Complete Newbie Rower

[Chili]

I'm a fat 43 year old male (5'8" 242 lbs) looking to get back in shape to get more enjoyment out of my motocross racing and for the general health benefits. I'm trying to cover the diet end with weight watchers and I just purchased a Concept 2 D for the exercise side of things.

I must admit never having rowed before that reading on this forum has me a bit overwhelmed with all the info related to rowing, in the past to lose weight I simply put on a HR monitor and got on the treadmill and started walking.

I've decided to follow the Pete Plan after much reading on here but was looking for some feedback on a few things now that I've done my first workout.

At the end of my first 5,000 workout I had the following numbers:

20 s/m
2:27/500
25:22.0 total time
2:32.2 ave/500
4:55 split

Do these numbers tell you anything about my technique? Based on the rankings it puts me right near the bottom but what I'm wondering is what area of those numbers should I be focusing to improve? My HR was in the 85% range avg for that row.

[Citroen]

I think you should just stick with what you're doing as you get fitter you'll get faster. The thing that needs to change is diet - cut out the refined sugars, the corn syrup and all that crap.

You can think about extending your workout to 30 mins, but do it in small steps. Get the heart rate up.

The only rule is don't eat more to compensate for the calories you're using on the rower.

About 16 years ago I weighed over 200#. I'm now down around 165#.

[Bob S.]

Do these numbers tell you anything about my technique? Based on the rankings it puts me right near the bottom but what I'm wondering is what area of those numbers should I be focusing to improve? My HR was in the 85% range avg for that row.

The numbers alone can't tell much about your technique. There are lots of videos available that show good technique and they can help you to some extent. I don't have any URLs handy, but a simple search will give you a flood of them. Just make sure that they are by qualified coaches.

The best way is to find a rowing club and get some advice. The next best is to get a video of yourself on the indoor rower and post it here for critique (and on the UK forum as well).

You don't really have to have good technique when your goal is exercise and weight loss. However poor technique is more likely to lead to injury, so even if you are not into competition, it is a good idea to get started out with the proper form. It seems like a simple thing to just push yourself back with your legs while you pull the handle with your arms and back, but there can be a lot of variation in the application and a lot of those variations are not beneficial.

Bob S.

[Chili]

You can think about extending your workout to 30 mins, but do it in small steps. Get the heart rate up.

I wondered about this as I would likely walk on the treadmill for 45-60 minutes but following the Pete Plan it seems to start off pretty slowly with shorter workouts.

[Bob S.]

I don't have any URLs handy, but a simple search will give you a flood of them.
Bob S.

I just spotted one on the UK forum that I had seen before. This time I saved the URL so that I could post it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqVmMd7FdAA

In general, it is very good and quite detailed. For myself, I would prefer somewhat less body swing - maybe 15 degrees each way instead of the 20 back and 30 forward that this coach said, but that is probably because I am old and not very flexible. The kind of thing that is not covered in this video is a discussion of faults. There is another great video around that has demonstrations of typical faults and tells how to correct them.

Some typical faults are:
1) shooting the slide (bum-shoving in the UK), which means pushing the seat back faster than the handle is being pulled - a major energy waster.
2) breaking the arms too early - starting to pull with the arms before the legs are straight. This will result in the arms working too hard and tiring early.
3) rushing the recovery - moving up the slide too rapidly in a hurry to get the next stroke instead of relaxing on the recovery and getting ready to explode at the catch. The recovery should take longer than the drive, even as much as 4 times as long as the drive depending on the stroke rate.
4) raising the knees too early in the recovery, forcing the hands to do a roller coaster path to get over the raised knees. The coach in the video does touch on this point. It is a major problem in rowing on the water, but many people have this fault on the indoor rower and do well in spite of it.

Bob S.

[Chili]

Thanks I actually found that one while cruising around the UK site this afternoon.

I'm trying to concentrate on technique for now, I'll see about getting a video up after I've been at it a week or two.