Rowing has made me fat?

[Safris]

Before I started rowing last winter, I was 19% body fat, 152lbs, eating about 2000cal every day. Now I'm 23% body fat and 175lbs, training hard twice a day 6 days a week, plus weightlifting, now eating 3000cal and I can't lose weight. I thought rowing was supppsed to make you leaner?

[hjs]

If you gain fat, you simply eat go much, and certainly to much carbs. Not training but your eating is nmr 1 regarding weight changes.

[Anth_F]

You're overtraining imo. That won't help!

Diet is king, exercise is queen.

[jamesg]

Eating gets us fat, erging gets us fit. Doesn't mean you can't do either, both or neither.

[Carl Watts]

Yes but do the math, you have put on nearly 11lbs of muscle mass so do you really care ? Your performance must have increased as well.

Depending on you body type and especially as you get older you can find its extremely hard to stay below 20% body fat anyway.

Mine went as low as 20% last year and had to row 7500m+ a day to get it there and I was stuffed for a whole season. With moderate exercise it bounces back to 22-23% which is hardly what you would call fat.

[sekitori]

You didn't mention which method of body fat determination you used. If it was via the use of skin calipers or a bioelectric impedance scale or similar device, they are the most inaccurate methods of all. The increase of four per cent could be nothing more than an error. If you want to use methods that are considerably more accurate (but are by no means perfect), try hydrostatic weighing, DEXA scan using x-rays, or air displacement (Bod Pod). The downside of those methods is that they can be quite expensive. When it comes to determining body fat as accurately as possible, the phrase, "You get what you pay for" comes to mind.

[Carl Watts]

I find just a set of those body fat scales work pretty well, especially if your using the same scales for years. They may not give you an "Absolute" figure but they give you a "Reference" figure because you know straight away if your going up or down and they are not 4% out from one day to the next or even month to month. You need to enter your sex, age, height and fitness level.

When I started getting serious on the rower mine had me at 28%, these days 22-23% consistently.

They are accurate enough to know whether your gaining or loosing fat and the measurement is extremely fast and convenient to do daily.

[bisqeet]

so bottom line...
you upped you're calorie intake from 2k to 3k and you're bady fat went up and you cant lose weight, so its the erg's fault...

hmmm.... a mystery worthy of the great colombo himself...

[eleanorsbee]

eat more than you burn - put on weight
eat less than you burn - loose weight

you are just eating too much

mind you 0 is a LOT for someone that weighed 155lbs ... its a lot for someone that weighs 185lbs .. even with lifting and a couple of rowing sessions you should only go above your TDEE by around 500cal if you want to minimise fat gain whilst building muscle.

Drop 500kcal a day and monitor for a month

[strider]

4% of 152 is about 6 lbs, the difference from 19% to 23%.

Seems the guy MAY have added muscle, he fails to recognize, and added bone density, which comes with weight work.

19% of 152 is 28.9
23% of 185 is 42.5, difference of almost 14 lbs, but gained 33. Only 7 lbs extra from 19% to 23% at 185.

Eating a bit too much to not gain fat, but packing on significant muscle, too. I hope.

[Anth_F]

hmmm.... a mystery worthy of the great colombo himself...

Ohhh just one more thing sir...