Concept2 Forum

I've only been erging for a few weeks and really love it. Its the only form of exercise that I've really like - however, I seem to only be able to fit in 1/2 hour during lunch break at work (we have one in an exercise room). I know I should row more, but after years of doing nothing, even a half hour seems like a big life/schedule-change. (My goal is to lose 65 lbs). What do you do when you can't erg? Any erg-like exercises you recommend? Buying a machine is not an option (yet...) Thanks! Shell



I don't count going snowshoeing or hiking since I can't seem to get out more frequently than 2 weekends a month.

Add me to that question lol. Like you I wanted to lose about 60 lbs. Dropped 23 pretty quickly then got stuck for months, still struggling. This despite an hour a day vigorous erging. I think my body is so used to rowing that it doesn't lose weight as fast, but that doesn't make sense, a calorie is a calorie.

I find that half an hour of erging makes a pretty good work-out. I do 4 days/wk. Haven't really added any cross-training on top of that. I've just been happy to find something that I can stick to.

light weights done continuously
power yoga (dynamic)
floor exercises
calisthenics
running in place
running up and down hills
walking
moving moving moving
gardening is one of the very best exercises

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmxR8A2c ... ed&search=

Thanks John for these simple reminders. Sometimes I think I make this working out stuff so complicated (in my head) that I psych myself out from even starting. Guess that's where Nike's 'just do it' slogan comes in.

So this weekend, we did - went on a three mile hike (lots of hills at 8000+ feet) and then another couple mile stroll around the town where I have a meeting this week. The exercise room at the hotel was closed so I couldn't check it out this evening. I'm wondering if there are some portable rubber bands that could substitute for rowing while on business trips...

And thanks for your support!
Shell

You're quite welcome Shell.

Here are some other ideas for you. - Things that I have tried.

Get some ankle weights and were them throughout the day. You will burn more when you walk and after a few days you will not even notice them

If you drive, be sure to park in the space the furthest from the door.

Never use an elevator (within reason) - take the stairs.

See if you can find a small mini trampoline. Then bounce run in place 30 minutes a day to some great energetic music. I use the pointer sisters. Their song "Jump" seems perfect to the task.

If you like spicy foods here is an easy one -- use all the red hot pepper you can. It contains Capsaicin which has been shown to increase metabolism, reduce anxiety and supress the appetite.

Anyway -- good luck!

For the last few weeks I've been using the light weights differently, instead of how many reps in 5 minutes.

Now, for example with the overhead press, I am pressing to the top position and holding the top position for 10 seconds (more or less). Then I lower the weigh to my shoulders for a few seconds, and at 15 seconds back up. So this is alternating 10s at the top and 5s at my shoulders for each 15 seconds, which gives me 20 reps in 5 minutes.

I like this exercise as it is focusing on the tension of the muscles.

With my pullover exercise, I lay on my back on the bed with my arms hanging back over the sides. I raise my arms straight up overhead while raising my torso from the bed, which is mostly putting tension on my abs. I hold this for 10 seconds, then arms back over the end of the bed for 5s, and back up every 15 seconds. Again this is 20 reps in 5 minutes.

My third exercise is to do the same with the trolley on the rollerboard. I pull myself up and hold the high position for 10 seconds, then back down to the bottom, again doing one rep each 15 seconds for 5 minutes.

I might do the max reps in 5 minutes now and then for a test, but otherwise I am enjoying doing the exercises this new way for now.

In addition to erging, I attend a pretty tough pilates class, which helps tone and strengthen core muscles. It's led to pretty visible results!

An hour a day hard bike, that will do the trick.

In addition to my 20K of rowing a day, I have been doing 100min a day on a stepper at 310 watts (1200 calories/hour).

Burns another 2000 calories a day.

When I add this stepping to my rowing, the weight just falls off.

77 kgs. a couple of days ago.

I am trying to make 75 kgs./lwt. by the Toronto regatta next Sunday.

It wlll be a squeeze, but I think I will get there.

ranger

Ah.... put in roughly 3 hrs per day of vigorous aerobic activity and the pounds just fall off. Why didn't I think of that?

Ducatista wrote:Ah.... put in roughly 3 hrs per day of vigorous aerobic activity and the pounds just fall off. Why didn't I think of that?

Overweight people often say exercise doesn't work and complain about how hard it is to lose weight -

and say things like "I ride a bike a lot in a hilly place and it doesn't cause me to lose weight" - and so on.

But what's recommended to lose weight is 60 or even 90 minutes/day of aerobic exercise!

If you start doing that much aerobic exercise, and it's fairly vigorous - you would not be able to do anything but lose weight. Not just idly pedaling on an exercise bike, but actually working out and getting your heart rate up, as high as is sustainable for an hour or 90 minutes every day ...

When I was in college I was a little overweight. I found if I ran 3 miles per day I just ate more to make up for it. But if I ran 5 miles/day I lost weight. An hour of exercise/day seems about like the threshold where exercise really does work.

So next time I hear an overweight person complaining about how they just can't lose weight, I'll tell them, ha ha, it's easy enough. Just exercise hard for an hour per day. If that doesn't work make it 90 minutes/day.

Ha ha because most people, particularly people who are overweight, find the idea of doing a real aerobic workout - strenuous like jogging, say - for an hour/day quite overwhelming.

My neighbor really badly wants to lose weight - but no kind of exercise has caught on with her to that extent ...

Doing some kind of exercise has to "catch on" for overweight people, to the extent that they start doing it that much. Then they can lose weight. They have success stories of people who've lost weight and kept it off in the National Weight Loss Registry. The people in their success stories have turned themselves into athletes. Usually runners.

Laura

I love my rower, but I like to mix it up, too. In bad weather, its the stationary bike (boring, but I watch TV while I grind away). stair stepper, and the swimming pool. In better weather, its anything outdoors--running (and if you can't run, a vigorous walking pace), cycling, and kayaking. I don't get the heart rate up too high with the kayaking, but I tend to paddle for long sessions, and push it fairly hard for most of the time.

I think Laura is right that if you want to lose weight, you need to commit to an hour a day of intense aerobic work, plus be disciplined about healthy and moderate eating.