numb bum

[Erik A]

Hi All

ive just recently started to get numb bum while erging. i used to get it when out kayaking but sorted it with a seat pad and draping my legs over the side when sitting in one location. after 8-12 hrs on a kayak you tend to flop around a bit when you get off with the numb bum and legs
its starting to happen sooner and sooner into my row. i was doing 45 min sessions with no probs then had a forced layoff and when i came back after a couple of weeks at about the 25 min mark i would get numb bum. so im back up to 36 min sessions and its getting annoying. when i increase again to 45 mins i really dont fancy doing 15-20 mins or more with a numb bum.

apart from a seat pad any suggestions??

[swingshiftworker]

Apart from a seat pad any suggestions??

Nope.

I've tried a variety of pads with no success. I've got a very bony butt which isn't surprising since my BF% (as measured by hydro) is only 8.3%. All the pressure goes rests right on the bottom of my hip bones. Anything past 15 mins for me is literally a PITA. So, I just row 2500 meters at a time, which takes me 12-12.5 mins at a moderate rate, but I actually row 4x2500 for a total of 10k meters/day in about an hour.

I've been using bubble wrap under a towel for awhile, which is as good as any pad I've tried in the past, but I just ordered a 3" covered dense foam pad from Amazon which gets good ratings from users. The bubble wrap already raises my butt 2", so another 1" higher shouldn't matter to my form. Just hope it's better than the other pads I've tried in the past because I'd like to row the 10k meters in just 2x5000 or 1x10000 instead.

[Dangerscouse]

I use a cut up yoga mat in a pillow case for my endurance training sessions. It's good as it doesn't sit you up too high and it only needs a few pieces to create quite a dense but comfy pad and it's cheap!

[hjs]

The real cure is building glutes, long distance rowing won,t do that. Building glutes and using them during the row, rocking over back and forth. This gives, no more sitting on your buttbones and keeping the blood flowing, the pressure on the glutes restricting the bloodflow is cause number one for the pain.

[Ombrax]

How about breaking up the 45 min into several pieces (say, three) and during the breaks (3 minutes work for me) get up, walk around a bit, give your butt a bit of a massage, sit down, and have another go.

I have no idea if this will prevent your issue or not, but it can't hurt to try. (If I'm doing anything above 5k total I break it up into either two or three pieces.)

[Erik A]

Thanks everyone

i may try that breaking it up when i get to the 60 min sessions... see how that works. will also make a seat pad i think... I was going to do it a while ago but didnt really need it at the time.

[Dangerscouse]

The real cure is building glutes, long distance rowing won,t do that. Building glutes and using them during the row, rocking over back and forth. This gives, no more sitting on your buttbones and keeping the blood flowing, the pressure on the glutes restricting the bloodflow is cause number one for the pain.

That is interesting. I don't have any issues until circa two hours in so I guess I must have built them up.

[hjs]

The real cure is building glutes, long distance rowing won,t do that. Building glutes and using them during the row, rocking over back and forth. This gives, no more sitting on your buttbones and keeping the blood flowing, the pressure on the glutes restricting the bloodflow is cause number one for the pain.

That is interesting. I don't have any issues until circa two hours in so I guess I must have built them up.

Some people simply have no problem, bonestructure is important, not something we can change

[Cyclist2]

apart from a seat pad any suggestions??

It's not the padding per se, but the arrangement of the pad. Look at a rowing shell seat; solid wood or plastic but with the two holes for the sitz bones and a cutout for the tail bone. I use three layers of yoga mat, the bottom one with the holes cut to fit my sitz bones - just that slight reduction in pressure keeps me comfortable.

[Donnie]

I bought the endurow seat and it has helped tremendously.

[estragon]

I bought the 3-inch memory foam pad from Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/Perfectly-Washab ... 2+seat+pad). It arrived only yesterday but so far I'm pleased with it. There's a 2-inch and 3-inch version. Only problem for me was that it wasn't available from the European Amazon outlets so I had to order from the US Amazon which pretty much doubled the total price once shipping was added. When I mentioned this to a friend he said I should have bought a chunk of memory foam locally and cut it to size. Worth looking into as it's a fraction of the price.