Rowing strapless

Hex · Post by **Hex** » August 5th, 2006, 11:13 am

I just read in another thread that rowing strapless could help with establishing proper technique.

Could anyone please explain a little bit more about this?[/code]

RowtheRockies · Post by **RowtheRockies** » August 7th, 2006, 2:35 pm

Hex,

Welcome to the forum. There are many more knowledgeable on the board than I but I will take a crack at answering this. Rowing strapless forces you to use good technique and ensure that you are not wasting energy at the end of the drive. The first few times I tried strapless felt very akward, my feet had a tendency to lost contact with the foot stretcher. If this is happening, then all of your force is not being applied to the chain. I believe the reason for this is that you are not pulling the handle hard enough into your chest at the end of the drive. You are in a sense pulling your body to the handle at the end.

I now do all of my rowing strapless and it feels totally natural.

Rich

jjpisano · Post by **jjpisano** » August 8th, 2006, 10:00 am

Hex:

I concur with Rich.

I'm an advocate of rowing strapless as much as possible because it helps you develop an efficient stroke. Like Rich said it helps you translate all the power to the handle/chain/flywheel. I believe a few years back there was much discussion about the issue on the forum and after reading about it here on the forum. I gave it a try.

Initially it was difficult but now I basically do almost all my training strapless. I do strap in when I raise the rate to the upper 20's spm, though there are some who claim they can row strapless even at higher rates.

If you have any questions regarding technique, a coach viewing your stroke can help.

TabbRows · Post by **TabbRows** » August 8th, 2006, 10:18 am

Hex:

I started to row strapless late last year when I got my own erg. I only do it on warmup/cooldown sets but I've gone from falling off the seat every other stroke to being able to hold a 19-20 rate on 2:25. Can't push it too much beyond that. But I don't worry about having to strap in extra tight to keep my feet in the stretchers during my regular sets and I hope my technique improving is the reason I'm able to hold sub 2:00s on 27 rate when I'm doing ATs at 70%.

PaulS · Post by **PaulS** » August 8th, 2006, 11:00 am

jjpisano wrote:I do strap in when I raise the rate to the upper 20's spm, though there are some who claim they can row strapless even at higher rates.

"Claim"? Jim, that sounds as if you doubt?

jjpisano · Post by **jjpisano** » August 8th, 2006, 11:09 am

I can't do it. So it's beyond my realm of experience, since I live in my universe of one lone rower in a basement on a lone Model B Concept2.

I can imagine that it is possible, however.

Bob S. · Post by **Bob S.** » August 8th, 2006, 11:27 am

jjpisano wrote:I can't do it. So it's beyond my realm of experience, since I live in my universe of one lone rower in a basement on a lone Model B Concept2.

I can imagine that it is possible, however.

Jim,

Have you ever rowed on the water? I have the feeling that those with a lot of OTW experience do not have a problem in dispensing with the straps. In my own case, my first couple of strokes on the erg without straps gave me the feeling of flying loose. I quickly corrected for that and had no more problem with it. I was using a low rate at the time, and continued to use straps whenever I intended to use a higher rate. Since most of my workouts were at 24spm or less, I got into the habit of not bothering with the straps. Once the habit was engrained, I just sort of forgot about them and soon found myself rowing in the high 20s and not having any problem. I rarely get above 30 spm, so I am not sure about what it would be like without straps in the 30s.

My point is that, having learned proper OTW technique many years before ergs were even invented, I have not completely lost that drive sequence. It has been buggered up by too much erging, as my recent OTW teammates were only too ready to point out, but if I row strapless and just let the old reflexes take over, there is no problem.

Bob S.

DavidA · Post by **DavidA** » August 8th, 2006, 4:18 pm

jjpisano wrote:I can't do it. So it's beyond my realm of experience, since I live in my universe of one lone rower in a basement on a lone Model B Concept2.

I can imagine that it is possible, however.

For me it is quite possible. I always row strapless, and my rate is usually about 27.
I have real trouble trying to get my rate in the low 20s - not strong enough, bad technique, both

David

jjpisano · Post by **jjpisano** » August 9th, 2006, 10:12 am

Jim,

Have you ever rowed on the water?

In answer to BobS:

Yes Bob, I have. Unfortunately it's been 19 years since my last race at Canadian Henley. I rowed for Bachelors in Philadelphia that summer.

I started at St. Joe's Prep in Philly at the age of 14. I rowed lightweight at Columbia for 3 of 4 years in college. During my junior year abroad, I rowed for King's College, University of London.

At the very end of that year, I rowed at Henley.

I loved rowing and on that last day, I never would have guessed how long it would take me to get back in a boat and I'm still not there.

It's an open promise to myself that I will get a scull "someday". Though as a lone sculler, I'm sure I would still miss the camraderie of the eight.

jjpisano · Post by **jjpisano** » September 6th, 2006, 11:45 am

I answered a question for myself this AM. I wasn't sure if one could row strapless at above 30 strokes per minute.

I rowed strapless at 31 s/m for a handful of strokes though I probably could have kept it up for a while. It was at the end of my warmup. Now I'm wondering if I could have gone higher.

So Paul S., I am no longer skeptical. I am a believer - or better yet - a knower.

HammerHead Sk8r · Post by **HammerHead Sk8r** » September 7th, 2006, 12:32 am

Warning: Newbie who doesn't know crap yet is about to speak....

Ok, regarding strapless rowing. I maybe one of those rare people that actually started lurking this forum a few months in advance of actually purchasing my Concept2 Model D this past July. Coming from a technical part of skateboarding (slalom and downhill racing) where technique, knowledge of equipment and set up, and practice make the difference between being ok and being competitive probably motivated me to learn more before I actually started rowing. Because I read early about the benefits of strapless rowing I actually took my straps off as soon as I got the rower. In other words, my first row and everyone since then (July 19th I believe) has been strapless. I was gone a large portion of August but have still been able to log over 160,000 m+. I have worked on most of my workouts at a SPM rate between 20 and 24 but have done bursts in the high 20's and even one short workout close to 30, all without using the straps. Yes, it was awkward at first. And Yes, I came darn close to falling off my seat the first couple of times I went really hard, but I think now I am very comfortable without the straps.

I did find myself recently when using the Force Curve mode for the first time trying to be incredibly explosive with my leg drive to the point that I actually pushed off of the foot pads...needless to say that was almost a "crash" in the making.

For this newbie I just forced myself not to know better. I have been watching and reading about technique alot and know mine is highly flawed but I do think not having my feet thethered to the foot pads has helped.

But what the heck do I know.....Never ever rowed a skull on the water....just a john boat when I was a kid as boy scout.

bigsteve894 · Post by **bigsteve894** » September 10th, 2006, 1:05 am

how do you deal with a hard drive with the legs? everytime i've tried erging strapless, my hard drive has forced my feet to come off the foot stretcher and i have to put my feet back up before i can go. no matter how much i try i can't fix this problem. could i just not be built for strapless erging?

PaulS · Post by **PaulS** » September 10th, 2006, 8:59 am

bigsteve894 wrote:how do you deal with a hard drive with the legs? everytime i've tried erging strapless, my hard drive has forced my feet to come off the foot stretcher and i have to put my feet back up before i can go. no matter how much i try i can't fix this problem. could i just not be built for strapless erging?

It's not really the hardness of your leg drive that is causing the issue, it how you are sequencing your drive. The legs should be completely done quite a bit before the handle has finally been drawn to your body for the finish, if you are leaving the foot stretchers at the point your legs are finishing, you effectively have nothing but body mass resisting the force you are putting on the flywheel and can do virtually nothing to accelerate the flywheel any more.

Most people try to ease up on the leg drive when first trying strapless, in an attempt to not push away, however the opposite is what is required, drive the hardest right from the catch so that the flywheel has been spun up and will provide greater resistance to arrest your backward travel to the finish. Remember, the harder/faster we drive, the more resistance is provided by the flywheel.

paul s · Post by **paul s** » September 11th, 2006, 11:41 am

I've had my Model "C" for about 10 years now. I'll never be any competition for anybody due to heart issues. I do wonder about this strapless thing though. It seems to me that Concept has probably spent countless hours on research, development, and testing of these ergs. They have determined that straps should be on them. When I try rowing strapless it seems that the recovery is powered more or less by muscles in the back of the leg. When I am strapped in more muscles come into play. More muscles to me seems better. Am I totally off base here.

Paul Salata

spaddy · Post by **spaddy** » September 19th, 2006, 11:52 am

At the advice of those on this forum, I started rowing strapless last year and have never gone back. On thing for sure is that my rate has dropped to between 19 and 23 SPM. It is difficult at first but as with anything if you stick with it, you'll get it!