How many meters a week do you do?

[nchasan]

I am so excited. Not long ago (Jan 27), my I set my PR over 2000 m with 2:09 splits. Today I went 30 minutes on 2:10 splits. What a difference. When I set that 2:09 on the 2000, I was completely baked - I mean stick a fork in me baked. And today, I popped up, caught my breath in a few minutes and ran out to a meeting once I had showered off and changed.

So the scale this week has declined another point making me one pound closer to my goal.

N

[Rose]

I started at about 15k a week now I am up to 30k+ a week plus 5 mile of walking a day.

I wonder if that is enough as I see some people posting like a 100k a week

Where are they getting the time between work, kids and pets I am pushing to get the 30k.

Hi! I just start today and want to say hello form Montréal...I dont know how many km I will do but hope they will bring me far away...

[tom pinckney]

Rose: welcome to the board. Since this section of the forum is about weight loss/control, I thought I would provide a little of my experenience in terms of losing weight using the erg.

When I initially started rowing I rowed a comfortable pace for about 30 minutes. I really didn't see much of a weight loss, but when I upped it to 45 minutes at a time the weight started to come off. I also went (and still go) to the gym numerous times per week.

Then the various challenges came and I vowed not to gain the usual 8 pounds or so that many of us gain from Thanksgiving to New Years. I met that goal and lost a few pounds. After that I used the virutal challenge (joined the Lunatics) in January to up my time on the rower. I really pushed myself (gradually rowing more and more each day). The weight really started to come off much faster.

During this time I NEVER dieted but ate properly and felt pretty good most of the time. Worked for me.

I do the various challenges during the colder weather then head outdoors to do other things. All of them fun. If you do fun stuff, it's easier to stay with it.

Here's what has worked for me (summary):

Row comfortably, but add intervals to up my metabolism (this also increases it at rest). Anywhere from 5000 to 20,000 meters depending on how I feel. I have to be careful to avoid overtrainging. I do this in front of the TV watching my favorite programs. Notice some of the fast times on the erg listed? Do not try to compete with them. Do it at your own pace. Increase it as you feel better. Faster times will come as you get fitter and your form gets better.

Find a coach: If you are concerned about your form, find a coach where you live (listed on the Concept II website). A lesson or two will help you become a more efficient rower.

Lift weights: this builds muscle which burns more calories at rest. Thus, your body becomes more efficient at burning calories as fuel all of the time.

Eat Properly: Notice I did not say diet. I stay on an eating program that does not make me feel lousy (due to calorie restriction) but eliminates a lot of the fat. I eat five-six times a day to keep my sugar up. Thus, I feel good throughout the day.

Avoid overtraining: Feeling tired, hard to sleep - these are signs of overtraining. I back off whenever necessary. It take a while to put the weight on/lose fitness. It takes time to get back in shape. If you hurt yourself while doing this, it just holds your program back.

I took 58# off in about six months doing this and have kept it off for two years.

[Rose]

Rose: welcome to the board. Since this section of the forum is about weight loss/control, I thought I would provide a little of my experenience in terms of losing weight using the erg.

When I initially started rowing I rowed a comfortable pace for about 30 minutes. I really didn't see much of a weight loss, but when I upped it to 45 minutes at a time the weight started to come off. I also went (and still go) to the gym numerous times per week.

Then the various challenges came and I vowed not to gain the usual 8 pounds or so that many of us gain from Thanksgiving to New Years. I met that goal and lost a few pounds. After that I used the virutal challenge (joined the Lunatics) in January to up my time on the rower. I really pushed myself (gradually rowing more and more each day). The weight really started to come off much faster.

During this time I NEVER dieted but ate properly and felt pretty good most of the time. Worked for me.

I do the various challenges during the colder weather then head outdoors to do other things. All of them fun. If you do fun stuff, it's easier to stay with it.

Here's what has worked for me (summary):

Row comfortably, but add intervals to up my metabolism (this also increases it at rest). Anywhere from 5000 to 20,000 meters depending on how I feel. I have to be careful to avoid overtrainging. I do this in front of the TV watching my favorite programs. Notice some of the fast times on the erg listed? Do not try to compete with them. Do it at your own pace. Increase it as you feel better. Faster times will come as you get fitter and your form gets better.

Find a coach: If you are concerned about your form, find a coach where you live (listed on the Concept II website). A lesson or two will help you become a more efficient rower.

Lift weights: this builds muscle which burns more calories at rest. Thus, your body becomes more efficient at burning calories as fuel all of the time.

Eat Properly: Notice I did not say diet. I stay on an eating program that does not make me feel lousy (due to calorie restriction) but eliminates a lot of the fat. I eat five-six times a day to keep my sugar up. Thus, I feel good throughout the day.

Avoid overtraining: Feeling tired, hard to sleep - these are signs of overtraining. I back off whenever necessary. It take a while to put the weight on/lose fitness. It takes time to get back in shape. If you hurt yourself while doing this, it just holds your program back.

I took 58# off in about six months doing this and have kept it off for two years.

Thanks for the response Tom. I have give a look for a training program on the C2.uk site. They suggest to row at 18-20 s/m for fat burning??? Is it me or is it because my C2 is broken but impossible for me to be thats ''Slow''? AT level 4, the regular level!!! to row at that stoke equal only around 400 cal. burn in a hour! Am I to fast??? Do I do it wrong? How do I Know if my rower is broken? Is there a way to verified? What difference between level 1 and 10 was I suppose to feel when rowing? Easy to row 24-28 s/m at level 4...Is it Ok? To fast for fat burning? I have a few pound to lose and want to do the best for me...to feel as good as I can. And, I know, I know...as fast as possible. Bye !

[Citroen]

I have give a look for a training program on the C2.uk site. They suggest to row at 18-20 s/m for fat burning??? Is it me or is it because my C2 is broken but impossible for me to be thats ''Slow''? AT level 4, the regular level!!!

The damper has no effect on stroke rates. I learned to row at 18-20 by rowing without having my feet tied down to the footplates. It's done by not rushing back up the slide and not hauling yourself back to the front against your feet.

I'm now back to tying feet down, but can still row at low rates.

[Rose]

I have give a look for a training program on the C2.uk site. They suggest to row at 18-20 s/m for fat burning??? Is it me or is it because my C2 is broken but impossible for me to be thats ''Slow''? AT level 4, the regular level!!!

The damper has no effect on stroke rates. I learned to row at 18-20 by rowing without having my feet tied down to the footplates. It's done by not rushing back up the slide and not hauling yourself back to the front against your feet.

I'm now back to tying feet down, but can still row at low rates.

May I ask what the damper change then? So you are saying that I'm suppose to row for fat burning at 18-20 is that it? I'll give a try without having my feet tied down to the footplates. A pleasure, Citroen, to discust with you...

[Bob S.]

Thanks for the response Tom. I have give a look for a training program on the C2.uk site. They suggest to row at 18-20 s/m for fat burning??? Is it me or is it because my C2 is broken but impossible for me to be thats ''Slow''? AT level 4, the regular level!!! to row at that stoke equal only around 400 cal. burn in a hour! Am I to fast??? Do I do it wrong? How do I Know if my rower is broken? Is there a way to verified? What difference between level 1 and 10 was I suppose to feel when rowing? Easy to row 24-28 s/m at level 4...Is it Ok? To fast for fat burning? I have a few pound to lose and want to do the best for me...to feel as good as I can. And, I know, I know...as fast as possible. Bye !

For rowing, "fast" can have two very different meanings. You are using it to mean a high stroke rate and this is a common usage for the word in reference to using an indoor rower. On the water, fast refers to the speed of the boat in the water. The indoor rower is obviously not going anywhere, but the indoor rowing equivalent of fast-on-the-water is judged by the pace, i.e. the time per 500 meters. The lower the pace, the faster the rower is. The pace can vary from over 3:00 for sedentary beginners to under 1:30 for the top rowers.

There is some correlation of high rate and low pace, but it is limited and the optimum rate for any particular pace is dependent on individual differences in physiology. Shorter people, and especially people with short limbs would usually find that their stroke an any particular pace would have a higher optimum rate than those who are taller and/or have longer limbs. You haven't listed any stats, so it is hard to say what might be an optimum stroke rate for you.

The Calorie/hour reading is not very useful. It has an arbitrary background level included in it that accounts for the work done just in moving up and down the slide. This is in addition to the work that is actually measured by the monitor. It is based on what would be calculated for someone weighing 175 pounds, but it can be adjusted for others using an online calculator:

http://www.concept2.com/us/interactive/ ... alorie.asp

The best measure of work done, as shown on the monitor, is the watts reading, but most people who use the indoor rower go by the pace, as described above, especially on this forum. The pace can be calculated from the watts value and vice versa with a mathematical formula, but there are online calculators available to make it simple. One can be found here:

http://www.machars.net/

The key to achieving a high work output at a low stroke rate is in driving are hard as possible with your legs and relaxing with a slow recovery. As Citroen pointed out, you don’t want to rush back up the slide. In my own cool down periods after a workout, I row at 12 strokes per minute and the monitor shows that the Cal/hr ranges from about 540 to 610. Note that this refers to the cool down paddle, not to the workouts themselves. I am not particularly tall, although I am relatively long-limbed for my height, but I find no problem with rowing at a low stroke rate.

I can’t really address the fat-burning issue, since I have never used the indoor rower for that purpose, but I don’t think that you could go wrong in following the advice on the C2.UK site. If you are very short or have short arms and/or legs, you may want to work at a somewhat faster stroke rate than what they advise, but I don’t think that it should be increased by more 3-4 strokes per minute.

Bob S.

[Citroen]

May I ask what the damper change then?

The damper changes how much air goes through the fan so that affects how fast the flywheel slows and how much force you have to apply to accelerate it.

Most of the effect of moving the damper up is to change the focus of your stroke from legs towards upper body. The optimal position for damper is where you can apply the most power with your legs. For ladies thats probably somewhere between 100 and 120 drag factor, for men it's somewhere between 110 and 130 drag.

The fat burning idea behind low stroke rates is that you can sustain them for longer so that improves endurance and "uses" more "calories". You'll get more weight loss by controlling diet (reduced sugar and corn starch) along with doing more exercise.

[Rose]

Thanks for the response Tom. I have give a look for a training program on the C2.uk site. They suggest to row at 18-20 s/m for fat burning??? Is it me or is it because my C2 is broken but impossible for me to be thats ''Slow''? AT level 4, the regular level!!! to row at that stoke equal only around 400 cal. burn in a hour! Am I to fast??? Do I do it wrong? How do I Know if my rower is broken? Is there a way to verified? What difference between level 1 and 10 was I suppose to feel when rowing? Easy to row 24-28 s/m at level 4...Is it Ok? To fast for fat burning? I have a few pound to lose and want to do the best for me...to feel as good as I can. And, I know, I know...as fast as possible. Bye !

For rowing, "fast" can have two very different meanings. You are using it to mean a high stroke rate and this is a common usage for the word in reference to using an indoor rower. On the water, fast refers to the speed of the boat in the water. The indoor rower is obviously not going anywhere, but the indoor rowing equivalent of fast-on-the-water is judged by the pace, i.e. the time per 500 meters. The lower the pace, the faster the rower is. The pace can vary from over 3:00 for sedentary beginners to under 1:30 for the top rowers.

There is some correlation of high rate and low pace, but it is limited and the optimum rate for any particular pace is dependent on individual differences in physiology. Shorter people, and especially people with short limbs would usually find that their stroke an any particular pace would have a higher optimum rate than those who are taller and/or have longer limbs. You haven't listed any stats, so it is hard to say what might be an optimum stroke rate for you.

The Calorie/hour reading is not very useful. It has an arbitrary background level included in it that accounts for the work done just in moving up and down the slide. This is in addition to the work that is actually measured by the monitor. It is based on what would be calculated for someone weighing 175 pounds, but it can be adjusted for others using an online calculator:

http://www.concept2.com/us/interactive/ ... alorie.asp

The best measure of work done, as shown on the monitor, is the watts reading, but most people who use the indoor rower go by the pace, as described above, especially on this forum. The pace can be calculated from the watts value and vice versa with a mathematical formula, but there are online calculators available to make it simple. One can be found here:

http://www.machars.net/

The key to achieving a high work output at a low stroke rate is in driving are hard as possible with your legs and relaxing with a slow recovery. As Citroen pointed out, you don’t want to rush back up the slide. In my own cool down periods after a workout, I row at 12 strokes per minute and the monitor shows that the Cal/hr ranges from about 540 to 610. Note that this refers to the cool down paddle, not to the workouts themselves. I am not particularly tall, although I am relatively long-limbed for my height, but I find no problem with rowing at a low stroke rate.

I can’t really address the fat-burning issue, since I have never used the indoor rower for that purpose, but I don’t think that you could go wrong in following the advice on the C2.UK site. If you are very short or have short arms and/or legs, you may want to work at a somewhat faster stroke rate than what they advise, but I don’t think that it should be increased by more 3-4 strokes per minute.

Bob S.

Dear Bob...Nice of you for those information. I dont know where to start...
Everything is new so...

Your saying that I haven't listed any stats, so it is hard to say what might be an optimum stroke rate for me. I dont even know what you mean exactly...! Is it that?

4,022m 36:50.8 4:34.8 12/21/2009 18 s/m
3,200m 21:35.7 3:22.4 12/17/2009 24 s/m
3,208m 18:35.3 2:53.8 12/15/2009 35 s/m
2,797m 17:08.0 3:03.7 12/13/2009 32 s/m
2,480m 15:10.6 3:03.5 12/12/2009 31 s/m

I notice the correlation of high rate and low pace, this is why I was worry about doing thing the good way. It not simple for a beginner. During my two last session I was bored to death. I have skip a day the 19th, rather remove the kitcheen floor, than do 30 min on my rower!!! I began the training programm suggest on the C2.Uk site the 17th trying to row at lower stoke rate and I have to confest that i dont know how to have a better pace at that rate. I'm most row at that rate for...12 week, 3 time a week for 5 week, 5 time a week after.

I'm 165 cm, I dont think I have short limb but I have to say I never mesure them!!! And compare to what!!!


Your saying that the key to achieving a high work output at a low stroke rate is in driving as hard as possible with my legs and relaxing with a slow recovery. Citroen pointed out, not to rush back up the slide.

I'll try to found out what you both mean, I will look the video ''How to row'' ...Bye

[Bob S.]

Your saying that I haven't listed any stats, so it is hard to say what might be an optimum stroke rate for me. I dont even know what you mean exactly...!

I'm 165 cm, I dont think I have short limb but I have to say I never mesure them!!! And compare to what!!!

That is what I meant by stats. Others would be age and weight. Arm length and leg length might be useful as well, but I haven't seen much other data for comparison. Based on your height, I think that three strokes higher than the recommendation would be a reasonable guess. You are about the same height as or taller than Luanne Mills, who is one of the top women rowers in the 70s category. I will try to see if I can find what stroke rate she used in recent reported competitions. Of course her stroke rate in competition would be a lot higher than in training sessions.

Bob S.

[Rose]

May I ask what the damper change then?

The damper changes how much air goes through the fan so that affects how fast the flywheel slows and how much force you have to apply to accelerate it.

Most of the effect of moving the damper up is to change the focus of your stroke from legs towards upper body. The optimal position for damper is where you can apply the most power with your legs. For ladies thats probably somewhere between 100 and 120 drag factor, for men it's somewhere between 110 and 130 drag.

The fat burning idea behind low stroke rates is that you can sustain them for longer so that improves endurance and "uses" more "calories". You'll get more weight loss by controlling diet (reduced sugar and corn starch) along with doing more exercise.

Dear Citroen,

Tell me, your saying that the optimal position for damper is where I can apply the most power with my legs???For ladies thats probably somewhere between 100 and 120 drag factor!!! What is the ''Drag factor'' and how do I found the optimal position for me???

I do understand the fat burning idea behind low stroke rates. I'm worried about not giving enough effort because my only effort at this stroke rate is to be patient for 30 or 40 minutes...and regarding the small amount of cal lost during this periode, I want to be sure of what I'm doing. What to say about my pace!!!Of course, I always eat well but I dont want to focus on diet for loosing weight, not a good way for me. My metabolism has slowed down these last five years with diet and I gained around 10 pound a year. I bought the C2 for exercising myself home, for ever...the best way possible. But for now, I do want to loose weight, mean fat and hope to have results as soon as possible, just to encourage me and comfort me with the idea that I'm doing the right thing, the right way to get healty...and slimmer!

[Rose]

Your saying that I haven't listed any stats, so it is hard to say what might be an optimum stroke rate for me. I dont even know what you mean exactly...!

I'm 165 cm, I dont think I have short limb but I have to say I never mesure them!!! And compare to what!!!

That is what I meant by stats. Others would be age and weight. Arm length and leg length might be useful as well, but I haven't seen much other data for comparison. Based on your height, I think that three strokes higher than the recommendation would be a reasonable guess. You are about the same height as or taller than Luanne Mills, who is one of the top women rowers in the 70s category. I will try to see if I can find what stroke rate she used in recent reported competitions. Of course her stroke rate in competition would be a lot higher than in training sessions.

Bob S.

Hi Bob,

I can't believe Bob what I going to write here...I'm 41, 42 in 3 weeks, 165 cm tall and 84 kg, I have more than 32% fat on me!!! Of course, as Tom said I know it will take time to get back in shape, this is why I like to do it the most efficient way possible.

[Citroen]

Tell me, your saying that the optimal position for damper is where I can apply the most power with my legs???For ladies thats probably somewhere between 100 and 120 drag factor!!! What is the ''Drag factor'' and how do I found the optimal position for me???

Optimal means it's your choice. You find the drag factor that suits you best and gives you the best results. At 165cm and 84Kg that will be a lot different to some fella who's 187cm and 150Kg.

Drag factor is part of the physics/maths that the PM2/PM2+/PM3 or PM4 uses to measure the power you're using on the ergometer. The monitor can display a drag factor number.

If I sit on a model C machine in my gym in Basingstoke and set it to 120 drag factor it will feel the same and I'll get comparable results if I sit on model E in Silicon Valley YMCA and set it to the same drag factor.

On a PM2/PM2+ remove your HR strap if the machine has a heart rate interface. Press [1/0] to get the monitor to power on. Press [OK] +[REST] together.

On a PM3/PM4 choose Main menu --> More Options --> Display Drag Factor.

Row nice full length strokes until a number appears in the display. That number is the drag factor.

Adjust the lever upwards and the number gets bigger, move the lever lower and the number gets smaller.

[djh]

Something I always find amusing about the lever: there are eleven settings, although most people say there are only ten. I count the bottom of one, top of one, top of two, top of three... top of ten. That's eleven, without double counting!

Any This is Spinal Tap fans out there?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_to_eleven

[Rose]

Something I always find amusing about the lever: there are eleven settings, although most people say there are only ten. I count the bottom of zero, top of zero, top of one, top of two... top of ten. That's eleven, without double counting!

Any This is Spinal Tap fans out there?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_to_eleven

I went on their site Ha! Ha! Ha!. Excellent idea ''How to assemble your tap Diorama''. I had never heard of the level 11th before. But now, each 11min or 11000m on the C2 will be dedicated to the Spinal Tap band...