Erging and Gaining Muscle

[sentinal93]

I've recently started to get back into erging after a two year on and off commitment to the erg. I've also realized that although my times were good when I was rowing full-time, I lacked some serious muscle. I was 6'3'' and around 178-182 pounds. I've recently started lifting weights and want to gain muscle and strength. The issue is that I enjoy doing long rows, such as 10k, hour, half-marathon.

If i continue to do these long rows, will I be able to gain size and strength as a result of my lifting regiment? I would assume there is some curve or correlation as to muscle gain and type of cardio workout, namely if I were to sprints I would get much better results.

Any thoughts, idea, comments, recommendations?

[yoda]

Many, many moons ago there was a program that consisted of one exercise and a growth booster. The supposed growth booster was simply milk, ice cream, and a banana. This was consumed one or two times per day, every day. The exercise was either regular back squats or barrel squats. The barrel squat was most folks choice. Sound pretty simple, huh?? Well, here's the catch. You had to determine the amount of weight you could handle for 10 reps in which ever exercise you chose. Then you would do 20 reps with it. The first 10 reps were done at your normal speed, the next ten reps were done with 3 deep breaths between each rep until you hit the 20 reps. Most folks that performed this program did the exercise 3 times per week. No more, sometimes twice a week. Recovery time for this is paramont. It ain't easy!!! Trust me, I know. But it works!!!

As far as the rowing goes, were it me, I would keep my strokes per minute below 20 and focus on pure power strokes. Raising it higher will lessen your chances of gaining size regardless of the length of time that you row.

Good Luck,
YOda

[jays]

You should not have a problem gaining muscle by continuing your long rows.If you do the long rows at a low spm you will get stronger without the weight.Just remember to have enougth rest inbetween the weight sessions.you dont want to get injured.

[philwhite7]

The first secret to gaining muscle mass is to be doing the right kind of exercise to stimulate it. I suggest sticking to compound exercises if you're still lifting weights (deadlifts, squats, pullups, dips etc), as these work major muscle groups more effectively than isolation exercises such as curls and triceps extensions, and also trigger the release of more growth hormones.

For rowing, shorter, fast interval sessions (referred to on some posts as HIT) may be best suited to someone trying to gain muscle. However, even with longer rows it is possible to increase muscle size and strength.

To gain any weight you must be taking in more calories that you're burning (and vice versa for weight loss). Calculating how many calories you burn on rest days, rowing days and lifting days will give you a good guide for how many calories you need to consume just to maintain your body weight.

Then add a reasonable amount of calories to your daily diet based on your muscle gain goals. It takes 3,500 calories to put on one pound of body weight, so many plans I've seen advocate adding 500 calories per day to the amount you need to preserve your current body weight. This will enable you to gain one pound per week.

Books such as Men's Health's Scrawny to Brawny http://books.google.com/books?id=9FMCAA ... +to+brawny

have formulas that will help you assess your base metabolic rate and other figures and ratios that will help determine your calorie needs.

You and I are about the same build. Just a few months ago I started to try gaining weight while rowing three or four days a week and lifting weights twice weekly. I've gone from 177 to 189 just by eating more and making sure I'm lifting heavy on each compound exercise in the weight room.

Don't be afraid of the fork! If you're working out enough and eating a good diet, the weight you put on will mostly be 'good weight.' Anyone gaining muscle will also add some fat to support it, but your body fat percentage may actually decrease because of the increased lean mass.

Just my (long winded) two cents worth.

Phil

[fabianL]

I am really interested in this exact question right now. I have been experimenting quite a bit lately trying to figure this out. I am about 200lbs currently (I fluctuate between 198 and 205) and am also 6'3". This is up from about 193lbs at the beginning of December. I want to get up to about 215lbs while decreasing my body fat percentage. I think Phil's advice is quite solid and it is basically what I have been doing.

Eat a lot, but food that is good for you. Protein shakes are very helpful before lifting and rowing and to help in general with extra caloric intake. I also have specific post workout drinks that I use, different ones for rowing and lifting. Your body has different needs after the two types of work and it is important to give your body fuel immediately after you break muscle down. This will help you build muscle in the long run and hopefully reduce soreness in the short run.

I average about 100k+ a week on the erg. Three days are interval training, both short and long, like work such as 10x3'on/3'off, 4x(4'/3'/2'/1'), 4x2k, 3x(6x1'on/1'off). Some are for anaerobic lactic acid work, some are for LA threshold work, some are more aerobic interval training. I do long steady state stuff on the other days. I also lift 3 days a week.

I have seen the most gains with very heavy weights on compound exercises, but only doing that once a week. These are basically Bench, Squat, Clean, Deadlifts and Pullups. The other 2 days I lighten the load a bit and do more circuit type lifting. You can't overload the muscles too often otherwise they won't grow. I have also seen quite a bit of improvement with low stroke ratings for long times, like 2x40' at rate 20. I do these based on heart rate zones but basically it is quite uncomfortable and develops a lot of power which leads to muscle strength and size.

[carlb]

You could read this Exercise Physiology site's rowing page
http home.hia.no/~stephens/rowing.htm

The page on "Specialized Strength Training for Rowers" covers weights plus "Strength Training on the Ergometer"

One thing I remember from this site is "In general, it seems that the process of rowing itself is the best specific strength training for the rower."

Interesting general pages on Exercise Physiology
http home.hia.no/~stephens/exphys.htm

[badocter]

I've recently started lifting weights and want to gain muscle and strength. The issue is that I enjoy doing long rows, such as 10k, hour, half-marathon.

If i continue to do these long rows, will I be able to gain size and strength as a result of my lifting regiment? I would assume there is some curve or correlation as to muscle gain and type of cardio workout, namely if I were to sprints I would get much better results.

If your specific goal is to gain strength, then weights are more efficient than the rower. You can still do the rowing to keep your endurance, and within the context of rowing hard sprint intervals (eg. 8x500m rest 3', 20x100m rest 80", etc...) and steady rate restricted work (eg. 30'R20) will help rowing specific strength, but these hard rows alone will not give you sizable gains on your squat, cleans, overhead press, and bench. I started weight training after I had already gotten sub-7 on the 2k and I was appalled at how low my max lifts still were. With a steady diet of compound lifts since September my max squat has increased from 127 pounds to 164 pounds, bench has increased from 128 to 159, and overhead press from 95 to 108. I would have made more progress in that time had I not sprained my back in November on a heavy set of deadlifts where I momentarily lapsed on form (must keep lower back rigid!!!) and then spent the next 8 weeks working back up. I highly recommend the following resources:
"Starting Strength" and "Practical Programming" by Mark Rippetoe
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=998224
http://stronglifts.com/
IMHO, "Starting Strength" is a must have - to give you some idea of the level of detail, chapter one is "The Squat" and that chapter is 54 pages long
If you need a second opinion on whether you are getting your form right on any of the compound lifts, make a video, post it on youtube and post on the stronglifts forum:
http://stronglifts.com/forum/
They give pretty good and constructive feedback, and their 5x5 program is pretty solid IMHO. In fact, even if you think you are doing the lifts right, you should still post a video and get confirmaton that you are correct.

I can not stress how important it is to keep proper form and work continuously on perfecting form every time you get under the bar. If you are not interested in form and can not resist the temptation to load up the bar at expense of form, I would suggest you find another hobby. Lift smart and safe