The RowErg is perfect for “lifestyle fitness”

[Rick]

My wife and I have been through the stay-in-shape-merry-go-round of solutions to the “battle of the bulge.” We’ve gained and lost the same pounds enough times to feel like they are wayward children returning home. I’m now over 60, and she’ll hit that landmark in December, so we were in the market for something that was not only effective, but was something we would really do regularly, and could stay with over the next 20 or more years. We wanted to be healthier more than wanting the fast-and-temporary weight loss. Call it lifestyle, rather than fad, fitness.

I could type a long, long story about how we arrived here, and started to before realizing everyone has a story like it. Instead, I’ll just say that finding the community of C2 users spans such a wide grouping of people, including people not living for the beach body, showed us there are others who had similar goals. There were lots of very fit people of all ages here, along with a large group of people at varying stages of the journey.

I was introduced to the C2 rower as a fitness testing tool in law enforcement, and have found it to be just right as a device that is equally useful, challenging, and fit to the levels needed by my wife and I for long term training. I can work out as hard as I can and it seems made for my strength level, but them my wife can get on it and work at the pace she needs for a thorough workout, and you’d think it was made just for her. You can’t “outwork” the thing, that’s for sure! The way it works really encourages you to compete with yourself to better your previous bests, and helps us encourage one another without concern that one person’s “best” is a different number than their workout partner.

So we’re working out regularly and consistently, getting fitter and stronger, and enjoying it. Weight control is slow and steady, just like we wanted. It’s a thing we’ve incorporated into our normal lives, not a tv-fad craze that comes and goes with the seasons. And though we started this while we were fit enough to have many options, we selected rowing because we can continue it through our 60s, into our 70s, 80s, and hopefully beyond!

If you want to be healthier and more fit, inside and out, the Concept 2 RowErg is a great long-term option for any age. We’re happy with the support from C2, and enjoy the sense of community with other C2 users. We wish you all the best in your fitness journey.

[Ombrax]

and have found it to be just right as a device that is equally useful, challenging, and fit to the levels needed by my wife and I for long term training. I can work out as hard as I can and it seems made for my strength level, but them my wife can get on it and work at the pace she needs for a thorough workout, and you’d think it was made just for her. You can’t “outwork” the thing, that’s for sure! The way it works really encourages you to compete with yourself to better your previous bests, and helps us encourage one another without concern that one person’s “best” is a different number than their workout partner.

Hi Rick,

I'm no expert on this topic, but have thought about it a bit. I agree that the rower does give us a huge range of efforts, from a gentle "let me just get my muscles moving a bit" to a "row until you're about to puke" 2k. What I find interesting is that that's also true with just about any other type of exercise, from a bike to a treadmill or an elliptical - you can also go easy or super-hard on any of those too. But for some reason, it seems to be particularly true of the rower. Maybe it's because the PM gives you such an accurate and concise measure of what you're doing, but again one can get similar information on a bike (e.g. speed and power), treadmill, or whatever. Nevertheless, I agree that the rower seems to be especially good for doing this.

Perhaps someone who knows more about exercise physiology and the challenges of different types of exercise can help us better understand this issue.

[Rick]

Hi Rick,

I'm no expert on this topic, but have thought about it a bit. I agree that the rower does give us a huge range of efforts, from a gentle "let me just get my muscles moving a bit" to a "row until you're about to puke" 2k. What I find interesting is that that's also true with just about any other type of exercise, from a bike to a treadmill or an elliptical - you can also go easy or super-hard on any of those too. But for some reason, it seems to be particularly true of the rower. Maybe it's because the PM gives you such an accurate and concise measure of what you're doing, but again one can get similar information on a bike (e.g. speed and power), treadmill, or whatever. Nevertheless, I agree that the rower seems to be especially good for doing this.

Perhaps someone who knows more about exercise physiology and the challenges of different types of exercise can help us better understand this issue.

My early research on it had a lot to do with researching fitness tests for law enforcement officers that could meet federal requirements to address age, sex, and weight, along with an applicability to the job to make it legally defensible. I worked with the Texas DPS (thanks, Greg!) after finding they had been through the same search, and were also looking for a test method less likely to cause injury to the, well, less motivated troopers who would only do the exercise at test time. Rowing met every criterion set, and because it is often used as a rehab tool for the very injuries their old testing methods caused, was a perfect answer. The fact that a 2Km all-out row engaged the upper and lower halves of the body in the same way a struggle with a violator did, or was as taxing as a long foot pursuit, made it applicable to the job. As the Chief of Police, I adopted the TxDPS standard as our own. This was the introduction to rowing via law enforcement that I mentioned earlier.

It is in the above sense that rowing excels where biking, weight lifting, running, and other fitness testing falls short. They are all wonderful exercises, and are valuable workout tools… I’m not bashing them! But if you’re going to do one, I believe combining rowing with simple movements like pushups, lunges, and the like will give you more result with less potential for injury than any other option I have readily available. I do other things, include some weight work and we go hiking a lot, but if I could only pick one workout tool, it would be the C2 RowErg.

[Ombrax]

I absolutely agree, if you have to develop a "fitness test" for applicants, especially for your case of LEOs, then the rower is a great single-test choice that will cover a range of abilities all at once. And as you found out, others have most likely already done the hard part of setting the success criteria for different categories of individuals.

[Rick]

I absolutely agree, if you have to develop a "fitness test" for applicants, especially for your case of LEOs, then the rower is a great single-test choice that will cover a range of abilities all at once. And as you found out, others have most likely already done the hard part of setting the success criteria for different categories of individuals.

I retired just as we were getting under way, but didn’t escape that 2K! Still working with the department as an advisor in a reserve capacity, so having the rower is helping me prepare for testing. My recent 2K improvements put me in good stead!