Introduce yourself

[mjlawton]

I would love to have it on our screened in porch, but I will be keeping it indoors to keep it out of the salt air. Thanks for the heads up though .

[MSI_11]

Hi,
I am new to this forum and rowing in general. In the past I have only use rowing as an addition to my running and cycling training. I am 41 year old female, just few weeks ago had my leg surgery and trying something new and it looks like I found it . This week I managed to do few rowing sessions and so far my best result for 2000m is 9:49.5 with av 2:27.3/500m and S/M 26. To be honest I have no idea if thats good or bad I am using a gym equipment and I am struggling to set a drag factor. At the moment I have tried two different rowers and average df is around 80, so far of the recommended 110 - 115
Maybe I am doing something wrong? Any suggestions, can it have a big impact on the training?

Thank you
Marta

[jackarabit]

Knocking out 110 watts a few weeks after leg surgery AND you know how to find the df in the monitor? Maybe you should be giving the advice!

The catch is going to be easier on healing tissue at low drag but, if you want it higher, you’ll have to make your wishes known to gym management and ask to have the erg fan cages cleaned. You got a good, quick drive at df 80 so I suggest experimenting judiciously with higher drag. 110 is high enuf for women, children, and old geezers like me.

[lindsayh]

Hi, I am new to this forum and rowing in general. In the past I have only use rowing as an addition to my running and cycling training. I am 41 year old female, just few weeks ago had my leg surgery and trying something new and it looks like I found it . This week I managed to do few rowing sessions and so far my best result for 2000m is 9:49.5 with av 2:27.3/500m and S/M 26. To be honest I have no idea if thats good or bad I am using a gym equipment and I am struggling to set a drag factor. At the moment I have tried two different rowers and average df is around 80, so far of the recommended 110 - 115
Maybe I am doing something wrong? Any suggestions, can it have a big impact on the training? Thank you Marta

Hi Marta - you have indeed discovered an ideal exercise tool and you will find many cross overs from cycling and running here. Good for rehab of your leg. The physical differences mean that it will take a while to build up the upper body strength that you need to do well on the erg but that is not so important in running and cycling. Your 2:27 pace 2k is not fast of course but you wouldn't expect it to be but as Jack says not shabby at all. To get a feel for what is possible you could look at the C2 rankings here: https://log.concept2.com/rankings
What you have discovered I suspect is that the machines at the gym are very dirty - especially if the df80 is with the damper on 10. It takes about 10 minutes to clean them and you should get them to fix it. There is a huge amount of information on the training sub forum for "newbies" and if you spend some time there you will get a lot of help. You should also look at drag factor discussions there as well. The 110 you suggest is a good starting point as Jack has said. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Uc2HQILJhU&t=41s - the Dark Horse vids are by and large pretty good.
I wouldn't worry too much about pace yet - just spend some time on good technique and getting some meters in. A strong steady stroke at around 24sr is a good place to start. Jamesg who contributes here a lot likes 2watts per kg as a good goal - his threads are very informative. The really cool thing is that initial improvement can be quite rapid and is very measurable on the erg so goal setting and progress is very satisfying

[MSI_11]

Hi, first of all thx @lindsayh and @jackarabit for your suggestions. Tomorrow I am planning to start PBP and take it steady. Definitely need to work on my upper body and core straight. I will also try to talk at the gym about the rowing machines. In worst case scenario I will stick to what I have now. I will try to find some teams on forum cos that always is a good motivation for me

Thank you

[jackarabit]

PBP a good choice, Marta. There are some guys on the Pete Plan thread (“Training” subforum) doing Pete Begin(here). Great to ratchet up volume! The thread is a bit chick-deficient but Mike Pfirrman (threadowner) has been thru all the Marston training plans and will see you right with good advice and encouragement.

[mjlawton]

Hi Marta! Good to see another newbie female on the forums. I just started in October and am also doing the Beginner Pete Plan (just finished week 4). I will miss 2 weeks while away from my erg in florida, so we will be close in training by december. I joined the Free Spirits team as they have a separate forum that had a lot of good beginner info. I think Free Spirits and Forum Flyers are both very friendly teams and seem to always be looking for female rowers. I do sprint triathlons in the summer, so I also do run, cycle, swim cross training besides rowing. I am enjoying it so far and the Beg Pete Plan has worked out well for me as someone new to rowing. I rowed 100,000 meters my first month and have been motivated by the various online contests and rankings. Welcome to the forum and good luck with your rowing.

P.S. I have also had both ACL's repaired, so I can relate to the leg surgery rehab as well!

[daramiles]

Hi! I'm Dara (like Sarah with a "D") and an old lady from Boulder CO. My sweet husband got me a Model D for Christmas, so here I am! From April to October I row outside with my club, but I was introduced to indoor rowing last winter and really loved it. Planning to do the January challenge (the easiest one--January is a big ski and ice climbing month for me, I'll really have to work to get the hours in!) Anyway, I've come to the forum because I need the motivation and I'm sure I'll have a lot of noob questions along the way. Thanks!

[garnet]

Brand new to rowing. Will be 44 this Jan. I’ve only rowed at the gym and loved it. I have some knee issues, so the low impact is a plus. Fab husband surprised me with a rower for Christmas. I’m looking forward to getting started and learning.

[Abaerwaldt]

Hi everyone!

I'm a 37 year old female amateur rower who also fights pancreatic disease.
I discovered the love of rowing in early 2017 when I was 250 pounds and needed an exercise I could do sitting down
And while that's how I found the beat-up old concept row machine it was only the beginning. I quickly fell in love with indoor rowing. I watched countless videos on form and was determined to keep it up.
Then March 23rd came. I woke in the middle of the night in the most severe pain of my life - which is saying a lot since I gave birth to two girls unmedicated. It was the beginning of a very difficult, exhausting, painful and emotional journey. Over the course of the year I had many hospitalizations for Recurrent acute pancreatitis and we couldn't figure out why. I went to several specialists until I found the one who would finally listen to me. (Shout out to Dr. Easler at IU health in Indiana).

Even through all this, rapid weight loss (nearly 100 pounds lost now), exhaustion, multiple procedures and surgeries I found my solace in rowing.

I am thankful that for now, my RAP attacks have stopped and I deal with "only" the chronic aspect. I have a Jtube that provides nutrition when I am in a flare and unable to eat for sometimes weeks on end . The acute attacks will come back but I try to focus on the present and gives thanks everyday.

One week ago the best thing that could happen to me did. I finally had the money to purchase my own Concept 2! I was AMAZED at how much nicer it is than the gym rowers I'd been using. Now that I've healed from my most recent surgery I have plan to poor my heart into rowing. It is both physically and emotionally releasing.

I hope to meet some of you at the WIRC in 2020. If you want to watch my progress feel free to follow The Rowing Pancreas on facebook I just started this to track my journey.

[mjlawton]

Welcome Abaerwaldt! My, what a story you have. So inspired that you still find time for rowing with all you have been through. I will check out your facebook page .

[Abaerwaldt]

Thank you! Every bit of support means so much

[Holly62]

What an amazing human story, welcome abaerwaldt

[Amanda1127]

Hello all,

I am 35 and I am new to this forum and new to indoor rowing. I got myself a Concept2 at the end of last year, hoping to get in better shape and shed some pounds.

I grew up playing competitive hockey, so I am enjoying the challenge that comes with rowing. I am also a data nerd, so I enjoy all the different metrics; I just need to better understand each metric, and learn what goals I should be trying to achieve.

I have been looking up videos on proper form, and I started the Mud Season Madness challenge (5000m), but I welcome all suggestions for a beginner like myself.

How long / far should I be trying to row? What are good benchmark times to try to achieve as a complete newbie.

Thank you in advice, I appreciate all your suggestions!

[Tenshuu]

Hello all,

I am 35 and I am new to this forum and new to indoor rowing. I got myself a Concept2 at the end of last year, hoping to get in better shape and shed some pounds.

I grew up playing competitive hockey, so I am enjoying the challenge that comes with rowing. I am also a data nerd, so I enjoy all the different metrics; I just need to better understand each metric, and learn what goals I should be trying to achieve.

I have been looking up videos on proper form, and I started the Mud Season Madness challenge (5000m), but I welcome all suggestions for a beginner like myself.

How long / far should I be trying to row? What are good benchmark times to try to achieve as a complete newbie.

Thank you in advice, I appreciate all your suggestions!

Welcome Amanda!

If you're just starting out and doing the Mud Season Madness challenge, you're already setting a good goal for the month!

5k a day isn't easy to start off with for certain, completing the challenge barebones puts 125,000 meters in your logbook in a single month!

You should row as far as you can comfortably do and recover. I'm getting a vibe here that getting your aerobic base built up is a really important first step before trying to improve PBs in different distances. For reference on what all the difference "Ranked" distances are, here is a link:
https://log.concept2.com/help/#ranking

Starting out, maybe do a blind test for each of those workouts, maybe 1 test workout a week, until you get through the list. (Feel free to hold off on Half Marathon and above for starting out IMO, let your curiosity for the stamina required on those build up as you work through your other tests).

The most common raced distance is 2000m, extremely well trained folks are rowing 2000m under 7 minutes, and that's generally an easier number for men (Promise I'm not being sexist, just going off this season's women's ranking page here https://log.concept2.com/rankings/2019/ ... 0?gender=F) If you notice, the first page isn't completely filled with sub-7 times, so it's not an easy task by any means.

Using the ranking link I just gave, I would suggest that a good goal to shoot for on any given ranking piece is somewhere between the 50th and 25th percentile - as a starting point. If you decide you want to improve more, you'll have the ranking boards to give you prospective goals (You can filter the workouts by different age and weight groups as well to better match your comparisons to)

TL;DR Training that I've gathered reading around the forums:
1. To improve overall split times for distances - build volume with long 45+ minute steady state workouts(UT2 heart rate zone - calculator I used linked)
https://www.freespiritsrowing.com/forum ... calculator

2. Work in 1-2 high intensity interval sessions a week - and never do high intensity workouts on back-to-back days - take a rest day or use the following day to work on UT2 for distance so you can properly recover. -- These high intensity sessions improve your anaerobic capacity, and also build mental stamina for dealing with maximum effort stuff for long periods of time.

3. Don't race your non-interval workouts. Just because you are doing a workout similar to say, 5000m Rest 2:00 x 3 doesn't mean you have to go through those 5000m workouts at your 5k pace - especially since you've got 3 more to go after that. Definitely do steady state at a perceived effort of being able to breath calmly, or through your nose, or carry a conversation - Or in your UT2 heart rate band. Everything else gets faster if you improve your aerobic base in most cases - and you can't "race" through aerobic fitness.


Other folks here might have some good ideas for variations on different workouts to keep yourself from getting bored with the same old single-time or single-distance workout every day. Break up 10k into multiple 5x 2ks, or 2x 5k, etc.