Questions to owners/users of both SkiErg and RowErg

Talk about the ski ergometer and training tool from Concept2
HornetMaX
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Questions to owners/users of both SkiErg and RowErg

Post by HornetMaX » March 16th, 2023, 11:39 am

Hi all,

I have a RowErg (bought 1.5y ago, 3M meters at the moment) that I use regularly (4 sessions/week).
I've been pondering for a while also acquiring a SkiErg but price for new is a bit steep here in Europe and used ones hare hard to find.

A few questions to owners/users of both: do you find them to be complementary ? Is training on the SkiErg helping improve on the RowErg ?
Do you end up using one more often than the other ?

Thanks !
1973, 173cm (5'8"), LW, started rowing Sep 2021 (after 10 years of being a couch potato), c2 log
RowErg PBs:
Image

RayOfSunshine
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Re: Questions to owners/users of both SkiErg and RowErg

Post by RayOfSunshine » March 16th, 2023, 10:25 pm

Complimentary = absolutely

I don't believe training on skierg is helping anymore than, say, running for rowing. Nothing specifically helping me to row. It helps with areas the rower doesn't for overall fitness. One area for me is abs... I absolutely hate doing any ab work. Like stretching, it's just something I hate to do.

I used the rower much more (75/25) for a couple years, but I'm just finishing up the BPP https://thepeteplan.wordpress.com/beginner-training/ in an effort to push myself to use it more. Now, I find myself really enjoying the skierg.

My next thing is to start doing tris:
viewtopic.php?t=129188
Male, January 1971
Neptune Beach, FL
on way back to LWT

winniewinser
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Re: Questions to owners/users of both SkiErg and RowErg

Post by winniewinser » March 17th, 2023, 3:32 am

HornetMaX wrote:
March 16th, 2023, 11:39 am
Hi all,

I have a RowErg (bought 1.5y ago, 3M meters at the moment) that I use regularly (4 sessions/week).
I've been pondering for a while also acquiring a SkiErg but price for new is a bit steep here in Europe and used ones hare hard to find.

A few questions to owners/users of both: do you find them to be complementary ? Is training on the SkiErg helping improve on the RowErg ?
Do you end up using one more often than the other ?

Thanks !
I have both.....they are very different beasts and movements in my opinion but both will improve fitness so compliment each other in that way. The Skierg will not improve your rowing much though as it's less legs and more core but any improvment in the core will help a bit.

Personally I find the Skierg harder than the Rower.
6'2" 52yo
Alex
Recent 2k - 7:19
All time 2k - 6:50.2 (LW)

gvcormac
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Re: Questions to owners/users of both SkiErg and RowErg

Post by gvcormac » March 17th, 2023, 7:48 am

I have all three: Row Erg (30+ years), Bike Erg (2+ years), Ski Erg (8 months).

They are definitely complimentary.

Since May 1, I've done 600km on the rowerg 211km on the skierg (but only got it late august), 3320km on the bikerg. But discount the bikerg by 1/2, to 1665km equivalent.

The reason I use the bikerg more is that I can drink my morning coffee and use my laptop (as I am now) while doing morning wake-up exercise.

I find the skierg harder than the rower -- about 15sec slower pace for the same effort. I definitely had to find my own form, with almost no knee bend, and arms and shoulders locked except right at the finish.

Often I do 12km on the bike, 1km on the ski and 1km on the rower, followed by calisthenics. The ski/row is great warmup for cal.

Steve140
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Re: Questions to owners/users of both SkiErg and RowErg

Post by Steve140 » June 11th, 2023, 10:49 pm

I will specifically address if the Ergs compliment one another. I am fortunate in having all 3 Ergs. I use the bike daily and rotate between the others. For a decade I had only the Model D and by itself it was great. Now, with the other Ergs, my workouts are much improved. Best of luck to you.-Steve

gvcormac
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Re: Questions to owners/users of both SkiErg and RowErg

Post by gvcormac » June 12th, 2023, 5:06 am

Steve140 wrote:
June 11th, 2023, 10:49 pm
I will specifically address if the Ergs compliment one another. I am fortunate in having all 3 Ergs. I use the bike daily and rotate between the others. For a decade I had only the Model D and by itself it was great. Now, with the other Ergs, my workouts are much improved. Best of luck to you.-Steve
What Steve said.

I use the bike daily because it is hands free. Every morning I do (at least) 30 mins over coffee and email and news. I switch up the others (also running outdoors when conditions are amenable). My Model D will be 20 years old in November. My Bike Erg is 2, and my Ski Erg will be 1 in July.

weintraub
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Re: Questions to owners/users of both SkiErg and RowErg

Post by weintraub » July 16th, 2023, 1:52 pm

I really love having both a SkiErg and RowErg. The more different types of exercises the better--total fitness. Now I am going out to hit my lawn with the MowErg. It really complements the other two.

HornetMaX
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Re: Questions to owners/users of both SkiErg and RowErg

Post by HornetMaX » July 16th, 2023, 6:02 pm

weintraub wrote:
July 16th, 2023, 1:52 pm
I really love having both a SkiErg and RowErg. The more different types of exercises the better--total fitness. Now I am going out to hit my lawn with the MowErg. It really complements the other two.
I'm planning to replace the entire surface of my front/backyard with pebbles or something: I *do* hate the MowErg. That's pointless torture, should be forbidden by the Geneva Convention.
1973, 173cm (5'8"), LW, started rowing Sep 2021 (after 10 years of being a couch potato), c2 log
RowErg PBs:
Image

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Aquaman
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Re: Questions to owners/users of both SkiErg and RowErg

Post by Aquaman » July 20th, 2023, 3:25 pm

I've a Row & Ski erg and have tried the Bike. All three work my quads & calves hard, while the Row & Ski also work my core. My back, shoulders, biceps and chest - pretty much all upper body except core and lower back - do not get enough exercise with any of them. To fill this gap, I compliment with non-machine strength training on those parts. The one exception is kayaking - it's all upper body & core. C2 does not sell any Kayak adapters like KayakPro but I imagine that something like that would round these machines out for a true full body workout. Or add pump handles to the Bike erg like an AirBike.

weintraub
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Re: Questions to owners/users of both SkiErg and RowErg

Post by weintraub » July 20th, 2023, 7:54 pm

HornetMaX wrote:
July 16th, 2023, 6:02 pm
weintraub wrote:
July 16th, 2023, 1:52 pm
I really love having both a SkiErg and RowErg. The more different types of exercises the better--total fitness. Now I am going out to hit my lawn with the MowErg. It really complements the other two.
I'm planning to replace the entire surface of my front/backyard with pebbles or something: I *do* hate the MowErg. That's pointless torture, should be forbidden by the Geneva Convention.
You should plant fast growing hay! The MowErg complements the SkiErg and RowErg beautifully. Think about it.

gvcormac
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Re: Questions to owners/users of both SkiErg and RowErg

Post by gvcormac » July 23rd, 2023, 6:09 am

Aquaman wrote:
July 20th, 2023, 3:25 pm
C2 does not sell any Kayak adapters like KayakPro but I imagine that something like that would round these machines out for a true full body workout. Or add pump handles to the Bike erg like an AirBike.
There's a third party adapter for the Row Erg that lets you do canoe paddling. Not sure about kayak stroke or the Bike Erg.

https://www.paddlesporttraining.com/

I believe I read about these on the Concept 2 site so they at least tacitly endorse this.

HornetMaX
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Re: Questions to owners/users of both SkiErg and RowErg

Post by HornetMaX » July 23rd, 2023, 6:41 am

gvcormac wrote:
July 23rd, 2023, 6:09 am
There's a third party adapter for the Row Erg that lets you do canoe paddling. Not sure about kayak stroke or the Bike Erg.
Interesting. Wondering if it would be possible to have and adapter to turn a rowerg into a skierg. That would be nice !
1973, 173cm (5'8"), LW, started rowing Sep 2021 (after 10 years of being a couch potato), c2 log
RowErg PBs:
Image

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Aquaman
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Re: Questions to owners/users of both SkiErg and RowErg

Post by Aquaman » July 23rd, 2023, 7:40 am

gvcormac wrote:
July 23rd, 2023, 6:09 am
Aquaman wrote:
July 20th, 2023, 3:25 pm
C2 does not sell any Kayak adapters like KayakPro but I imagine that something like that would round these machines out for a true full body workout. Or add pump handles to the Bike erg like an AirBike.
There's a third party adapter for the Row Erg that lets you do canoe paddling. Not sure about kayak stroke or the Bike Erg.

https://www.paddlesporttraining.com/

I believe I read about these on the Concept 2 site so they at least tacitly endorse this.
Looks complicated but the reviews are pretty good on the Paddle Sport adapter. I have not contacted them yet but it's said they have a kayak version too.
There's a similar one I found by Kaha: https://kahapaddletrainer.com/en-us

gvcormac
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Re: Questions to owners/users of both SkiErg and RowErg

Post by gvcormac » July 23rd, 2023, 12:45 pm

HornetMaX wrote:
July 23rd, 2023, 6:41 am
gvcormac wrote:
July 23rd, 2023, 6:09 am
There's a third party adapter for the Row Erg that lets you do canoe paddling. Not sure about kayak stroke or the Bike Erg.
Interesting. Wondering if it would be possible to have and adapter to turn a rowerg into a skierg. That would be nice !
There are various YouTube videos on this. I thought seriously about it, as I have two Model D's. In the end, I bought a SkiErg with platform. Haven't regretted it. So now I have two Model D's, a BikeErg, and a SkiErg. I use them all, but the BikeErg gets by far the most use. I cycle 30-40 mins every morning while I do my morning cofee & email. Rowers and SkiErg generally compete with outdoor running and cycling. I guess I do 250km each per year on the rower and skiErg, and 4000km on the bikeErg. Note that bikeErg kms represent only half the work of rower or skiErg. But that's still about 8 times the volume on the bikeErg.

HornetMaX
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Re: Questions to owners/users of both SkiErg and RowErg

Post by HornetMaX » July 23rd, 2023, 6:06 pm

gvcormac wrote:
July 23rd, 2023, 12:45 pm
HornetMaX wrote:
July 23rd, 2023, 6:41 am
Interesting. Wondering if it would be possible to have and adapter to turn a rowerg into a skierg. That would be nice !
There are various YouTube videos on this.
Hmm the ones I've seen all put the rowerg vertically.

I was more thinking at keeping the rowerg horizontal and have some sort of vertical structure (between the rowerg wheel and rail) that could allow to quickly swap between rowing an skiing by just taking the handle off the chain (maybe some sort of quick release needed here) and linking the chain to some ropes going up to pulleys.
1973, 173cm (5'8"), LW, started rowing Sep 2021 (after 10 years of being a couch potato), c2 log
RowErg PBs:
Image

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