A Few Weeks Into My Journey

[mict450]

Not that many people understand the attraction of the rowing machine, nevermind put the hours in to get better at it, so the camaraderie is always a natural byproduct.

Very well stated Stu. Even if one's session on the erg is crapola, the release of "feel good" hormones & sense of accomplishment always make the effort worthwhile. I suppose you can call it an addiction as well as an attraction. The sweat, toil, disappointments, & occasional personal triumphs of erging is like a DIY form of analysis that leaves one refreshed & rejuvenated, physically & mentally, & prepared to take on the challenges in one's life. Much more cost effective than lying on a couch, getting your head shrunk.

[thr1961]

I loved reading this thread and wonder how many of us are out there with this same story? I too bought a C2 about a year ago and never really used it. But suddenly with the quarantine, I had time and was also very aware of both weight gain and loss of fitness.

For context, I am just a bit more than six months from turning sixty and am 6'1" and began 5 weeks ago at just under 235 pounds. I came across the Beginner Pete Plan and it seemed to make sense so I jumped in. I have just finished up week 5 of the plan and had no major issues with the two 7k meter rows of the past week.

I am also down to 223 pounds (I did a clean up of my diet) and am feeling great. I am not setting any records here but my "add on" row today was 20 minutes and I hit a 2:16 average with a drag factor of 110. My 7k yesterday was at 2:24, so a lot to improve but I am giving it at least another month before I start pushing the pace.

I am sure there are more of us and I hope we can all keep going and both learn and improve together. Looking forward to hearing about how it's going from all.

[lsufan1972]

I loved reading this thread and wonder how many of us are out there with this same story? I too bought a C2 about a year ago and never really used it. But suddenly with the quarantine, I had time and was also very aware of both weight gain and loss of fitness.

For context, I am just a bit more than six months from turning sixty and am 6'1" and began 5 weeks ago at just under 235 pounds. I came across the Beginner Pete Plan and it seemed to make sense so I jumped in. I have just finished up week 5 of the plan and had no major issues with the two 7k meter rows of the past week.

I am also down to 223 pounds (I did a clean up of my diet) and am feeling great. I am not setting any records here but my "add on" row today was 20 minutes and I hit a 2:16 average with a drag factor of 110. My 7k yesterday was at 2:24, so a lot to improve but I am giving it at least another month before I start pushing the pace.

I am sure there are more of us and I hope we can all keep going and both learn and improve together. Looking forward to hearing about how it's going from all.

For me, it was all about finding something I enjoyed and could compete with. I love the leaderboard, because I can compete in so many different ways. I can compete against my own times, others my age/sex, etc. I can compete for total meters worldwide, in my group, or in my state. I can also work my way up the Million meters club. So many ways to stay motivated for a goal ahead. ...and I haven't even really started to train for a marathon, 50K or 100K yet.

Sport has always been something I enjoyed, but I did it because it was fun. Just going into a gym and hitting sets and reps wasn't fun for me and so I never stuck with it. The Concept2 gives me that chance to do a bit of both. I can have fun competing, and I get to workout and lose weight as a byproduct. I've actually completely changed my diet, because I need the extra energy for my rowing (and it's motivating to see the weight going down). I never had a "good" reason to stick to a specific diet, but this time I've changed the way I approach my meals altogether. It truly has been a lifestyle change.

Now that I have gone over 1.25 million meters and I'm down 60 pounds, I know the weight will all go and I'm looking forward to fun ways to stay competitive. I'm considering the longer rows, attempting to run again to supplement my rowing, and so many other things. I will be fitter at 50 than I ever was at 20, and it's AWESOME!

Thanks for commenting, and keep us all up to date on your progress.

[Rob1966]

Isufan, how are you managing calorie intake? I am finding the more I row the more I eat and if I dont eat enough I just completely run out of steam.
I went under 275 pound a week and have been averaging about 2 pounds per week and that seems to be starting to slow down.

It really is crazy how much I just enjoy sitting down and rowing and a 60-90 minute session on the erg might as well be 15-20 minutes. I jus sit down and decide what I feel like doing for the day and away I go. I am almost at 1 million meters in 3 months. Some days I will sit down and do 500 meter sprints with 2 minute rest and try to do 14-20 sets. I can now do up to about 15 sets under 1:48 split and will just keep working on that and try to keep moving it down. I hear people talking about the 2,000 meter "pain cave" and I think I am still a ways away from feeling like I want to really go after it that hard, even so, I have managed to drop my 2K time from about 9:15 my first effort in my first week to being able to go kind of hard and do about 7:20 and my big fear really is just pushing too hard and getting hurt. My typical day, like today is to pick a time or distance and just row and make it up as I go along. Today I set the timer for intervals of 15 minutes with a 4 minute rest and the goal was to do first 2 sets under 1:58 splits, then slowly ease up and do 2:00 spllts, then 2:02, 2:04 and finish with 2:06 and keep my heart rate between 135 and 145 for most of the rows. For the first time ever for cardio I just find that I really enjoy sitting down and seeing what can do. If its not a great feeling day I will just ease up and maybe do 5,000 meters at 2:08-2:10 and if I feel okay when thats done, do another the same.

People keep telling me I will burn out and grow to hate it and I really hope not. For now I will just keep pushing and hopefully drop another 30-35 pounds over the balance the year. There was a time not so long ago when I was having a discussion with a friend who is about 63 years old and very fit and he talked about going to the gym and doing 20-30 minutes of cardio and 30-40 minutes of lifting 5 days a week always and that seemed unimaginable. I get it now. I hope to see a lot of years of erging and lifting 5-6 days a week and being fit and feeling so much better. I also love food and am working on how to moderate portions and calories to stay on top of and avoid future weight gain.

[lsufan1972]

Isufan, how are you managing calorie intake? I am finding the more I row the more I eat and if I dont eat enough I just completely run out of steam.
I went under 275 pound a week and have been averaging about 2 pounds per week and that seems to be starting to slow down.

My weight loss has slowed a bit due to being a bit less worried about my tracking.
I need to get back on board so that I can still hit my goals.
I'm not as worried about hitting a certain number as I am about feeling good now, which is different from when I started.
I would love to get under 200 pounds, but if I feel great at say 215 then so be it.

Breakfast is usually Oatmeal with a couple of Tbsp of Peanut Butter.
Lunch is a big salad.
Dinner is whatever the family is having, but when I'm losing the most weight it's because I'm tracking dinner.
I also drink plenty of water (with Amino Energy for a bit of flavor).

As far as what I do, I try to get as many nutrient dense foods as I can, which is hard, because I'm not really a big vegetable guy.
I really like pre-packaged salads, like the Dole Caesar Salad Kit which is about 450 cals for the whole bag.
I add some lean deli meat (4-6 oz) and some banana peppers to taste.
If I'm really hungry, I'll add some extra lunch meat and/or peppers.

I also try to get in more of the vegetables I like whenever possible.
If I'm having Mexican, I'll have lots of lettuce, tomato, and corn with it.

As long as you find lean alternatives, and try to add in as many veggies as you can tolerate, you should be fine.
I've found that staying away from any fast food/binge foods (pizza is my kryptonite), I'm ok.

You are kicking butt, btw.
I'm still enjoying rowing, but I will say that I had some days that weren't the easiest.
Those are generally when my diet hasn't been the best though.
I view the rower as a fun way to get rid of excess fat that nothing else has worked on.
Because of that, it's hard to see rowing as anything but good.

[mitchel674]

Inspirational thread! I'm not sure how I've missed it.

I'm a scrawny rower so I don't venture into this section much, but I will offer some advice I learned inadvertently when I started rowing. You should consider rowing in a fasted state. These rows will force your body to burn fat as a fuel source. I do most of my long weekend rows first thing in the morning and was amazed how rapidly I burned off the bit of body fat I had. The more I read about fasting exercise, the more I learned that it can help unleash a unique ability to burn fat (along with proper diet).

Hope this helps.

[mict450]

Inspirational thread! I'm not sure how I've missed it.

I'm a scrawny rower so I don't venture into this section much, but I will offer some advice I learned inadvertently when I started rowing. You should consider rowing in a fasted state. These rows will force your body to burn fat as a fuel source. I do most of my long weekend rows first thing in the morning and was amazed how rapidly I burned off the bit of body fat I had. The more I read about fasting exercise, the more I learned that it can help unleash a unique ability to burn fat (along with proper diet).

Hope this helps.

I have found fasted cardio to be a real fat-burner also. Studies show there is no difference between fasted vs unfasted cardio for fat loss. In this case, anecdotal experience (my own) trumps lab experiments any day.

[Allan Olesen]

Some days I will sit down and do 500 meter sprints with 2 minute rest and try to do 14-20 sets. I can now do up to about 15 sets under 1:48 split and will just keep working on that and try to keep moving it down.

No wonder that you can't control your hunger.

With this kind of training, you will deplete your glycogen depots, and your body will scream for a refill. Been there, done that.

Try training at a lower intensity instead.

[bobsfeet]

A great post Isufan1972 and one that resonates with me too.

I turned 49 in June and after 20+ years of heavy corporate travel, I'm not in great shape. Like others on here - I took adavantage of the change that Covid-19 brought to my routine to focus on my health, weight and general fitness. I've always found that I enjoyed the erg when I was on one of my sporadic gym kicks so when lockdown hit I contacted my local gym and arranged the hire of one their machines. That was in April and tomorrow I'll pass the 500,000m mark.

I'm thoroughly enjoying the journey I'm on and although we don't have scales in the house, I can see and feel the change in my body. I'm about 175cm and the last time I weighed myself I was at 97kg and it was all around my gut. I'm definitely leaner now, my belt has been tightened a few notches and the gut is noticeably being pulled in. The regular excercise has improved my mood, changed my weekly alcohol consumption (no longer staggering in after a long day/commute and heading for the wine) and gives me a personal focus that was definitely missing.

Unfortunately for the local gym, I got hooked pretty quick and decided to buy a machine of my own which finally arrived (after a long waitlist of anticipation) in August and I'm now on a PM5 which lets me sync my phone and automatically log's my km's. I'm also using the Asensi app and have found that very useful in terms of technique, pushing me along and also breaking up the routine. I'm not shattering any records yet - but as you point out - it's about doing what works and feels right for you. I've been doing a lot of 30 minute sessions and achieved a PB the other day of 6506m (average 2.18:3 pace/21 spm) which gave me a great sense of satisfaction.

I'm really enjoying the sense of community with the C2 log and rankings and the kids are fascinated to see how I am doing and how I compare with other people around the world. Having them cheer me on has been a highlight for the year although there have also been numerous complaints about my huffing and puffing drowning out their gaming time!

Thanks again for sharing your post. It's always great to hear from peopel who are on a similar journey to yourself and although 2020 will be remembered for Covid-19, I will also remember it for being the year I changed my life. My goal is to hit 50 being in great shape and health and maybe even join a rowing club to get out on the water!

Cheers.

[bobsfeet]

A great post Isufan1972 and one that resonates with me too.

I turned 49 in June and after 20+ years of heavy corporate travel, I'm not in great shape. Like others on here - I took adavantage of the change that Covid-19 brought to my routine to focus on my health, weight and general fitness. I've always found that I enjoyed the erg when I was on one of my sporadic gym kicks so when lockdown hit I contacted my local gym and arranged the hire of one their machines. That was in April and tomorrow I'll pass the 500,000m mark.

I'm thoroughly enjoying the journey I'm on and although we don't have scales in the house, I can see and feel the change in my body. I'm about 175cm and the last time I weighed myself I was at 97kg and it was all around my gut. I'm definitely leaner now, my belt has been tightened a few notches and the gut is noticeably being pulled in. The regular excercise has improved my mood, changed my weekly alcohol consumption (no longer staggering in after a long day/commute and heading for the wine) and gives me a personal focus that was definitely missing.

Unfortunately for the local gym, I got hooked pretty quick and decided to buy a machine of my own which finally arrived (after a long waitlist of anticipation) in August and I'm now on a PM5 which lets me sync my phone and automatically log's my km's. I'm also using the Asensei app and have found that very useful in terms of technique, pushing me along and also breaking up the routine. I'm not shattering any records yet - but as you point out - it's about doing what works and feels right for you. I've been doing a lot of 30 minute sessions and achieved a PB the other day of 6506m (average 2.18:3 pace/21 spm) which gave me a great sense of satisfaction.

I'm really enjoying the sense of community with the C2 log and rankings and the kids are fascinated to see how I am doing and how I compare with other people around the world. Having them cheer me on has been a highlight for the year although there have also been numerous complaints about my huffing and puffing drowning out their gaming time!

Thanks again for sharing your post. It's always great to hear from peopel who are on a similar journey to yourself and although 2020 will be remembered for Covid-19, I will also remember it for being the year I changed my life. My goal is to hit 50 being in great shape and health and maybe even join a rowing club to get out on the water!

Cheers.

[phantasticpharmer]

Get your brag on!
Great job, lsufan1972!

Love your post.
I'm in a similar boat (pun intended).
Not looking to break records, just to enjoy the row and get more fit.
I'm losing some weight and waistline inches in the process.
Keep going!

Quick brag, I'm over 800K meters rowed and down 45 pounds.
More importantly, I don't feel like I'm on a "diet" and I love my workouts.