PAIN IN THE BACKSIDE

dutchcan · Post by **dutchcan** » March 17th, 2006, 9:41 am

This is my first post, and in fact, thanks to the Concept 2 website and forum, I'm hooked to erging. It all began quite by accident...the Concept 2's at my gym were the only machines free (can't imagine that now!), and needing to do something, I received a bit of instruction, and haven't looked back since. That was 3 weeks ago; not long, but long enough to reep the benefits. The thing is, after 30 minutes rowing, my gluts hurt more than anything.

..I'm not sure if this is normal. I can't help but wonder if I'm doing something wrong, or maybe this will go away with time. Can anyone help. Thanks!

reeroar · Post by **reeroar** » March 17th, 2006, 10:06 am

I get that as well particularly for any long piece - 60 mins +; I have noticed it is as a result of lack of stretching your hamstrings or placing too much emphisis on your legs and not concentrating on your follow through with your upper body...I find reducing the dampner to around 5 for longer pieces to allow for a smoother action once the fatigue kicks in...or another thing that I find works is bubble wrap on the seat (hopefully there are no ladies you fancy at your gym...if that is the case a folded towel may help...still looks a little odd but not as bad)but that is just my findings some may have a different opinion.

maf · Post by **maf** » March 17th, 2006, 10:08 am

Do you mean your Glut muscles hurt from rowing, or your backside hurts from the seat?

If it's the seat, there are a few things to try. A layer of bubblewrap is a good start, some people use a folded towel, and you can buy pads. I had the same problem, but it seems to have gone away, so keep at it

dutchcan · Post by **dutchcan** » March 17th, 2006, 10:19 am

reeroar wrote:I get that as well particularly for any long piece - 60 mins +; I have noticed it is as a result of lack of stretching your hamstrings or placing too much emphisis on your legs and not concentrating on your follow through with your upper body...I find reducing the dampner to around 5 for longer pieces to allow for a smoother action once the fatigue kicks in...or another thing that I find works is bubble wrap on the seat (hopefully there are no ladies you fancy at your gym...if that is the case a folded towel may help...still looks a little odd but not as bad)but that is just my findings some may have a different opinion.

Thanks for the help. Btw, I am a lady..am I in the wrong forum?

reeroar · Post by **reeroar** » March 17th, 2006, 10:38 am

I am a lady..am I in the wrong forum?

Apologies - very presumptious of me...

Sasha · Post by **Sasha** » March 17th, 2006, 11:11 am

She might have been a lady who fancies ladies

But more seriously, I know I don't belong in the 'training' forum, but this post reminds me of my first post yesterday. I wonder if there might be a "Newcomer" or "Beginner" forum. (And I'm surely posting this in the wrong place.)

michaelb · Post by **michaelb** » March 17th, 2006, 11:32 am

I don't think it matters what forum you post this stuff in. Training gets a lot of looks, so this is a good place for training questions like this. The weightloss forum is supportive, but less active. The women's forum was very supportive and pretty active. But I never got the impression that it mattered that much and I don't remember anyone complaining about where something was posted (men, like me, did occasionally post on the women's forum).

In any case, some butt pain is pretty normal with long rows. I do think you get used to it more or less. If I rowed an hour today, my butt would kill. But when training for a marathon, when I would row hours regularly, I would get used to and not hurt so much. I would guess that if you keep up the 30 min, which is great, you will get better at it and have less to no pain. I wouldn't think padding is needed generally for 30min, but obviously people are different.

Unstrapping your feet may help, and many of us do that for all our rows to help with technique. Lowering your stroke rate may also help. Shifting positions can help too, and for an hour, I almost always have to shuffle around a little bit.

dutchcan · Post by **dutchcan** » March 17th, 2006, 12:20 pm

michaelb wrote:I don't think it matters what forum you post this stuff in. Training gets a lot of looks, so this is a good place for training questions like this. The weightloss forum is supportive, but less active. The women's forum was very supportive and pretty active. But I never got the impression that it mattered that much and I don't remember anyone complaining about where something was posted (men, like me, did occasionally post on the women's forum).

In any case, some butt pain is pretty normal with long rows. I do think you get used to it more or less. If I rowed an hour today, my butt would kill. But when training for a marathon, when I would row hours regularly, I would get used to and not hurt so much. I would guess that if you keep up the 30 min, which is great, you will get better at it and have less to no pain. I wouldn't think padding is needed generally for 30min, but obviously people are different.

Unstrapping your feet may help, and many of us do that for all our rows to help with technique.
Lowering your stroke rate may also help. Shifting positions can help too, and for an hour, I almost always have to shuffle around a little bit.

I just got back from doing my 30min, and the same thing. It seems more pronounced on my left side. I did use my towel, but it didn't help much. I'm interested in the unstrapping of my feet. I've not heard that before, and how does it help form?

michaelb · Post by **michaelb** » March 17th, 2006, 1:18 pm

dutchcan wrote: I just got back from doing my 30min, and the same thing. It seems more pronounced on my left side. I did use my towel, but it didn't help much. I'm interested in the unstrapping of my feet. I've not heard that before, and how does it help form?

This is historically one of the most discussed topics here. So there really are endless posts about strapless rowing on the old forum. Unfortunately, that forum was hacked and may contain viruses or trojan horses, so I am reluctant to send you there without that warning.

Rowing strapless means just that: row with your feet unstrapped. Why to do it is the interesting question. Here is my post from a couple of months ago on the issue:

"Ok, since I am a adherent, I will take a stab at this. PaulS is the coach, and this is his theory. There have been many discussions in the past in case you want to search for more.

Strapless: this was counterintuitive to me, and took some time to understand and get used to. I would fall off the back of the seat when pulling strapless hard. If you don't use the straps, you don't get to use the straps to slow your momentum at the end of the stroke and don't get to use them to pull you back up the slide. Both of these effects are a good thing for training, and teach and reinforce good habits.

The C2 measures how fast you spin the flywheel, by pulling the handle. You pull the handle as hard as you can with your legs, back and arms. At the end of the stroke, if you use the straps to slow and stop yourself, some of the energy you produce during your stroke is "lost" and put into the straps instead. If you don't use the straps, all of your energy is transferred to the handle. Without the straps, you use the handle to slow and stop yourself. You also have to balance at the finish (or at least I do, PaulS says he can get any amount of layback). Putting all of your energy into the handle is more efficient.

In terms of recovery, rowing strapless teaches and trains you to recover the stroke properly. Instead of dragging yourself back up the slide with your feet in the straps, you have to use your balance to do so. I find that really helped get my hands out and my back forward before I started with the legs, and get into the catch position before I got to the catch. Just in the past few months I have I realized how important it is to row strapless at a higher SRs too, since that really challenges and trains the discipline of the recovery.

Rowing 10 meters per stroke. I struggle to understand if this is just a mathematical coincidence, but 10mps seems like a really nice pattern of SR and Pace for the paces between 1:40 or so and 2:20. Rowing 10mps keeps you in "ratio" so that in order to go faster you pull harder, and only increase your SR when you are actually going faster. I don't row on the water, and so can't really understand or even need to care about the subleties of 10mps, but it is a nice discipline for my rowing. It does mean that I don't do really slow rate rowing, like 18-20, but I find when I do that I have a hard time not making the stroke artificially slow. 10mps always feels natural in those broad ranges.

Strapless 10mps is for training. You can race at any pace and rate you want, and with the straps. I do row long pieces like 10k to the marathon distance either straps loose or not at all though."

From this thread [warning, these posts may contain viruses]:

http://concept2.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=3755

There was also this great thread recently, which is a bummer that it has been lost (something similar though was started on the UK forum to followup on the discussion).

http://concept2.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=3974

FrankJ · Post by **FrankJ** » March 17th, 2006, 2:36 pm

dutchcan wrote:
I just got back from doing my 30min, and the same thing. It seems more pronounced on my left side. I did use my towel, but it didn't help much. I'm interested in the unstrapping of my feet. I've not heard that before, and how does it help form?

Just wanted to say that I have been rowing for 3.5 years and over 8.5 million meters and I still find it a pain in the butt unless I use a pad. Made my pad from 3 layers of a backpacker sleeping pad cut to fit the contours of my butt so the pressure is off the top of my hamstrings. Works for me but it took some experimentation to get there.

Frank

Alissa · Post by **Alissa** » March 17th, 2006, 2:38 pm

michaelb wrote:
dutchcan wrote: I just got back from doing my 30min, and the same thing. It seems more pronounced on my left side. I did use my towel, but it didn't help much. I'm interested in the unstrapping of my feet. I've not heard that before, and how does it help form?
This is historically one of the most discussed topics here. So there really are endless posts about strapless rowing on the old forum. Unfortunately, that forum was hacked and may contain viruses or trojan horses, so I am reluctant to send you there without that warning.

[snip]

There was also this great thread recently, which is a bummer that it has been lost (something similar though was started on the UK forum to followup on the discussion).

http://concept2.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=3974

If you don't want to try for this, I've already pulled the thread titled: "What S10mps Offers Me As An Indoor Rower" from the Old (but not the oldest old) Forum and have it in word format. I'm glad to upload (if someone can tell me how

) or post or e-mail to anyone who might want it. PM me if you want an e-mail (w/ your e-mail address, please).

Alissa

johnlvs2run · Post by **johnlvs2run** » March 17th, 2006, 2:47 pm

dutchcan wrote:after 30 minutes rowing, my gluts hurt more than anything. ..I'm not sure if this is normal. I can't help but wonder if I'm doing something wrong, or maybe this will go away with time. Can anyone help. Thanks!

When I first got the rowing machine, my gluts were aching so much after 10 minutes that I had to stop. It was painful aching in the muscles and quite an ordeal. Sometimes I alternated 2 minutes on with 2 minutes rest, and my glut muscles would ache a lot (to max) at the end of each 2 minutes. I think most of that was my glut muscles getting used to the exercise.

Then I got used to going for 30 minutes, when the pace was easy, which helped my muscles to relax and get used to the exercise. When going more intensely, then it is helpful to have breaks. Over time, your muscles get more and more used to the exercise.

dutchcan · Post by **dutchcan** » March 18th, 2006, 6:03 am

Thanks to all of you! I plan on experimenting a bit in the next week..strapless, homemade pad, the works. I've finally found an exercise I thoroughly enjoy and I'm not going to let a 'pain in the butt' - literally- stop me. May I also say it's so nice to be amongst a group of people who share the same enthusiasm. I've tried to extol the virtues of rowing to some of my gym friends, but they are so stuck on ellipticals, they can't open their minds enough to give it a go. What a pity....

MomofJBN · Post by **MomofJBN** » March 18th, 2006, 8:36 pm

You said you did get some instruction so maybe this isn't the problem, but I find that I get more sore if my hips are tucked under too much. It's hard to describe, but you can feel the difference when standing up tipping your hips under or not. On the erg, the hips don't want to be tucked under. Then make sure your abs are strong so that the lower back doesn't get too much pressure. I hope that makes sense.

Also, Welcome! Come hang out on the Women's Forum. It's a great group.

Schenley

dutchcan · Post by **dutchcan** » March 21st, 2006, 12:01 pm

On the erg, the hips don't want to be tucked under. Then make sure your abs are strong so that the lower back doesn't get too much pressure. I hope that makes sense.

Makes alot of sense. Today I made sure my hips weren't tucked under, and it did make a difference. I'm guessing it's the same position used in some of the pilates exercises. This also seemed to make a difference in my lower back. Thanks for the advise!

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