Big Fatty wants to row it off!

[giftogab]

HELLO! I am a 51 year old woman who has carried too much extra weight for too long. I lost about 70 pounds and got active with that loss but still have a good 80 to go. I did crossfit to get ready to go to Mount Everest and it worked! But some of the stuff is just too hard on me at this weight so I bought my own concept 2 to get the fat off so I CAN do more strenuous/balistic stuff. I will be combining rowing with kettle bell workouts but really just want to row row row row. Don't even know what to do to start. My eating is paleo.

[jeremycfr]

Good for you. I posted this in another post today and so I am going to repost for you here.

I am 5’10” and weighed 265 last April. I had been rowing but after a doctor visit I decided to get serious. I changed my diet (greatly reducing my caloric intake and removing starches, breads, etc). You will see faster results when you combo the diet with the workouts. By mid-September I had lost 105 lbs and over 17 inches on my waist (47 to a 29). I now row around 40 minutes in the morning (around 10k meters) and another 25 minutes (around 7k) in the afternoon.

Now with that said, I did not start there. I started rowing a 12 minute 2k and slowly worked made the workout intense. My morning sessions are based on time (how many meters can I get in x amount of time) and my afternoon workouts are based on distance. I have a different mid-set doing these workouts and it helps keep me motivated. I had to spread my legs a part when I started and had to bring the handle further up my chest to avoid my belly. It is funny; because I remember my wife saying (you look funny when you row). After the weight came off, I began to work on technique. Just don’t over extend your body and then technique will come.

I slowly pulled harder to beat my last 2k time or I rowed just a minute longer next time if I was going for distance. 12 dropped to 8, a 10 minute workout went to 11, 12, 13….hour, etc. Slow and methodical will get you there. Develop a plan and stick to it. I row first and then everything else happens afterwards. Some may say I just don’t have time. I have 2 small children, am an upper administrator at a college, several on several state and national committees, involved in my church, rebuilding a classic Mustang, and am finishing my doctorate degree. There is always time…

Also I would suggest using the heart rate monitor. I follow the guidelines for my target heart rate during exercise to maximize my workouts. If my rate gets too high then I back off, but if it is too low then I intensify my workout. It now takes more work on my part to raise my heart rate. I went from a resting heart rate of 90 to 70 when I lost the weight.

[giftogab]

Thanks so much. I did too much while I was sick and too much kettle bell too so crashed for a few days and then had guests. Am back at it today though very gingerly. 12k????? I don;t think I could even approach that far yet.....

[jeremycfr]

The point is to keep working at it and pushing yourself. If I work nothing else in during the day, I will get my workouts. I just made a choice to make it work and that other things (like watching TV) come second. It was hard at first, but it becomes easier.

I did not start at over 12k in a day. I had to work at it over several months. I started with at 2k a day and have only built up to aroun 15k over the past couple of months. My intensity is based on my heart rate. Some days (like this morning) are very strong and then others are weaker.

[giftogab]

The point is to keep working at it and pushing yourself. If I work nothing else in during the day, I will get my workouts. I just made a choice to make it work and that other things (like watching TV) come second. It was hard at first, but it becomes easier.

I did not start at over 12k in a day. I had to work at it over several months. I started with at 2k a day and have only built up to aroun 15k over the past couple of months. My intensity is based on my heart rate. Some days (like this morning) are very strong and then others are weaker.

Since doing 3 pieces of 500 is about all I can muster at this point, it is hard to find people who are as uncapable as me. I hope to be at 2k a day in a couple weeks.

[Ergmeister]

As a crossfit convert, it is likely that you have the damper setting very high. If you are training to go to Mt. Everest and 3 x 500 is your limit right now, it sounds to me like you are going out way too hard.

May I suggest you put the drag factor down around 105 and then row at a much more relaxed SPM pace in order to get your "sea legs" under you and then each week add 10+ minutes to your Erg time. Starting out its important to not go too hard. A short hard piece is not enough to really help you and it will do very little for weight loss as you never get your heart and metabolism into the working range.

If you wear a heart rate monitor, you might want to pull to a specific heart rate. I would think about targeting 65-70% of your max HR, so if are 51, using the generally accepted formula of 220 minus your age, 220-51= 169 for a starting max HR. 65-70% of that is 110-118. Pulling at 110 will get your heart into the working zone and put your body into the fat burning zone when you hold that rate over a period of AT LEAST 30 minutes.

The drag factor is extremely important to get dialed properly so be sure to read up on that and understand it.

I am a heart patient; I had a heart attack 6 years ago and I took up rowing as part of my recovery. I am headed to compete in my 3rd CRASHB next month and it has been very rewarding to me both from a weight loss standpoint as well as a cardiovascular fitness standpoint.

You really need to build a broad base and get your workouts on the ERG into fat burning. That means you should think more about doing volume and less about doing short bursts of speed. Doing 3x500 with ?? rest between is not going to do that - it's like starting your car on a cold winter day and then flooring it to go wide open before it's partially warmed up. It's going to pop the system and tell it to reload with more calories and likely will be counterproductive to your goal.

Also, and this is just a for what its worth, I went vegan after watching the film Forks Over Knives and taking the "28 day vegan challenge" found in the book "Engine 2 Diet". That was a huge source of easy weight loss for me...that was 83 lbs ago so I'm speaking from experience here. Rowing has allowed me to have a complete recovery from my heart attack and the heart damage from that event is now completely gone so know that my comments here are not theory; they are my own experience.

[giftogab]

As a crossfit convert, it is likely that you have the damper setting very high. If you are training to go to Mt. Everest and 3 x 500 is your limit right now, it sounds to me like you are going out way too hard.

May I suggest you put the drag factor down around 105 and then row at a much more relaxed SPM pace in order to get your "sea legs" under you and then each week add 10+ minutes to your Erg time. Starting out its important to not go too hard. A short hard piece is not enough to really help you and it will do very little for weight loss as you never get your heart and metabolism into the working range.

If you wear a heart rate monitor, you might want to pull to a specific heart rate. I would think about targeting 65-70% of your max HR, so if are 51, using the generally accepted formula of 220 minus your age, 220-51= 169 for a starting max HR. 65-70% of that is 110-118. Pulling at 110 will get your heart into the working zone and put your body into the fat burning zone when you hold that rate over a period of AT LEAST 30 minutes.

The drag factor is extremely important to get dialed properly so be sure to read up on that and understand it.

I am a heart patient; I had a heart attack 6 years ago and I took up rowing as part of my recovery. I am headed to compete in my 3rd CRASHB next month and it has been very rewarding to me both from a weight loss standpoint as well as a cardiovascular fitness standpoint.

You really need to build a broad base and get your workouts on the ERG into fat burning. That means you should think more about doing volume and less about doing short bursts of speed. Doing 3x500 with ?? rest between is not going to do that - it's like starting your car on a cold winter day and then flooring it to go wide open before it's partially warmed up. It's going to pop the system and tell it to reload with more calories and likely will be counterproductive to your goal.

Also, and this is just a for what its worth, I went vegan after watching the film Forks Over Knives and taking the "28 day vegan challenge" found in the book "Engine 2 Diet". That was a huge source of easy weight loss for me...that was 83 lbs ago so I'm speaking from experience here. Rowing has allowed me to have a complete recovery from my heart attack and the heart damage from that event is now completely gone so know that my comments here are not theory; they are my own experience.

Thnks for this. much of your assesment is correct, however may I clarify a few things:
1. I already went to Everest last year and then did NOTHING since. Thus, no fitness left.
2. My rowing is not going out hard, damper is set on like 2 (though I really need to read because I know NOTHING about it).
3. The 500 meters is in 2:58 so clearly not fast.......just feel like I cannot get it GOING. My goal is long rows burning. I have a plan to do CrossFit WOD's 2 times a week and row the rest of the week with one rest day.