New Rower

[dleuka01]

Hello -

I picked up an erg a couple of months ago and have enjoyed "playing" with it while I learn the stroke and figure out a baseline to really start training.

Mostly, I'm looking for my time on my erg to compliment my 4-day lifting/HIIT program and I plan to row two days allowing for one full off day per week. I'm not looking to compete in anything at this point, just a guy with an office job that wants to be in great shape. I've read a number of good threads on here, but am looking for any good advice to send me off in the right direction as someone that wants to use an erg to compliment my regular work.

So far - I've rowed mostly 20 minute and 5K workouts. When I started I was great for a mid-30s SR with no power, but followed some low SR vids on YouTube and got that figured out. My last 5 sessions have all been 5K in 20-21 minutes. I'm 5'10", 170 lbs and 37 years old. I've mostly focused on keeping my SR in check 26ish and my 500m splits around 1:55-2:05. I set my screen to the graph and try to ensure that I'm maintaining a nice steep curve throughout the workout.

What would help - as a rower that looking to build on my aerobic capacity and burn some calories on what is otherwise an off day, should I focus on determining a max effort and then breaking that into intervals? should I be rowing at x% of my max effort and stretching my workouts longer? is it too early for any of that to matter and I should spend more time doing drills and really perfecting my stroke?

To go with the last one - how should I really measure the quality of my stroke? Watts? Average Force? Drive Length?

Thanks - look forward to learning from you all here!

Dave

[Dangerscouse]

As you're already doing HIIT and you want to improve your aerobic base you might as well just do long, slow sessions. It's up to you if you split it into intervals or not as either are

If you've got a HR monitor, cap your HR at 70% and try and aim for minimum of 30 mins, and longer if possible. I wouldn't worry about stroke quality as long other than maybe looking at the force curve.

Drive length is very subjective so it doesn't tell you very much other than what your length is. I have never paid any attention to Average Force so I can't comment on that. Watts is probably pointless if you're using a HR cap as that will be your limiting factor.

[mict450]

Hi, welcome to the campfire. I would suggest posting a video for evaluation of the more experienced members to make sure your technique is solid. Most of us, especially those with a lot of upper body strength, tend to use more back & arms rather than rely upon the legs. For building your aerobic capacity & weight loss & control, the consensus of the board is to go long and slow in the UT2 zone - 55 to 70% of your max heart rate. For more specific training, I'll leave that to the more experienced members. So pull up a log & set for a spell. Lot of good folk around with a wealth of good advice.

PS: just saw that Stu posted before I did. Whatever he says, you can take it to the bank!

[mict450]

Dave, I would also recommend reading through some of the old postings to expand your knowledge base. Lot of wisdom here, along with a sprinkling of questionable info.

[dleuka01]

Wow - thanks for the quick responses!

And thank you all for some direction. I've been having a lot of fun just hanging out on the rower and getting comfortable with the workout, but really appreciated some guidance as I think about how to best incorporate it with my training to get the best results.

Look forward to learning more!

[mict450]

De nada, Dave. It's Memorial Day here in the States. Already did my hour of cardio, mowed an acre of lawn, interspersed with BW exercises through the day. Slow day for me allows frequent check-in's on the forum.

[Dangerscouse]

Wow - thanks for the quick responses!

And thank you all for some direction. I've been having a lot of fun just hanging out on the rower and getting comfortable with the workout, but really appreciated some guidance as I think about how to best incorporate it with my training to get the best results.

Look forward to learning more!

Good luck with it all, and it will be a very good way of building your aerobic base by just rowing long and slow.