My New Erg Adventure for Weight Loss and Health!

[IMHester]

Now the real fun is going to begin - I think I'll start the Beginner PP in couple of weeks when I get back into town (have to work out of town for an entire week). Seemed like a bit much a month ago. Sad I won't be able to row but it will be a good chance to let me body rest up before the 24 week fun!

Just got the 6500s done which is the longest I've ever rowed. Kind of giving up on going for times on these long rows; just focused on completing meters and using my legs. Do push hard on the interval pieces which I simply enjoy more than mindless long rows sigh.

When I travel I have found places with a Concept2 that will let me row for a few bucks.... If only more hotels would get onboard.

Excellent point Jimmy! I just happened to find a locator on the C2 website as well:

http://www.concept2.com/indoor-rowers/finder

You may have known about this one, and it so happens that there are a couple of locations in the small town I'll be in for 4 days that have a couple of Model Ds!

[IMHester]

Hi All!

Minor setback - took a couple of weeks off of the erg since I've been out of town for the most part for work and my body was beat up pretty well after the Mud Challenge. I'll be getting back at it when I get back at the end of the week and I'm glad I was able to contribute some meters for the WEC for the Flyers!

After being off the erg for a couple of days I noticed my body was starting to get sore in places that I didn't knew existed on my body, but felt good. The Mud Challenge was a good challenge for me to just simply see if I could complete it so it was a good personal goal met.

My lower back was particularly sore, and I have been trying to pay close attention to my form and not over-doing it at the end of the drive. I watched plenty of videos from the C2 site and youtube (Dark Horse rowing had some great videos). I guess this is most likely normal for someone that is just starting up on an erg after a few years. I'm going to now start incorporating some other exercises such as bike riding and weight lifting at the local gym, with the erg as my central form of exercise.

I'm going to start the Beginner Pete Plan at the beginning of May when the new season starts - looking forward to that!

[jimmy1]

Good deal! Found slight lower back tenderness as I row more meters with the bpp. Focusing on trying to keep upright; tend to roll my lower back as I reach for the catch position. Have even thought of using a back brace to aid but haven't yet.

I've been surprised to see how staying focused on the recovery (arms out, hinge from hip with upright abs, then slide forward) really helps the drive. Up to 7,500 sigh. Some pieces done at low 15 spm stuff to focus on technical. My mind really drifts and I get lazy on these long rows.

[calalli]

I have read through this thread a few times, seems like it is where the heavier newbies have congregated. I am on week 4 of the BPP, so far so good. I feel like I am making good progress and really improving my pace and technique, I just need to be really aware of not pushing to hard.

Jimmy and Chris, the talk about back pain scares me as I get to the longer distances, a good reminder to maybe slow a bit and focus on form first.

It seems most of us are fairly close to one another on the BPP here ( except for Steve smwoodburn - congratulations) , mabye it would be helpful to kinda post our workouts and weight loss progress here similar to the Pete Plan thread, but for the more weight challenged.

As for me, today I did BPP wk4 s2 - the 3x1000m avg pace was 204.8 r24, My HR stayed around 144 most of the time, high UT1 for me, Yesterday I did 6,500m in 29:14.4 pace was 2:14.9 at r23 and again high UT1, drifting higher at the end. I am not sure I should be that high.

Also today I weighed in at 230.9, down from 263 on Feb 27. My initial goal was to hit 200 by June 1 for vacation - not looking likely,

cal

[hepting]

I have read through this thread a few times, seems like it is where the heavier newbies have congregated. I am on week 4 of the BPP, so far so good. I feel like I am making good progress and really improving my pace and technique, I just need to be really aware of not pushing to hard.

Jimmy and Chris, the talk about back pain scares me as I get to the longer distances, a good reminder to maybe slow a bit and focus on form first.

It seems most of us are fairly close to one another on the BPP here ( except for Steve smwoodburn - congratulations) , mabye it would be helpful to kinda post our workouts and weight loss progress here similar to the Pete Plan thread, but for the more weight challenged.

As for me, today I did BPP wk4 s2 - the 3x1000m avg pace was 204.8 r24, My HR stayed around 144 most of the time, high UT1 for me, Yesterday I did 6,500m in 29:14.4 pace was 2:14.9 at r23 and again high UT1, drifting higher at the end. I am not sure I should be that high.

Also today I weighed in at 230.9, down from 263 on Feb 27. My initial goal was to hit 200 by June 1 for vacation - not looking likely,

cal

Cal,

Just a head up a number of folks are on the BPP and post in the Peter Plan thread in Training. Times are all over the map - but regardless of where you track I look forward to following your progress! I am on wk8 now.

In regards to the back - #1 culprit by far is technique which it is clear you guys are focusing on but in addition, you may want to take a look at slides. I used to suffer some minor lower back ache's after long rows (anything over about 6k) - and I purchased a used set of slides a few years ago and I have not had the issue again. They do take up a lot more room, but I think they are great for long rows. They also help a bit with technique. Though there is some debate on whether they produce lower times but based on my review on longer pieces the times are almost identical. I do take the machine off the slides for 2k sessions if I am doing a test or something.

Good Luck!

[IMHester]

I have read through this thread a few times, seems like it is where the heavier newbies have congregated. I am on week 4 of the BPP, so far so good. I feel like I am making good progress and really improving my pace and technique, I just need to be really aware of not pushing to hard.

Jimmy and Chris, the talk about back pain scares me as I get to the longer distances, a good reminder to maybe slow a bit and focus on form first.

It seems most of us are fairly close to one another on the BPP here ( except for Steve smwoodburn - congratulations) , mabye it would be helpful to kinda post our workouts and weight loss progress here similar to the Pete Plan thread, but for the more weight challenged.

As for me, today I did BPP wk4 s2 - the 3x1000m avg pace was 204.8 r24, My HR stayed around 144 most of the time, high UT1 for me, Yesterday I did 6,500m in 29:14.4 pace was 2:14.9 at r23 and again high UT1, drifting higher at the end. I am not sure I should be that high.

Also today I weighed in at 230.9, down from 263 on Feb 27. My initial goal was to hit 200 by June 1 for vacation - not looking likely,

cal

Cal,

Just a head up a number of folks are on the BPP and post in the Peter Plan thread in Training. Times are all over the map - but regardless of where you track I look forward to following your progress! I am on wk8 now.

In regards to the back - #1 culprit by far is technique which it is clear you guys are focusing on but in addition, you may want to take a look at slides. I used to suffer some minor lower back ache's after long rows (anything over about 6k) - and I purchased a used set of slides a few years ago and I have not had the issue again. They do take up a lot more room, but I think they are great for long rows. They also help a bit with technique. Though there is some debate on whether they produce lower times but based on my review on longer pieces the times are almost identical. I do take the machine off the slides for 2k sessions if I am doing a test or something.

Good Luck!

Finally got back into town today from working. Haven't erg'd in two weeks so it's time to get back on it! Congrats Cal on the weight loss! I'm curious to see how I do after going pretty hard for the first two months of owning the erg then taking two weeks off. Probably going to die but no pain no gain right? Starting the BPP at the beginning of next month so I'll need some encouragement and I'm glad you guys are blazing the trail for me

Thank you Hepting for the heads up on the thread I'll take a look too.

[IMHester]

Cal,

Just a head up a number of folks are on the BPP and post in the Peter Plan thread in Training. Times are all over the map - but regardless of where you track I look forward to following your progress! I am on wk8 now.

In regards to the back - #1 culprit by far is technique which it is clear you guys are focusing on but in addition, you may want to take a look at slides. I used to suffer some minor lower back ache's after long rows (anything over about 6k) - and I purchased a used set of slides a few years ago and I have not had the issue again. They do take up a lot more room, but I think they are great for long rows. They also help a bit with technique. Though there is some debate on whether they produce lower times but based on my review on longer pieces the times are almost identical. I do take the machine off the slides for 2k sessions if I am doing a test or something.

Good Luck!

Thanks for the info hepting! I live in a small apartment so slides aren't an option at this point, but since I have a large gut I think my back issues are primarly caused from that. I think when I start the BPP and start getting into the long pieces I'm going to slow it down as the others have been doing. I'm trying to keep my range from the 11 o'clock to 1 o'clock range but I'm not sure so I may take some videos of myself to check. My goal will be to focus on form and just completing the Plan. Hopefully as the weeks pass my times will improve. Planning on buying a house in the next year or two at which point I can re-visit the slide idea.

When I do actually start the plan in a week and a half I think I'll post a weekly journal to this thread to reflect how I'm feeling.

[calalli]

Dyson, thanks for the note on the slides. I have not had any back issues yet but will keep those in mind if it develops. Back issues and tendinitis are the two culprits that tend to wreck my fitness efforts.

I have been following and posting on the Pete Plan thread as well. Chris, I look forward to seeing your efforts reported there.

cal

[IMHester]

Well here we go! Started the new season with a day 1 BPP row of 5000m and did the CTC a little later in the afternoon. I'm definitely going to take your folks' advice on the longer rows to concentrate on form and not time.

I was concerned that the 5000m would be tough as I took off the last two weeks but amazingly it wasn't bad. My 5000m times are not good but I'm not going to concern myself with that, just want to complete it!

Thanks again for all of the advice on this post; I'll post my thoughts on this as I finish each week. Been reading the BPP thread also.

[hepting]

Chris,

Nice job getting started! I think BPP (Beginner Peter Plan) is a good way to work your way up focusing on a lot of SS and some intervals. Agree with others to take it slow early on - it is a long program and times are a lot less important than mileage, form and consistency. I just started week 10, and am having to dig deep to get on the seat for some of these longer rows... but progress has been steady and consistent.

Good luck!

[IMHester]

Major Setback to Report!

Unfortunately I came down with a respiratory infection last Monday. Wasn't able to complete the second 5000m. Tried but I almost passed out so I figured it wasn't a good time to try to complete the first week.

Still pretty sick but I'm getting better since I went to the doctor and got some antibiotics. Will re-start once I get better, hopefully this week.

Disappointed because I wanted to start off the new season with a bang, but need to focus on my health first!

Will report once I finally get a week or two in.

[smwoodburn]

I have read through this thread a few times, seems like it is where the heavier newbies have congregated. I am on week 4 of the BPP, so far so good. I feel like I am making good progress and really improving my pace and technique, I just need to be really aware of not pushing to hard.

Jimmy and Chris, the talk about back pain scares me as I get to the longer distances, a good reminder to maybe slow a bit and focus on form first.

It seems most of us are fairly close to one another on the BPP here ( except for Steve smwoodburn - congratulations) , mabye it would be helpful to kinda post our workouts and weight loss progress here similar to the Pete Plan thread, but for the more weight challenged.

As for me, today I did BPP wk4 s2 - the 3x1000m avg pace was 204.8 r24, My HR stayed around 144 most of the time, high UT1 for me, Yesterday I did 6,500m in 29:14.4 pace was 2:14.9 at r23 and again high UT1, drifting higher at the end. I am not sure I should be that high.

Also today I weighed in at 230.9, down from 263 on Feb 27. My initial goal was to hit 200 by June 1 for vacation - not looking likely,

cal

Cal,

Thank you for the congratulations. As I stated in an earlier post, completing the Beginner Pete Plan a while back was a major accomplishment for me. I see that you have lost a significant amount of weight as well. I can't say enough great things about the erg. After I completed the beginner plan, I have continued to row using the regular Pete Plan as a guide. I weighed in yesterday at 187.5 (52.5 pound weight loss), which is the lowest weight I have been in 15 years. I continue to row each day and have incorporated other exercises, suspension training (TRX), some jogging and a speed bag which I find very fun to use. Keep up the good work. The pounds will melt away.

Stephen

[jimmy1]

Chris,

Nice job getting started! I think BPP (Beginner Peter Plan) is a good way to work your way up focusing on a lot of SS and some intervals. Agree with others to take it slow early on - it is a long program and times are a lot less important than mileage, form and consistency. I just started week 10, and am having to dig deep to get on the seat for some of these longer rows... but progress has been steady and consistent.

Good luck!

Great! Got to week 7 and began dreading the seat time. Convinced myself that during the summer months I get much walking and tennis in and have therefore decided to limit long rows. Replacing with some HIIT/tabata type stuff (20 sec on/10 sec off and short 100m to 500m and back pyramids) for the next few months. 1000m warm up and cool down to focus on technique. May pick bpp back up in fall....

[calalli]

Stephen, 52.5 lbs is awesome, way to go! I am still slogging through the BPP , on week 8 now. I am also doing P90 so I am getting 2 solid workouts a day except for weekends when I don't row. It takes time, but I can see the progress.

jimmy1 - It seems around week 7 is when the BPP starts to grind a bit, but as Dyson said - I can see progress and will continue. I had thoughts too about going to a shorter HIIT approach but decided against it as I think I need to really build a solid base before I get into hard starts and risk an injury. Good luck.

Chris - hope to see you back soon

cal

[rmills72]

Greetings everyone! Lurker turning poster here! I have been following this thread and others on the board. It's nice to see that I'm not alone in my struggles. Starting week #6 of the BPP today. I know it's only adding on another 500m to what I have already rowed, but... it's another 500m.

I've struggled with my weight for the last couple of years. Watched myself steadily climb from 165 to near 190 at times. Finally decided to do something about it. Joined a gym and started working out 3-4 times a week. Stopped the gain, but not really losing much. At the beginning of March, my son comes home from school and says he wants to join the crew team. (good for him, finally something athletic!). A couple of weeks later we are talking and he mentions how much he hates this thing called an ERG??? After a little research, and wonder at why people would want to hurt themselves this way... I bought one. My son now hates me. I'm back down to low 170's and feeling better than I have in years. I don't owe it all to the ERG, but adding that into my routine, along with the gym and weights, has definitely helped! It is great to see the progress though. My first 5k on the plan was at 2:30.7r27. I did a benchmark 5k at the end of my week 6 (yes, I know it's not in the plan) and pulled a 2.06.8r22. Not record breaking by any means.. but most certainly progress.

Keep it up everyone! You're doing great!

Ron