This thing really works...

[JonWalters]

Hi all,

First time post here, so please be gentle.

I’ve had my Concept2 rower for a few years, but about 3 months ago I started using it again as a means of losing weight, and getting back to being light enough to be able to run. At the time I weighed 15st, which was the heaviest I had ever been.

I now weigh 20lbs less and am 13st 8!

I’ve really enjoyed the rowing, and tend to use Rowpro on most of my rows as I like being able to select pace boats (or past rows). I’ve also done a couple of online rows, which were fun.

My question for the more experienced of you is where would you say my times are out of kilter, and where would you recommend I focus my training?

500m - 1:44.9
1000m - 3:52.3
2000m - 7:50.7
5000m - 21:13.0
30 mins - 7037m
10000m - 43:06.6
60mins - 13,419m
21097m - 1:39:21.3

Thanks in advance....

[lindsayh]

if you are primarily using the erg to help with weight loss then longer slower steady pieces is the most important part of your training. Obviously weight loss is mostly connected to what you eat rather than how you exercise but keeping your heart rate and pace in the fat burning range is best and you wont be going fast. Have a look at some good threads here that discuss all that. By doing some good long steady sessions (40+ minutes) you will improve fitness and your longer distances will improve as well. Your 5km+ times seem relatively slower than the shorter ones. Improved fitness will lead to better performances in these ones.

[hjs]

Good for you!

Re times, look at the c2 rankings to have a look. In general rowing is about having a strong stroke and good endurance. It could be your stroke needs work. Read around a bit, plenty of threads to find.

[MPx]

Times look reasonably progressive to me but you could put them through a "Paul's law" type of calculator if you want to check for yourself where there are possible strengths and weaknesses compared to a mythical average that actually nobody is! Something like this: http://www.machars.net/ultimate.php Enjoy!

[Dangerscouse]

Welcome to the forum and I agree with Lindsay, your times from 5km and above, whilst not being bad, aren't as good as your 500m, 1km and 2km times.

Personally I think you should focus on the sessions that you enjoy the most and vary the sessions to keep it interesting. If you want to keep losing weight do some long sessions with a strong stroke (18-22)

[JonWalters]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I’m definitely not obsessed with my times, and I understand the importance of long steady sessions for my primary goal, which is to get my weight back down. However, I’m enjoying the variety of trying my improve my times (and ranking on the C2 website) across all the distances.

My sporting background is as a distance runner, and there I know enough to understand how, say a sub-20min 5k should correlate to 10k time, or a 1/2 Marathon. However, with rowing I’m not familiar enough yet to know what the increments are or rough formulae to apply.

Interestingly, I suspected my longer times were probably a bit soft, and yesterday I had another go at 5k, and finished in 20:50. Next target is the 60 mins PB, as that was done with the first half being deliberately steadily paced as I wanted to be sure I didnt blow up halfway.

Thanks again.

[edinborogh]

if you are primarily using the erg to help with weight loss then longer slower steady pieces is the most important part of your training. Obviously weight loss is mostly connected to what you eat rather than how you exercise but keeping your heart rate and pace in the fat burning range is best and you wont be going fast. Have a look at some good threads here that discuss all that. By doing some good long steady sessions (40+ minutes) you will improve fitness and your longer distances will improve as well. Your 5km+ times seem relatively slower than the shorter ones. Improved fitness will lead to better performances in these ones.

i took your advice for long steady state last year, and went down from 83Kg to 68KG.
after my knee injury in December, and getting back on the Erg this May - i started with 74.8Kg, and today im 72.9KG rowing as much as i can before the pain kicks in.
im ever thankful for the advice.

[Dangerscouse]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I’m definitely not obsessed with my times, and I understand the importance of long steady sessions for my primary goal, which is to get my weight back down. However, I’m enjoying the variety of trying my improve my times (and ranking on the C2 website) across all the distances.

My sporting background is as a distance runner, and there I know enough to understand how, say a sub-20min 5k should correlate to 10k time, or a 1/2 Marathon. However, with rowing I’m not familiar enough yet to know what the increments are or rough formulae to apply.

Interestingly, I suspected my longer times were probably a bit soft, and yesterday I had another go at 5k, and finished in 20:50. Next target is the 60 mins PB, as that was done with the first half being deliberately steadily paced as I wanted to be sure I didnt blow up halfway.

Thanks again.

Over time you will gain enough confidence to know you can push harder on the longer distances. It's all about iteration and bolstering muscle memory.

[JonWalters]

Thanks Dangerscouse

Yesterday I had another go at the 1hr row, and decided to see if I could row a consistent 2:10 pace for the hour.

Luckily I could, and to break it up a bit I split it into first 30mins @ below 22 spm, with the second 30 mins being 10mins@26spm, 10mins@24spm, 10mins@29spm.

The last 20 mins were hard work, but am pleased I did it, and I think my next target is my 10k time, maybe in a couple of weeks...

[Dangerscouse]

Well done Jon. 1hr of rowing isn't an easy task by any means. Good to hear that the last 20 mins were hard as that means you were pushing enough and you had the mental strength to continue and not HD

[Allan Olesen]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I’m definitely not obsessed with my times, and I understand the importance of long steady sessions for my primary goal, which is to get my weight back down. However, I’m enjoying the variety of trying my improve my times (and ranking on the C2 website) across all the distances.

If you want to compete against yourself and still lose weight, get yourself a heart rate monitor and compete against yourself on a new metric:
"How fast can I row a 10 km without exceeding a heart rate of x BPM?"

This way you can compete against yourself without sacrificing your weight loss and aerobic development.

That is what I am doing. I try to row as fast as possible (and with as low stroke rate as possible) without exceeding 130 BPM. It is very satisfactory to see my times go down and down while maintaining the same heart rate.

Of course, every now and then I will try to measure myself on a session where I go all out and perhaps get a better ranking on the C2 rank list. But I don't need to do that every day - or every week. Watching my performance at 130 BPM going up every day is enough to suppress the hunger for a new personal record.

[JonWalters]

Nice idea Allan... most of my workouts are done with a HRM, and I rather like the idea of being able to measure progress even when focussing solely on endurance/weight loss

[edinborogh]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I’m definitely not obsessed with my times, and I understand the importance of long steady sessions for my primary goal, which is to get my weight back down. However, I’m enjoying the variety of trying my improve my times (and ranking on the C2 website) across all the distances.

If you want to compete against yourself and still lose weight, get yourself a heart rate monitor and compete against yourself on a new metric:
"How fast can I row a 10 km without exceeding a heart rate of x BPM?"

This way you can compete against yourself without sacrificing your weight loss and aerobic development.

That is what I am doing. I try to row as fast as possible (and with as low stroke rate as possible) without exceeding 130 BPM. It is very satisfactory to see my times go down and down while maintaining the same heart rate.

Of course, every now and then I will try to measure myself on a session where I go all out and perhaps get a better ranking on the C2 rank list. But I don't need to do that every day - or every week. Watching my performance at 130 BPM going up every day is enough to suppress the hunger for a new personal record.

thats a cool idea.

[hobbit]

My sporting background is as a distance runner, and there I know enough to understand how, say a sub-20min 5k should correlate to 10k time, or a 1/2 Marathon. However, with rowing I’m not familiar enough yet to know what the increments are or rough formulae to apply.

Hi Jon! I'm a runner too. I find that the predictions for running and rowing are very similar. For instance my rule of thumb: 10k time = 2 x 5k time + 1min works pretty well for rowing. And my lifetime running bests are all very close to Dangerscouse's rowing PB's.

[Dangerscouse]

My sporting background is as a distance runner, and there I know enough to understand how, say a sub-20min 5k should correlate to 10k time, or a 1/2 Marathon. However, with rowing I’m not familiar enough yet to know what the increments are or rough formulae to apply.

Hi Jon! I'm a runner too. I find that the predictions for running and rowing are very similar. For instance my rule of thumb: 10k time = 2 x 5k time + 1min works pretty well for rowing. And my lifetime running bests are all very close to Dangerscouse's rowing PB's.

I'm my case you could probably double my rowing PBs to get my running PBs. I hate running and any further than 5k is a real struggle for me. It doesn't help that my knees are battered from too much basketball when I was younger.