tips on technique. You could also check out the various Teams on the forum, there are a few that are open to new members, e.g. Forum Flyers (but I'm biased!).

The Cross Team Challenge gives some good variety with a challenge that changes every month.

Bottom line though is keep going, and ask for help if you feel motivation flagging.

Cheers
Dave

[Pluto man]

Thanks guys for the heads up and links.

just following on from yesterday, did a gentle ...ish row of 20 minutes, at 22/24 strokes per minute.

Feel great so far, going to hit the rower again later today, before tea.

One question please guys, what heart monitor do you use or recommend?

I have the pm5 and i-phone erg app so would like some connectivity between the 2 if possible.

Neil.

[Dangerscouse]

I agree with the previous comments and well done on buying an erg and your progress so far.

Mix up some slower rates 18-20 and 24-26 to get used to the difference and I'd recommend rowing for as long as you feel like you can do in one session. As distances progress maybe break them up into intervals with 2 or 3 mins rest inbetween.

As for a HR monitor I use a Wahoo Tickr; cheap and reliable. I assume the erg app is Ergdata?

[Pluto man]

I agree with the previous comments and well done on buying an erg and your progress so far.

Mix up some slower rates 18-20 and 24-26 to get used to the difference and I'd recommend rowing for as long as you feel like you can do in one session. As distances progress maybe break them up into intervals with 2 or 3 mins rest inbetween.

As for a HR monitor I use a Wahoo Tickr; cheap and reliable. I assume the erg app is Ergdata?

Thanks mate,
Some really good advice there my friend
Completed another session this morning, rowed another 30 minutes and mixed up the rates and min/500 meters rate. Arms feel it now and the legs as well especially around the tops of them, just above the knees.

Just ordered the Wahoo Tickr as recommended by another member on here. At least I will then be able to stay in the fat burning zone, which is my main aim for now until my overall fitness improves.

My overall aims?
Well weight reduction is one - currently 108 kilograms would like to get down to a round 100 kilograms within the next few months and then if possible work my way down to 95 kilograms in time for holiday in September. I’m a heavy build type of guy, ex martial artist so I do have memory of exercise and working up a sweat.
Another aim is improving overall fitness and by reducing my weight through the use of the rower I guess this will go hand in hand. I’m also considering doing the local 5k race, nothing too long but long enough to get the heart working and an added bonus is the route goes past my house ...

Thanks for all the advice, I plan on using this thread to talk about and share my progress.

Neil.

[Dangerscouse]

You're very welcome Neil.

Don't get caught up in pace times, just strictly use the HR zone and slow down when you get close to it. It's very easy to get competitive but you can do a faster session once a week just to test improvements and keep you on your toes!! 5k is a great session to use for this imo

[jamesg]

Been using a PM for the best part of 20 years, but only noticed this a.m. that with a HR belt connected, the barchart display on PM5 shows HR; so you can see the HR trend continuously once connected.

HR may well be slow to reach a useful level for both fat removal and get fit effects. I'd guess about 1 W/kg (fit weight) would be enough to start with while not forcing an early stop. This fit weight can be estimated at 23 to 25 times your height in meters, squared. So min Watt level = say 25 H². If you are 1.8 m tall, 25 x 1.8² is 80 Watts, which you will soon exceed anyway.

[Pluto man]

Quick update after a week with the rower.

I have lost a total of 6 pounds, roughly 3 kilos - so very impressed and just goes to show what regular exercise and making small changes can do ....

Total rowing metres is 58k for the week and I have burnt off around 2500 calories according to the erg data.

I even managed to set a PB in the 2k row at 8.58.1 and another one in the 30 minutes row @ 6188 meters.
Not really pushing myself on either but just wanted a baseline to target as the weight drops off.

Thoughts on my exercise regime:
I get very sweaty hands so sometimes have to adjust my grip on the handle, what do other rowers use to combat this? It doesn’t seem a problem so much now as I get used to the exercise but was really bad when I first started.

Another question I’m just starting to get a twinge in my back, nothing serious but maybe it’s because of my lack of or practically no warm up or warm down, so I’m guessing this will stiffen up warm muscles quickly? I think I have answered my own question - note to self do proper warm ups and warm downs!

Other than that really enjoying my rowing and I have to say the rower is a well built machine and so easy to use. I also purchased a Wahoo Tickr to manage my fat burning zones and also when I want to push it, but not too far and I would recommend any beginner getting one to help monitor your heart rate, especially for someone not used to exercise.

Thanks for reading and another update in a weeks time.

Regards, Neil.

[Dangerscouse]

If you live in UK, get Myprotein liquid chalk. It doesn't stop the sweating totally but it does help

[Ombrax]

I get very sweaty hands so sometimes have to adjust my grip on the handle, what do other rowers use to combat this?

Congratulations on your great start.

In my case I've found that Crew Stop rowing gloves do a great job for sweaty hands. They aren't cheap, but IMO worth it.

Good Luck

[Pluto man]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, last couple of workouts it hasn’t been to bad and the blister on my hands are starting to heal and harden.

[pes949]

Based on forum suggestions I just purchased a Wahoo Tickr. I have been rowing actively for about a year now and after trying a Fitbit I now realize that my goal of weight loss can be optimized by managing heart rate in my workouts. Up to now the sessions have largely been based on how I feel without really knowing what zone I am in until after the workout, During the workouts I often have a few minutes at peak and a little more in cardio followed by fat burn. For me I want to focus on fat burn with some cardio and only do peak in specifically planned sessions. It is also important not to overdo things so the heart rate monitor is a great way to manage that.

[Pluto man]

Another update guys.
Still enjoying my rowing, getting sweaty and losing weight as well.

I’ve now lost a total of 4.5 kilos, around 9 pounds in old money since starting this about 2/3 weeks ago and I’ve noticed a few things. My breathing is improving and has gone from struggling to breathe when exercising to being able to breathe far easier.
I’m hungry a lot more and ready for my meals. This is probably due to my portion control, eating less and the type of foods I am eating. I’ve more or less totally cut out sugar and sweets, sticking to fresh fruit and nuts as snacks now. However I’m no saint so do have something naughty a couple of times a week without going totally over the top.
Total meters rowed stands at 103k, and I’ve even managed to set a few PB’s for the 5k and 2k rows and submitted them for ranking. Really surprised I'm not last

And last thing, I’m mixing up my rows with some good fat burning steady eddy rows in my ‘zone’ for 30 and 40 minutes sessions and also contemplating these with more ‘energetic’ rows to get the heart pumping. For me mixing up my exercises like this does a couple of things for me. Firstly I don’t get bored and rowing at one speed just would not hold my interest. Secondly giving my heart a quicker workout and putting it under stress is good for you and feels great after.

Best investment though is my Wahoo Tickr to help me monitor my progress, so glad I got one and thanks guys for the recommendations on that one.

Anyway thanks for reading again, just got to make sure I get my 14k in for the Valentine challenge. ....

Regards, Neil.

[mitchel674]

Great report! Over 100km in your first month of rowing shows a remarkable amount of dedication and effort. Kudos to you and keep up the good work.