Struggling

[New2row]

Hi,
Just looking for some guidance really
Stats
Male 54 yrs
18st big frame
Fairly fit, 4-5 day a week gym goer ( prior to Covid)

Home gym with free weights
Been using the Concept 2 rower since Feb but really struggling,
30 min row -5,900 m pace 2.33
20 min row- 3,900m pace 2.31
10 min row- 2,150 pace 2.19

No weight loss and below average numbers
Technique seems ok, following Dark Horse.

Any thoughts ?

Thanks

[Rodb]

I'm of similar circumstances - 55yrs and was at about 215# at the beginning of the year.

I made my best progress in weight loss by doing daily long rows - at least 40 minutes long or more, and at a lower intensity (heart rate capped near 180-age). I have also been closely monitoring my caloric intake by logging everything (yes everything) I ingest.

At the moment I am focused on weight loss rather than my rowing performance numbers.

This has been working for me and my goals - I am now down 30# around 185# after just over three months.

[mict450]

Welcome to the forum. You haven't mentioned anything about controlling your intake. In truth, the most important thing you can do to lose weight is to take in less calories. The weight loss war is won in the kitchen & not the gym.

Exercise can help you burn some calories, but is a very inefficient way of doing it. Better NOT to eat something than try to burn it off afterwards.

Best way to erg is to go long & slow to burn the most calories. Be able to maintain a conversation, so you won't be going fast. This will also help with recovery so you can do the same day after day. If you go too fast, get breathless, you end up burning more carbs. Unless you have an iron will power, that will greatly increase your apetite & make it more difficult to eat sensibly & moderately.

[Ombrax]

As Eric suggests above, unless you're doing something like running a lot (which is hard on your body) or cycling fairly hard 4-5 days a week for 2+ hours a go, it's hard to burn off sufficient calories to lose significant amounts of weight. The best way to tilt the balance in your favor is to take in fewer calories, while exercising in moderate amounts. The good thing about maintaining your exercise routine is that it helps you feel good about yourself a lot more than just living with a calorie deficit, which tends to be a downer and a drag on your quality of life.

Bottom line - try as best you can to do both, but in moderation - that's the best way to maintain things for an extended period of time.

Good Luck

[hjs]

Hi,
Just looking for some guidance really
Stats
Male 54 yrs
18st big frame
Fairly fit, 4-5 day a week gym goer ( prior to Covid)

Home gym with free weights
Been using the Concept 2 rower since Feb but really struggling,
30 min row -5,900 m pace 2.33
20 min row- 3,900m pace 2.31
10 min row- 2,150 pace 2.19

No weight loss and below average numbers
Technique seems ok, following Dark Horse.

Any thoughts ?

Thanks

My thoughts. To burn 1000 cal you roughly need to row 15.000m at 2.00 pace. So not loosing weight does make sense. For that your diet is by far nmr1

Looking at your numbers, you are A really doing something wrong or B unfit. Don’t know how you are trying, but those numbers are on the slow side. Certainly for such a big man.
How tall are you, if you are very chunky build it could be difficult to make a good stroke?

[jamesg]

Any thoughts?

Exercise is not optional and the erg is a good way to do it. So we never stop. Brain and muscle are very similar: the more they do, the more they can do.

The basic need in rowing is to pull a long stroke quickly, but without rushing to the next one. This has to be learnt, since it mostly uses the legs.

[New2row]

Thanks for all your advice guys,
I’m not happy with my numbers at all, clearly something isn’t right.
I’m 5’10 but very broad.
I will persevere and check in. Anyone else in the mid 50’s getting similar stats ?
Any good recommendations or links to sites/videos greatly appreciated

[hjs]

Thanks for all your advice guys,
I’m not happy with my numbers at all, clearly something isn’t right.
I’m 5’10 but very broad.
I will persevere and check in. Anyone else in the mid 50’s getting similar stats ?
Any good recommendations or links to sites/videos greatly appreciated

Maybe make a clip of your own rowing yourself, should be not that difficult to see what you are doing, or better, are not doing.

[Dangerscouse]

Thanks for all your advice guys,
I’m not happy with my numbers at all, clearly something isn’t right.
I’m 5’10 but very broad.
I will persevere and check in. Anyone else in the mid 50’s getting similar stats ?
Any good recommendations or links to sites/videos greatly appreciated

What drag factor and stroke rate do you generally use? Tweaks to both of these may be easy and beneficial.

Concept 2 have some great videos on YouTube, and Aram Training is worth looking at too, but he is quite advanced.

For a seemingly simple exercise it's surprisingly technical, and you can easily leak power in quite a few ways.

[Rodb]

Thanks for all your advice guys,
I’m not happy with my numbers at all, clearly something isn’t right.
I’m 5’10 but very broad.
I will persevere and check in. Anyone else in the mid 50’s getting similar stats ?
Any good recommendations or links to sites/videos greatly appreciated

I often get numbers in that range when I am rowing with Maffetone heart rate target.

[Tony Cook]

Thanks for all your advice guys,
I’m not happy with my numbers at all, clearly something isn’t right.
I’m 5’10 but very broad.
I will persevere and check in. Anyone else in the mid 50’s getting similar stats ?
Any good recommendations or links to sites/videos greatly appreciated

Welcome to the forum.
I’m in my (late) mid 50s.
Not wishing to sound harsh but from your first post you say you’re fairly fit and your technique is ok. Either one or both of those is not the case.
I’ve been erging properly for a year now and came to it ‘fairly fit’ and first worked on my technique. Even then I could do 5k+ in 20 mins, so sub 2:00 pace.
Ok, I’m 7” taller than you so that gives me some advantage.
As others have said if you post a video of you erging on here you will soon know if your technique is ok or not. You may think you are doing what the guy on the Dark Horse or Training Tall or British Rowing is doing but you need an independent assessment so you really know.
At the end of the day (year) it’s about time committed.

[Ombrax]

Re: Technique

A simple check you can do yourself is to set the monitor to display the force curve. It should be a smooth, mostly symmetric hump. If it isn't you need to work on the timing of the various parts of your stroke.

C2 has more info on that here: https://www.concept2.com/indoor-rowers/ ... orce-curve

[mict450]

You've said you've been rowing for 2 months. Undoubtedly, unless you're a freak of nature, your stroke is short, slow, weak with poor sequencing. In other words, faulty. We all started like that & rowed like crap at the first! Join the club.

You need to work on technique. Forget about speed and duration & work on your stroke. Post a video....people here can help you straighten out your technique a lot faster than you can muddle through it by yourself. As Stu wrote, rowing looks simple to the uninitiated but it's a highly technical movement. Since you're new, you don't have the "eye" yet to distinguish good vs bad.

Video from the side, ~shoulder level with your whole body in the frame. Post on youtube & post the link here.

[Tsnor]

Be aware also that posters on this forum hold world records, are in the top 10% of people who rank pieces (top 1% of erg rowers). Your stats are as good or better than most of the people rowing in the gym (pre-covid), and your technique could not possibly be worse than the people hopping on the erg with their hands going up and down to get around their knees.

Consider training with HEART RATE and go long and slow. A good HR setup (polar h10 belt, rower pm5 monitor, your smartphone) is $80 US. Keep heart rate low, etc.

For less than a year you are doing fine. Your goals are your own... in your shoes my goal would be getting a solid aerobic base which is long rows (45 mins or longer) at slower than a 2:30 split until your heart rate supports faster long rows. You may be looking at 2:45 or 3:00 split pace.

[Ombrax]

I agree with Tsnor that you should do what your body allows you to do, but with one caveat - do keep pushing yourself.

As a relative newbie there's almost always lots of room for improvement in both your short distance speed and in your long distance stamina, so keep challenging yourself (but not too hard or too quickly, to the point where you injure yourself) and if you put in the effort you'll be rewarded by quantifiable progress. Not only will you be doing your body a favor, you will be motivated by the improvements to do even more.

Good Luck