Rowing to loose weight

[RedSox34]

Hello, I have been doing cross fit for a few years now - but I feel I have reach plato with my weight loss. I am on the heavier side, and have lost some weight but would like to kick it up a notch. I eat relatively healthy as well. Recently, my coach recommended I row a 5k every day before my workout (approx 3-4x per week) Ive been doing it, but its been taking me around 30 min. Is this an effective exercise for weight loss? Any recommendation welcome!

[jvincent]

This is honest feedback, so please take it that way.

5K in 30 minutes is slow. Very slow. Really too slow to give you any kind of a workout.

You don't give any details on your age/height/weight, but when I started rowing three-ish years ago I was 45 and two weeks into my rowing I was at 23:00 for 5K. I lost about 30lbs over the course of 10 months alternating the following workouts, rowing 5-6 times a week.

- 30 minutes. At that start I was doing 6200m and by the end of the 10 months I was at 7200m
- 10K. When I started I was just above 45 minutes, at the end I was at about 42 minutes.
- Intervals. I use a couple of different types, but generally work for 1:00 minute, rest for 2:30 is a good one to try.

There's no magic here, the more work you put in the more weight you will lose. Since you have said your eating is good, then you need to up the calorie burning.

[RedSox34]

Thank you!! Ill give you a few more details, I am 38, about 5'4 and 180.
My coach recommended a slower pace to have the time on the rower. My thoughts where, then why don't I row for max distance for a time slot? I had to question/doubt him - but everything I have read seems to contradict what he's saying!

[Quatroux]

Yes, it is a good exercise for weight loss as much as any exercise. You are really looking for long, slow rows. Perhaps not quite as slow as 3:00/500m. You want it to feel like work, but you also want to feel like you can do it again the next day. You should recover quickly from it while still pushing yourself to finish. If you aren’t recovering quickly, you need to slow down. Keep pushing yourself until you find that limit – which will move (improve) over time.

I personally think that CrossFit is already an amazing grueling routine and adding a 5k to it seems a bit much. You should be able to hit your goal with just CrossFit. Actually, you should be able to hit your goal without CrossFit.

I doubt you want to hear this and there are plenty of people that will disagree with me (they’re wrong by the way), but you should be able to hit your goal weight without a lick of exercise. It is 100% diet. It isn’t 99% diet. It is 100% - all what goes in your mouth.

That will change how you view eating as you’ll be focused on eating back your exercise calories and trying to fuel the exercise itself.
That’s my bit of unsolicited advice thrown in for free.

[jamesg]

RS

Suggest you have a look at these programs, specifically for weightloss:
http://therowingcompany.com/weightloss/interactive

The various UT2, UT1 etc levels refer to heart rate bands; keeping HR fairly low lets us go on for longer times, which is what takes work and so gets us fit. The percentages refer to HR range, from rest rate to maximum.

Rowing technique is important in making sure we can and therefore do work hard. C2 shows us how:
http://www.concept2.com/indoor-rowers/t ... que-videos
Low drag and a quick but long pull are essential.

[brookwaters]

Your most important thing is FOOD, you can't be eating right if you are not losing weight. I have been doing Crossfit for 6 months now and did my knee in about six weeks ago and can't go anymore. I was bummed so I bought a model D to row at home. I started on 2 May and have done my first 100.000m, I try and do at least 5k in the morning and if I can 5k in the evening, combined with a 1500 cal/day diet. I track all I eat with myfitnesspal, which is really cool and easy. I have lost more than 10 lbs in the last two weeks. But I did the half marathon challenge, etc....

My times are pretty crappy too, but every time I row, I try and beat my best time. If you do that, then you can't not succeed, but you have to work for it.

[suvernscorpio]

Thank you for those links.

I use to row regularly and based my workouts on that Interactive programme generator. I was fed up when I could no loner find it on the Concept2 drop down lists.

As for the advice all cool and I echo what they say but I would just add that you need to check that you are actually eating enough calories and those calories need to be from a nutritious source rather than empty cals from cakes, sweet junk etc (hard to resist I know and I am no angel).



Debbie

[Cikan Vuz]

I have to agree with the long and slow, jut like Concept@ recommends and has posted:
"Workouts for Weight Loss

When rowing for weight loss, workout consistency and duration are key. For maximum results, strive to complete 30–50 minutes of rowing five to six times per week. Aim for a comfortable intensity of moderate, steady work where you can still carry on a conversation. Add intervals for variety. Good workouts for weight loss include:

5000–7000 meters
10,000 meters
30 minutes
20 minutes (or more) alternating 1 minute of hard rowing with 1 minute of easy rowing.
Two to three moderate 10 minute pieces with 2 minutes easy rowing in between.
Remember to warm up before and record your meters following each workout."http://www.concept2.com/indoor-rowers/t ... eight-loss

This is a tried and true method by many a person, including me! =])

Hang in their and you will see results!

[jackarabit]

The Concept 2 UK pdf on the net is as simple as it gets on the old school LSD approach to dropping lbs. Big sustainable chunks of time at UT2 HR band, which is 55-65% of max heart rate, done at 18-20 spm. It's analogous to a governor on both throttle and engine temp. You can pull as hard as you want (bottom-end grunt just like in an ICE) so long as those limits are respected and maintained. I petered out on the Pete Plan. I'm doing this now instead of killing myself with AT and oxygen transport training and eating more to sustain my vanity about improving times. When I make lightweight (and my proper weight and BMI) maybe I'll go back to trying to be a geriatric prodigy of speed. . . . and maybe not.

Jack

[jackarabit]

I didn't mention that the Indoor Rowing Training Guide (1st. Version) is a bit tricky to search. Type "concept2.pl" on the search line. I found the treatment of weight loss pp. 36-8 more conducive to practical understanding than the equivalent material in the 2nd version.

Jack

[jamesg]

There's been a name change:

http://indoorsportservices.co.uk/weightloss/interactive

[Sweede]

I all comes down to one thing actually
Carbs how much you eat off carbs, and how insulin intolerant you are
More carbs = more exercise to keep up
You think you eat healthy but maybe not
Try to target below 100 grams of carbs per day for a while no need to count calories
Learn to choose right food choices, learn to avoid sugar and the 54 different names off sugar
If you eat well you don’t need to workout and you don't need to by hungry

http://www.dietdoctor.com/
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/welcome- ... z38BcAVoAF
But again workout is great but remember a one hour workout could be spoiled in 5 minutes of wrong eating.
5 K 30 minutes is slow event for a girl

regards / Sweede

[RowerMatt516]

Please help me understand something here:

The OP says that he has been rowing 5k in around 30 minutes, and was told that that is too slow to be an effective workout.

However, in the "Workouts for Weight Loss" post, both of those conditions fit in the guidelines ("5-7,000 meters" and "30 minutes")

I ask because I just completed 5000 meters in 32:00. I was going for a comfortable pace (conversation, etc) and also trying not to strain my bad knees. At the end of the workout, I had a nice sweat going and felt good-not breathing heavy, energized, etc.

My stroke per minute was between 23-29 (I usually do between 32-33.)

My point is, depending on fitness level, a 5k in 30 mins can be an effective workout. I know, because it is working for me.

I've been rowing almost daily for 2 months , minus a few days when I had stomach flu. I'm 45 but coming off a near 10-year layoff from any kind of regular exercise.

In the two months, I already see a difference in my muscle tone, and my pants are getting looser. I don't get on the scale-I'm 6'5 and I'll never be the 185 lbs. that the medical charts say I should weigh. In my 20s I was a fitness nut, running, lifting weights, swimming- and the lightest I've ever gotten was around 220.





.

[hjs]

Every excersise is ofcourse usefull. Erging a 5k in 30 is a bit like walking for half an hour. Nothing wrong with and it does burn done energy, but for fitness gains it is to modest an effort.

[Bob S.]

For now, 30' 5ks are fine to get you started. As long as you control your food intake, you benefit even from light rowing workouts. Actually, you are doing more work than it appears, since you are having to move a lot more weight up and down the slide than the average person. But, as you gain fitness, you need to increase the work load. Gradually increase your exercise time and/or the speed of the workouts and you will continue to gain fitness and lose weight. It takes patience and persistence.

Bob S.