New Concept 2 Owner

[gdebdabe]

Hi All,

Just joined this forum, read through some posts and I am definitely sticking with this forum. Very informative! I received my Concept 2 Model D with PM4 on Saturday. My primary reason to purchase this equipment is I am a beginner in rowing who lives in the Northeast US and do not like going to the gym in cold weather. I would like to lose weight and winters are generally the seasons that I gain the most. I assembled and got on it on Sunday morning and did 5000m (about 37 minutes). This morning (Monday) I went for the 10000m and completed that in 73 minutes. I am comfortable enough to do the 10000m and expect to improve the duration while keeping the 10000m.

I would appreciate any pointers that help me avoid pitfalls and make my workouts more effective.

Thanks!

[jvincent]

Congrats on the purchase.

One thing that I would suggest is that instead of sticking with a specific workout, i.e. 10K, mix it up. Do 10Ks, intervals, other distance/time trials.

If all you do is the 10K you will train your body to be efficient at that distance but you won't build as much strength as if you mix it up.

[jamesg]

pointers

There are some technical aspects to rowing that you need to know about:
http://www.concept2.com/indoor-rowers/t ... que-videos

The basics are: low drag (the damper lever at 2 to 3) and long strokes using as much leg as possible: your legs are strong already.

The videos also show various aspects of posture, speed, timing and so on that can all help you get the best out of yourself and so get fit. This is relatively easy as to how to do it, but not so easy in terms of amount of sweat.

Weight loss is not so immediate; but on the erg you can certainly do enough work to get better control of your energy balance.

A heart rate monitor can help to see your reactions to the effort. Anything above HR 100 is good for us.

[gdebdabe]

One thing that I would suggest is that instead of sticking with a specific workout, i.e. 10K, mix it up. Do 10Ks, intervals, other distance/time trials.

Great point, I will mix it up. Thanks.

There are some technical aspects to rowing that you need to know about:
http://www.concept2.com/indoor-rowers/t ... que-videos

This is great, just reviewed the video and and noticed the many things that I was doing incorrectly. Thanks.

[icomefrombirmingham]

The best advice I can give you is to get the RowPro software and start rowing online!

There are many days when I would have decided not to row, but having friends to row with over the internet kept me going.

Regards,
Brent