Noob would like some feedback please

[Psychopasta]

Hi everyone,

I am new to rowing, and work out on the Concept2s at my gym. I have ordered one for home and it arrives tomorrow. Yippee!

I am 59 years old, 208 lb (yes, I know) 5'7" and male. My goals right now are weight loss and general fitness. I don't row on the water yet, but would like to as the weather improves. A local rowing club has classes starting ~ April.

Following advice from one of Smeeagain's posts, I have focused on keeping my strokes in the 20-25 spm range, and on being able to complete 30 minutes. I can now complete 30 minutes without stopping, and this currently includes a ~3 minutes warmup period. Here's how I did:

row1.jpg (56.24 KiB) Viewed 8818 times

row2.jpg (66.97 KiB) Viewed 8818 times

I'm really keen to get some feedback on where I go next. In terms of my own feedback, I was counting PULL-2-3 so that I have a 1:2 drive to recovery. However, I still got back to the catch too quickly, and found myself pausing at the catch to keep the stroke rate down. I really need to work on slowing the recovery so that I get to the catch and don't pause. I also need to work on opening the hips more, I have a tendency to push legs with a nice straight back and then go to arms without rotating at the hips.

I'd really welcome your thoughts. Should I stay at the pace I'm on and work on technique (and maybe going for longer) or what? I'll probably do the Pete Plan once I have the basics under my belt.

Cheers

- Pasta

[Ombrax]

Congratulations, Mark! 30 minutes is a long time to row.

I'm no expert, but I'd suggest that once you have your technique figured out, you also do some shorter pieces (not just 30 minute all in one go) and try to bring your pace up.

Don't forget - you have to push HARD with your legs.

Good Luck

[Erik A]

Hi Mark
A few of us on here are doing the Interactive weight loss program. Have a look at the expectations thread in the weight loss section. It concentrates early in the program on long slow rows. Then cuts back to faster rows then moves into AT work. It's working quite well for me so far. I'm about to jump into week 5 and that's a 45 min row then a 50 min row followed by a 60 min row. (Not on the same day) then repeat for the 6 days.
I generally don't bother with distance. I just concentrate on the 500m split time and stroke rate. I'm trying to keep it under 2:05 and A stroke rate of 23/24.
Anyway. Keep up the good work and keep putting updates in. It's great seeing others succeeding and seeing their progress.

[mitchel674]

Welcome and congrats on your new rower.

I'm impressed you were able to row for 30 minutes. This is certainly a great start. You may want to take a closer look at the power you generate with each stroke. Your drive should be a more explosive push with your legs followed by your recovery. Think about your legs doing 60% of the work.

Perhaps take the time now and break your 30 minute rows into three 10 minute sessions and focus on the watts you produce or even look at the force curve on your monitor. Your watts are relatively low at 56. Try to work on GRADUALLY increasing your power over the next few months. Don't do too much too soon or it will hurt your back with poor technique.

I've only been rowing for 6 months, but I now realize that I need to work on increasing the power of my drive. You should be thinking about this now instead of 6 months from now!

[Dangerscouse]

Welcome and congrats on your new rower.

I'm impressed you were able to row for 30 minutes. This is certainly a great start. You may want to take a closer look at the power you generate with each stroke. Your drive should be a more explosive push with your legs followed by your recovery. Think about your legs doing 60% of the work.

Perhaps take the time now and break your 30 minute rows into three 10 minute sessions and focus on the watts you produce or even look at the force curve on your monitor. Your watts are relatively low at 56. Try to work on GRADUALLY increasing your power over the next few months. Don't do too much too soon or it will hurt your back with poor technique.

I've only been rowing for 6 months, but I now realize that I need to work on increasing the power of my drive. You should be thinking about this now instead of 6 months from now!

Great advice. It's far better to learn the correct technique at the start than try and unpick years of bad habits. For a seemingly very simple action it is actually far more complex than meets the eye

[Cyclist2]

I really need to work on slowing the recovery so that I get to the catch and don't pause.

It's a technique issue. Most newbies row too fast, so not uncommon.

Here's how I slow my rate: The drive is the same; good strong catch position, push hard with the legs, open the hips, finish with the arms. The "trick" to a slower recovery is to push the arms away quickly (you don't have to punch them forward, just a quicker away movement), then lean forward from the hips so that now you are in the catch position with your upper body. Your legs at this point are still straight. Now that you're in the catch position, you can start bending your knees as fast or slowly as you want to vary the rate. You're already set for the start of the next drive as soon as your knees are fully bent (shins vertical).

There is no pausing at either end of the stroke, it's all controlled by how fast or slow you bend your knees on the recovery.

Looks like you're off to a good start in this rowing thing, it'll come with practice. Have fun!

[Psychopasta]

Thanks everyone!

[Psychopasta]

Thanks again for all the feedback so far. So, I did another 30 minute row today, and continued to focus on my technique and stroke rate. Results pleased me:




So I was pushing with my legs more. As I tired and my technique got wobbly, my SPM went up and I used my arms more. So what I'm thinking of now is that I should do 3x 10 mins, with maybe 2 mins rest between. Any suggestions?

- Mark

[jamesg]

The key to rowing is full use of legs and hips; and this requires a technique with a specific recovery sequence: hands away, swing, then legs.

To make the sequence clear, during warm-up do 3-4 minutes fixed seat work on the backstop with arms and swing only, slowly, then gradually adding legs after the swing forward. The swing is what helps share the Work between hips and thighs, where most of our rowing muscle is.

Set the stretcher low, so that you can get forward onto the feet and then shove hard with the legs. Keep the drag low too, so that the flywheel keeps going, like a boat.

The only number you need apart from Rating is the ratio Watts/Rating, since this is Work per stroke. This tells us what we are doing and defines quality.

[Dangerscouse]

So I was pushing with my legs more. As I tired and my technique got wobbly, my SPM went up and I used my arms more. So what I'm thinking of now is that I should do 3x 10 mins, with maybe 2 mins rest between. Any suggestions?

Yeah, try 3 x 10 mins with 3, 4 or even 5 mins rest. Your technique is more important than trying to slog it out when you are tiring. You will eventually be able to do 30 mins non stop but that's for another day further down the line

[Citroen]

Thanks again for all the feedback so far. So, I did another 30 minute row today, and continued to focus on my technique and stroke rate. Results pleased me:

So I was pushing with my legs more. As I tired and my technique got wobbly, my SPM went up and I used my arms more. So what I'm thinking of now is that I should do 3x 10 mins, with maybe 2 mins rest between. Any suggestions?

- Mark

Getting less than 7000m in 30 minutes means you're not using your legs enough. I think you should learn some technique and go for 5 minutes reps with 2 minute intervals. Don't worry about getting all six reps done, worry about getting closer to 2'30" for 500m pace by using your legs not your arms.

[Ombrax]

Mark,

Congratulations, your average pace is improving.

I think we're mostly in general agreement here:

1) Be sure your technique is good or improving. (One option is to record yourself, save the video somewhere online and post the link here. You'll get some great feedback from some knowledgeable rowers.)

2) At the beginning, when you're trying to improve your pace, it's probably better to row shorter pieces (5-10 minutes) with say, 2-4 minute breaks, and improve your time on those, rather than rowing a single long piece. Later, when you can better sustain something around a 2:00 - 2:15 pace for more extended periods of time, you can then work on longer pieces. (caveat: that's what works for me, ymmv)

Eventually, if you really want to go for it and you find that that sort of thing works for you, there are plenty of threads here and info online on much more structured training plans that have worked very well for others. I personally find them boring, but plenty of people love the predetermined routine.

Good Luck

[mitchel674]

Welcome and congrats on your new rower.

I'm impressed you were able to row for 30 minutes. This is certainly a great start. You may want to take a closer look at the power you generate with each stroke. Your drive should be a more explosive push with your legs followed by your recovery. Think about your legs doing 60% of the work.

Perhaps take the time now and break your 30 minute rows into three 10 minute sessions and focus on the watts you produce or even look at the force curve on your monitor. Your watts are relatively low at 56. Try to work on GRADUALLY increasing your power over the next few months. Don't do too much too soon or it will hurt your back with poor technique.

I've only been rowing for 6 months, but I now realize that I need to work on increasing the power of my drive. You should be thinking about this now instead of 6 months from now!

[Psychopasta]

The only number you need apart from Rating is the ratio Watts/Rating, since this is Work per stroke. This tells us what we are doing and defines quality.

Hey James, thanks for this. What is Rating?

To all: thank you for your help!

- Mark

[JerekKruger]

Hey James, thanks for this. What is Rating?

Number of strokes per minute.