TimbukTOO Team Room

[BoB/335]

The other day I mentioned to a personal trainer that I talk to once in a while at my gym, that I am considering buying a rower for home. He told me not to waste my money because it will end up collecting dust (or clothes) and that people are motivated by seeing others working hard to accomplish the same goals. Any thoughts???



So I am real close to embarking on the purchase. A couple of final questions (that I've probably asked before)

PM3 or PM4 Did anyone get one of these and wish that had gotten the other?

Anyone know how much better the chain is on the model E?

Model D or E? Did anyone wish they had gotten the one they didn't?

[PJM]

Team..I am officially done.Great rowing with you..the BEST team on the charts.I am so happy that I created TimbukTOO and the Challenge boat that made its way to TimbukTWO( formerly known as TIMBUK2).These boats are in good hands and the health, fitness and team spirit has just flourished.ROW ON great team and keep doin' what you are doin'.


Pat

I don't understand this. Done???

..with the challenge..have to stop here..things to do, places to go..but erg I will soon.The erg is in my home gym and always calling me and there is an erg in my gym away from home..never without an erg.So my contribution to the challenge is done but row on I will!!

Pat

[CONLEJM]

The other day I mentioned to a personal trainer that I talk to once in a while at my gym, that I am considering buying a rower for home. He told me not to waste my money because it will end up collecting dust (or clothes) and that people are motivated by seeing others working hard to accomplish the same goals. Any thoughts???

Hi Bob, I can't comment on the D vs E or the PM3 vs PM4, but I can tell you that you need to consider the source of your advice. A personal trainer benefits by people coming to a gym, so the last thing he wants is for you to start rowing at home. I used to love going to a gym, but as I get older I just cannot get up at 4am to work out at 5am anymore. But I can hop on the rower at home at my convenience; morning noon or night. My rower is not collecting dust. And I don't have to pay gym fees; between the rower and some weights I've got the total home gym solution. But if you enjoy the social aspect of the gym, you'll miss out on that with the home solution.

[PJM]

The other day I mentioned to a personal trainer that I talk to once in a while at my gym, that I am considering buying a rower for home. He told me not to waste my money because it will end up collecting dust (or clothes) and that people are motivated by seeing others working hard to accomplish the same goals. Any thoughts???

Hi Bob, I can't comment on the D vs E or the PM3 vs PM4, but I can tell you that you need to consider the source of your advice. A personal trainer benefits by people coming to a gym, so the last thing he wants is for you to start rowing at home. I used to love going to a gym, but as I get older I just cannot get up at 4am to work out at 5am anymore. But I can hop on the rower at home at my convenience; morning noon or night. My rower is not collecting dust. And I don't have to pay gym fees; between the rower and some weights I've got the total home gym solution. But if you enjoy the social aspect of the gym, you'll miss out on that with the home solution.

I am a certified Personal Trainer and I began my career in a gym..it is a Personal Trainer's job in many cases at a gym to "sell" the gym and "sell" his or her services.Gyms are not for everyone and do not always motivate..many times they actually intimidate.So you need to consider the source and consider the motivation behind the comments and make a decision based on YOUR needs.I left the gym atmosphere and ended up in a Parks and Recreation fitness center where selling the "goods" was less important than selling fitness and health.I got paid for just making sure the clients got what they wanted out of the center.No one needs to spend money on a gym..if you have a couple of really good cardio machines and a few other accessories..you can get the workout you desire.The rower is the BEST over all piece of equipment and your own body weight can serve as your strength training.Lots of good books and videos about this.Don't let a trainer at a gym try to sway you with anything.Check his credentials and be your own advocate.My passion is fitness and motivating others.Not the $$$$ it brings.Just my opinion ..

Pat

[damselfly]

All hands on deck, all backs bending to the oars! 14 of 66 members (21%) logged 177,611 total meters Friday!

Milestones achieved:
Jerry H hit 5.2M, and Brent C hit 250K! Congratulations, men!

Approaching milestones:
David is closing on 6.2M (-19,417m), Andy is nearing 1.6M (-23,618m), Jamie is inches from 1.3M (-1,990m), Glenn is eyeing 1.2M (-26,744m), Keith is a stone's throw from 1.1M (-5,473m), Fred is nearing 700K (-21,063m), and Paul is oh-so-close to 400K (-3,341m). Row strong, everyone!!

Posted Meters:
Kyle J - 35,134 An unstoppable force!
David W - 27,304 Time for a rest day yet?
Brent C - 20,271 Good number!!
Jim C - 15,000 Holding steady...
Jerry H - 15,000 Light day, good stuff!
Andy I - 10,534 Right on target...
Lisa H - 10,283 Passing a rainy day on the erg...
Paul E - 10,000 Looking good...
Glenn Y - 8,520 Right on course...
Adam M - 8,250 Nice.....
Lee C - 7,314 And now a 7!! Woot!
Jamie B - 3,988 Kilt season yet?
Fred B - 3,013 The daily wonder!
Keith J - 3,000 Still finding the erg!

[damselfly]

Ahoy, mates!! Two more challenge days!! Do you know where your meters are?! A hale and hearty 19 of 59 members (32%) logged 231,140 total meters Friday!

Posted Meters:
Rusty A - 6,140
Jamie B - 3,988
Fred B - 3,013
Lee C - 7,314
Jim C - 15,000

Brent C - 20,271
Douglas D - 7,606
Paul E - 10,000
Lisa H - 10,283
Jerry H - 15,000

Mary H - 1,270
Andy I - 10,534
Kyle J - 35,134
Keith J - 3,000
Adam M - 8,250

Pat M - 20,000 Takes the checkered flag!
Lee W - 18,513
David W - 27,304
Glenn Y - 8,520


Challenge Goals - Day 30 of 32 (93.8%):
Keith J - 301,003 of 150,000 (200.7%)
David W - 718,718 of 400,000 (179.7%)
Paul E - 212,287 of 150,000 (141.5%)
Jim C - 375,000 of 270,000 (138.9%)
Kyle J - 691,448 of 500,000 (138.3%)
Lisa H - 145,301 of 113,000 (128.6%)
Jamie B - 143,127 of 125,000 (114.5%)

Cindy R - 93,705 of 100,000 (93.7%)
Brent C - 136,096 of 150,000 (90.7%)
Yisroel H - 259,531 of 300,000 (86.5%)
Andy I - 244,732 of 300,000 (81.6%)
Heather R - 308,000 of 400,000 (77.0%)
Mark E - 128,852 of 250,000 (51.5%)
Glen B - 87,281 of 300,000 (29.1%)
Matthew P - 25,460 of 100,000 (25.5%)


Milestones achieved: David W soared through 700K, and Keith J blasted through 300K!! Excellent work, maties!!

[damselfly]

The other day I mentioned to a personal trainer that I talk to once in a while at my gym, that I am considering buying a rower for home. He told me not to waste my money because it will end up collecting dust (or clothes) and that people are motivated by seeing others working hard to accomplish the same goals. Any thoughts???

Bob, I agree with the previous replies you've gotten, and I'll add my $0.02 and say that I doubt your machine will gather any dust. You're already plugged into the community here and are a very active participant on the team -- I have no doubt that that can and will sustain your activity on the rower. It certainly has done so for me, and I never rowed before when I purchased mine. I have a D with a PM4 and it meets all my needs.

About the feet in/out, thank you all who chimed in with your experience there. I am realizing I am making some form errors because I strap in tight. I rowed for 20 minutes without straps yesterday, and I sure felt it! Splits slowed a lot though . Need some practice but it will serve to correct some errors, I'm sure.

What a great team of athletes here we have! I'm glad to be a part of it.

[BoB/335]

Thanks everyone for chiming in. I have belonged to this gym for quite a number of years. I have started and stopped more times ....................... but have always kept my membership because I'm locked in at a decent rate. Being there has never really motivated me or I would not have stopped so many times. My motivation "these days" is keeping my diabetes under control. I have many different ways that I alternate to burn my sugars but rowing is about my favorite. I've been talking about buying a rower for years now. In fact that's how I stumbled across this forum, by checking purchase price. I have since learned a lot here in proper technique and different routines. This personal trainer's opinion hasn't swayed me in the least!!! So don't fret none.

I will most likely go for a Model D with a PM4. I would love to get into RowPro someday and I like the idea that you can download updates and keep the monitor somewhat current as the years pass (until they come up with a new model)

[Paul Edgar]

Hi all,

One or two comments now that we're coming to the end of the challenge and the end of the season.

In reply to Bob, I bought a Model D with the PM3 about 3 years ago and I've been delighted with it ever since. I must admit that I used it a lot more at beginning, but that is simply because thanks to rowing, I’ve taken up many other sports (running, cycling, swimming, lifting weights.). I still consider rowing one of the best all-round exercises there is and I thoroughly enjoy getting back on my erg. It's also a brilliantly time-efficient workout...however pressed for time, you can almost always find 20 minutes to knock out 5k before you jump in the shower.
I find the only negative aspect of the C2 is the noise...I have two young kids and although I keep my erg upstairs in my gym in the loft, it’s not really possible to row when the rest of the family are asleep, so that rules out early morning workouts on the erg for me.
As for the different models and monitors, I’m happy with the combination I chose and I personally couldn’t justify the extra money. When I bought the rower, I was advised to get the PM4 but had to draw the line somewhere. I’m not sure what the benefits are and to be honest, I normally hook up the PM3 to a laptop and use the RowPro software, which takes control of the monitor anyway.
As Lisa said, I think that if you get involved in the challenges and participate in the team, you’ll find the motivation you need to keep on rowing….

Now I’d like to say a massive THANK YOU to the leaders of our fabulous team. I’ve been training for a half marathon (running, not rowing) for several months and hadn’t done a lot of rowing because of that, but I received Captain Izz’s call to oars and was more than happy to do my bit for the team. Izz and Lisa do an AMAZING job to post all the stats and little comments and keep the team motivated and I’m sure I’m not the only member who doesn’t contribute much to the forum but really enjoys reading what’s going on in the boat.

It has also been great to see Pat back on the team….I remember that when I first started rowing and joined the team she was an incredible source of inspiration to me during my first season, rowing well over a MILLION metres during each challenge!!!

Well, tomorrow (Sunday) is the last day of the challenge and I hope to run 10k early in the morning and then row 10k when the my wife and kids have got up!

It’s been an absolute pleasure to row with you all and once again, THANK YOU to Lisa and our Captain Izz!

All the best and I look forward to rowing with you next season!

Paul

[bcurry]

Interesting stuff,

I am fairly new to all this and have learned about several new things in the course of checking in with the team every day or so.

~ Unstrap my feet while rowing. Haven't tried it yet but thinking about it as I row i wonder if I can even do it. I tend to use the straps for that return stroke (going from extended legs back to bent). I bet it gets tricky.
~ RowPro software and PM3 - this looks pretty interesting as I set-up my rower in my office and tend to just watch recorded soccer matches (EPL, FA Cup, Champions League) while rowing. So am I right in assuming this software not only has training programs but creates a visual for my monitor so it actually looks like I am racing on the water against people? Pretty sweet

[Quatroux]

I enjoy going to the gym once or twice a week. It is a good change of scenery and I get motivated by seeing the other people around me exercising. However, I have a free membership and probably wouldn’t pay to go if I had to.

I have found that Britney Spears videos on youtube are also very motivating… just saying.

[damselfly]

Paul -- thanks for posting, and you're welcome, for my part of things!! I jumped in to help Izz, and since I'm a programmer, I felt compelled to put something together for capturing and reporting on the stats. I would have done so when Pat was captain, but I truly thought that Concept2 had some web pages for captains that did the job. I'm really appalled they don't. So when Izz related what captains have to do to report on stats, I thought, "But that's why we have computers..." and had to develop something. And it's selfish too on my part -- keeps me involved with the team and rowing.

Brent (and everyone else) -- RowPro is kinda fun. I haven't been using it lately as I was having computer problems and sometimes moving the machine to the rower blue-screened it. But for those interested, you can download it and try it out for free. You can also just get a single-machine single-erg version license for a year for $25 (they call it a student license I think). That's what I did, as money is a bit tight. For you faster rowers, it would be more fun than for me. When I did group rows, there was never anyone else in sight about 30 seconds after the start of the row!!! I still like it even solo, for reasons I outlined in some previous post -- it keeps the PM alive if you take a break, gets the PM out of your face, and is a nicer display to keep an eye on off to the side while you're watching George Clooney do something marvelous on the TV. It has a lot more features than I tried out -- I think there was a training plan there somewhere. Try it out!

Today is a rest day for me -- took a long walk with the hubby. Tomorrow is busy, so I may have gotten the checkered flag as well for challenge meters... But I'm still here to cheer everyone on!!

[damselfly]

However, I have a free membership and probably wouldn’t pay to go if I had to.

How the heck did you manage that?!?!

[freddy the human]

THANK YOU very much Lisa for all that you do keeping our boats going in the right direction at an always enjoyable pace!!!

[BoB/335]

Well I made it to 137,000 meters this morning. 53, 313 meters shy of a Mil for this season. I still have time and should make it before the end of the month but I thought there might have been a possibility of making it in this challenge. A few too many things popping up. It should get easier once I take the plunge and buy one of these.

Do you women have a detailed testimony on your rowing journey? It might help my wife to read a bunch of success stories.