rower wanna be

[marelica]

Good day everyone.
I'm here as a beginner in rowing
I joined a local gym and one of the machines is Concept2. I tried rowing and I really liked it.
Then I found this place and I studied what rowing actually is and I decided to start training.
I am 53 kg, female. My height is 160 cm and my weight is 71 kg. I am menopause.
By the way, I've had a problem with depression for many years, which I've been solving with psychotherapy and medication, and I'm coping well with this health problem. But, doctor always suggests sports as additional therapy.
I would like to lose about 15 kg and I would like my body to be stronger and more durable.
They don't have anyone at the local gym who can show me how to row properly, so I'm mostly focused on the videos found on this site.
I hope it will help me.
There is a rowing club in my town and I send them an email to see if they can advise me how to row on the Concept2 (because I know they have them at the club).
Considering that I need a workout plan, I decided on the Pete Plan Beginner training. I hope it is good for beginners?

I don't know if it's allowed, but I would reply to this thread to let you know how I'm progressing?

Any advice from your side is welcome!

Greetings from Croatia,
Marelica

[Dangerscouse]

Welcome to the forum, Marelica.

It's great to hear you're interested in the C2 and are also trying to understand the technical issues of it all.

The rower is definitely a perfect option to become fitter and durable, but you'll need to remain consistent and dedicated, as it you'll see quick improvements that will eventually fade and progress will plateau. That's when a lot of people lose interest as they're focused on the results, rather than enjoying the process.

I think that it's better to post your progress on the 'What Training Have You Done Today' thread, and/or the Beginner's Pete Plan thread.

The BPP is ideal to start it all, as you'll have a structured plan to work towards and you can easily track progress with comparable sessions.

Best of luck with it all

[Joebasscat]

Glad to have you in the forum Marelica. Congratulations on your fitness pursuits and in particular the C2 rowing. Good choice. May I suggest you give John Steventon a look at RowAlong Indoor Rowing. Tons of videos to follow, and plenty of conversation pertaining to technique in a light entertaining fashion. See the link below.

https://youtu.be/EoZmyuWAYFQ?si=ot082jymhxScx1Zl

You will also find a C2 FB page, but I recommend you come here with most of your questions as they come up. You will learn a ton here and get solid information you can rely on. Good luck to you.

[iain]

HI Marelica, you have made a great choice of equipment. Certainly here most rowing clubs are more than happy to give initial coaching. If they aren't and you are brave, I would suggest that you post a video of you rowing from the side here once you are "happy" with your stroke and let those more knowledgeable than me help to point out potential areas of your stroke to work on.

Re BPP, if you can handle 5k of rowing at an intensity that makes you sweat and are happy to commit to work pretty hard in some of your later sessions, then it is a great start. You might like to do a few rows to work up to it and refine your technique first.

You don't mention what drag factor you are using. Probably 105 - 115 would suit most ladies of your size, but it is an individual thing and you might prefer a different setting, but please don't fall into the trap of rowing on maximum thinking this is better. It works for some (and is necessary on some poorly maintained rowers to get to a reasonable level), but should only be done if you find it works better for you.

Unfortunately weight loss requires a lower calorie consumption as well as rowing. Regular rowing will help to keep your metabolism up and burn off a few calories, but plenty of people increase their eating by more than this and end up putting on weight. Also some people find that increased blood volume and other adaptions increase their weight in the first few weeks if their exercise has been limited for some time before. This is normal and will quickly come to an end (even testosterone fueled 20 something men don't put on muscle mass fast enough to have this effect, so don't worry the gains will reduce pretty quickly).

Best of luck and I look forward to reading your progress.

[Officer1970]

Hello good evening!

just joined this forum here, my name is Volker from Germany.
I recently become a concept2 owner and looking for tips with the Training and weight loss
especially.
I read something about Pete‘s Beginner Plan?
Does someone know how to get this?
Thanks in advance!
Have a nice evening.

[MPx]

I read something about Pete‘s Beginner Plan?

Welcome to the forum Volker. Pete Marston developed a series of plans that could be followed in Lunch hour sessions. Beginner, 2k , 5k. They can be a very useful introduction to the variety of stuff you need to do to get better results on the erg. The beginner plan is here https://thepeteplan.wordpress.com/beginner-training/ Also have a read through some of the Begnner PP thread on here in the training section.

[Sakly]

Hello good evening!

just joined this forum here, my name is Volker from Germany.
I recently become a concept2 owner and looking for tips with the Training and weight loss
especially.
I read something about Pete‘s Beginner Plan?
Does someone know how to get this?
Thanks in advance!
Have a nice evening.

Hi Volker, another guy from Germany over here, welcome to the forum and rowing community
When it comes to weight loss, diet is the more important part to look at. Rowing supports muscle maintenance and building back your stamina very well, so very useful tool to get moving.
Any goals on the rowing machine as well beside your weight loss goals?
Good luck with your journey!

[Officer1970]

I read something about Pete‘s Beginner Plan?

Welcome to the forum Volker. Pete Marston developed a series of plans that could be followed in Lunch hour sessions. Beginner, 2k , 5k. They can be a very useful introduction to the variety of stuff you need to do to get better results on the erg. The beginner plan is here https://thepeteplan.wordpress.com/beginner-training/ Also have a read through some of the Begnner PP thread on here in the training section.

Good evening again,
thanks for the link, I will have a look if there’s anything for me, I m a real rookie with this,
but it´s fun so far and distance and speed is increasing step by step.
Priorities are become healthier, thinner, built endurance.

Thanks for the real quick support.

[Officer1970]

Hello good evening!

just joined this forum here, my name is Volker from Germany.
I recently become a concept2 owner and looking for tips with the Training and weight loss
especially.
I read something about Pete‘s Beginner Plan?
Does someone know how to get this?
Thanks in advance!
Have a nice evening.

Hi Volker, another guy from Germany over here, welcome to the forum and rowing community
When it comes to weight loss, diet is the more important part to look at. Rowing supports muscle maintenance and building back your stamina very well, so very useful tool to get moving.
Any goals on the rowing machine as well beside your weight loss goals?
Good luck with your journey!

Hi Sakly,
yes another guy from Germany. Thanks for welcoming me.
So there are more People from Germany here?
I searched for some Community like this in Germany too.
You are right diet and good healthy food are more important, doing sports accompanying.
Stamina is the good translation for condition in German, yes that’s Prio 1 for now.
Do you recommend special training for this?
I saw a youtube video about a regatta? Is that the correct name for it? Once a year in Hamburg if I remember right?
Some rowers come together around Christmas for that event. Very interesting.
But for the beginning maybe joining a Online Rowing Group I think there are some.?

BR Volker

[RolandG]

So there are more People from Germany here?

Yes, there are.

Herzlich Willkommen und viel Spaß beim Ergo-Training.

[marelica]

It's been ten days since my first visit to the gym, so I'll let you know how I'm doing.
First of all, thank you to everyone who responded
I have a problem with the technique on the rowing machine, and I am learning step by step. What worries me the most is that my back hurts and not my legs at all after training.
I read that this is mostly a problem for beginners.
I row: 1000 m, 1500 m, 1500 m with breaks in between and I base it mainly on technique.
I connected ErgData to Concept2, so I have a log book that says that my drag factor is around 113 and watts around 40-50.
I still haven't figured out how to use leg power to push off

As for rowing itself, I have a lot of fun

By the way, in parallel with exercise, I control my food intake so that I lost half a kilo in the first week.

I still watch you tube videos to copy the technique as well as possible.

Hello everyone,
Marelica

[jamesg]

Good to see you back. Well done on reaching 50W.

The problem is, rowing is a sport, and the technique has to be learnt. This comes first.

You can see a lot here: https://www.concept2.com/indoor-rowers/ ... que-videos

Warmup is done by pulling for a few minutes using only arms and swing: then after a minute or two we can add some short slide forward to engage the legs.

The key to a good stroke is the recovery sequence: first arms away, then swing forward, then slide. This puts your weight on your feet, which is necessary for the pull to be made with the legs.

Rowing with correct style is very hard: the idea is to put a lot of work into each single stroke. This means that if unfit, we can't pull for more than a minute and must do it very slowly, even only 20 strokes.

[Sakly]

So there are more People from Germany here?

I think not so much, but some

Stamina is the good translation for condition in German, yes that’s Prio 1 for now.
Do you recommend special training for this?

MPx already gave a link to Pete Plans, which can be used to build exactly that. Mainly mixing up longer rows with shorter and sharper interval stuff.

I saw a youtube video about a regatta? Is that the correct name for it? Once a year in Hamburg if I remember right?
Some rowers come together around Christmas for that event. Very interesting.
But for the beginning maybe joining a Online Rowing Group I think there are some.?

Don't know about regattas, as I do not row on the water. There are some indoor competitions, but most of them not in Germany (unfortunately).
There are many virtual teams available, some are active in this forum, but mainly in Facebook groups. There is a CTC (cross team challenge) with a monthly challenge, where several virtual rowing teams are participating. Probably this gets interesting while digging deeper into it

[Dangerscouse]

I have a problem with the technique on the rowing machine, and I am learning step by step. What worries me the most is that my back hurts and not my legs at all after training.
I read that this is mostly a problem for beginners.

By the way, in parallel with exercise, I control my food intake so that I lost half a kilo in the first week.

The issue is usually due to leaning forward to much and then using your back to start the stroke. Aim to row using an 11 o clock and 2 o clock position, so not too far forward.

You want to imagine your jumping horizontally, rather than pulling the chain at the start. One way I think is really helpful is to alternate leg power. For example, push with circa 75% on your left leg and 25% on your right leg, then swap it to mainly on your right leg, then push with equal power on both legs and repeat this over and over.

What you're trying to do is build a mind muscle connection so you can associate what it feels like to push with your legs and that will eventually become ingrained. When you push with more power on one leg you feel the effort far more than when you use both legs, so it's important that it's enough power to be noticeable.

Half a kilo in one week is great going. The weight loss will slow down, so don't attach too much importance to it, as learning to enjoy the entire process is a far better way to future proof it.

[iain]

It's been ten days since my first visit to the gym, so I'll let you know how I'm doing.
First of all, thank you to everyone who responded
I have a problem with the technique on the rowing machine, and I am learning step by step. What worries me the most is that my back hurts and not my legs at all after training.
I read that this is mostly a problem for beginners.
I row: 1000 m, 1500 m, 1500 m with breaks in between and I base it mainly on technique.
I connected ErgData to Concept2, so I have a log book that says that my drag factor is around 113 and watts around 40-50.
I still haven't figured out how to use leg power to push off

As for rowing itself, I have a lot of fun

By the way, in parallel with exercise, I control my food intake so that I lost half a kilo in the first week.

I still watch you tube videos to copy the technique as well as possible.

Hello everyone,
Marelica

Congratulations for making a start and doing some serious distances on the rower (too many do 500m in a session!).

Rowing is very different to other aerobic exercises as you only spend 1/3 of the time doing most of the work (the power stroke) and then "rest" ready to repeat. As a result you need to exert much more force than you would if cycling, running, stepping, skipping etc. I find it helpful to think of the stroke as an acceleration where I can feel the resistance throughout the power stroke. As said above that requires you to be in a strong "catch" position at the start which you can hold while the legs begin the stroke and so transfer all of that power into the handle rather than losing some pulling your body position forward or straightening your arms. As for a sore back, have you mastered the art of rotating from the hips rather than bending your back forward? Alot of people find this one of the least natural parts of the stroke.

The one piece of info you don't mention is the "rating" (strokes per minute) you are doing. You should be aiming to go significantly faster on the drive than back up the slide on the recovery (when not doing all out shorter distances). As the latter is aided by gravity and the retraction of the chain as opposed to being resisted by the flywheel does not involve much effort so may seem counterintuitive. Employing the approach of other exercises for constant "effort" leads to rushing back up the slide and so not having the energy to put much power into the drive. Remember the flywheel keeps moving (ie the "boat keeps gliding) between strokes so it is faster to accelerate the boat well with the drive and then take the benefit on the "recovery".

Losing half a kilo a week is plenty, much more and the body may start breaking down muscle.

I look forward to hearing of your continued "journey".