Notes from an early adopter

[CroakerMD]

Just started using the StrengthErg, and as someone who comes from an S&C background (Olympic lifting and MMA), I think it's a great concept, and I look forward to using it more as a complement to both lifting and to rowing. In particular, it's really great for myo-reps / drop sets at the end of a workout, as the amount of resistance scales down with what you have left in your gas tank!

I think that the main issues are:

- The straight bars (for push and pull) are a little bit limiting. The RowErg at least has a gentle curve to its handle, and while I get that some of the action may be trying to mirror a barbell press/row, the truth is that for most people, some degree of vertical bend/camber (for the wrists) and horizontal bend/camber (for the shoulders) can actually allow for a better range of motion for both pressing and rowing, allowing for greater stretch of the chest with pressing, and a little bit more engagement of the support muscles of the upper and midback with rowing. You can see this in a lot in the design of Swiss/football style bars.

- The footplate is a little bit limited. I understand that the design mimics the RowErg footplate, but insofar as this is a strength device (and many older users might not necessarily be rowers and will have pretty limited ROM), the strategy of one-size-fits-most is less useful. In particular, since it's really meant to be a leg press, it would be great for the footplate to have higher foot positions (allowing for folks with shorter femurs to get to depth), slightly wider foot positions (allowing for more adductor involvement), and potentially a slightly closer position to the user (for short folks). I'm 5'10" and because the small amount of travel that the unit has to do before the flywheel starts generating resistance, it's pretty much impossible to get resistance at a below-parallel position.
-- Much of this could be fixed by a foot wedge that reverses the slope of the current foot plate / extends the current foot plate.

- There dearly needs to be a split and single handle option for rear fly/extension type movements.

Most of these issues can probably be addressed with accessories / aftermarket parts, which it looks like the handle adapter is well-suited to.

Also, you can definitely do most of a deadlift movement (if not a full extension) by doing a row with the footplate unlocked - although this may just be the old dyno movement!

[mromero680]

Really useful write up. I have a rower and a skierg but, unless I had really limited space, I think free weights and bodyweight are a better option for me. I like the safety aspect since I train alone in my garage (so no spotter) and I like the ability to push limits safely but I don't think I would get a complete workout at least until all the accessories are available from C2 or others.

[gvcormac]

Thanks for your input. I'm really interested and was going to be an early adopter. But the recent trade war has pre-empted that. Of course, Concept 2 are not parties to this dispute, but they are collateral damage.

[Hilly]

Thanks for the review.

As I am very interested in buying a strengtherg I have some questions:
Can you remove the pull-bar en replace it with a rowerg bar?
Also, is it possible to remove the benchpress bar? And replace it with an EZbar for example.

I had an idea of attaching the cable used for the row to a cable of a pulley which I have on my ceiling.
This way I could do latpulls en tricep exercises.
Could this work?

Greetings from The Lowlands

[CroakerMD]

The pull bar has a small, washer-sized adapter that actually attaches to a cord leading to the flywheel. It's likely that it was designed with adaptability in mind; however, I don't think that the current RowErg / Model D/E handle would attach directly without some kind of piece to facilitate the connection. It's probably something that a person adept with 3-D printing (not me) could facilitate in an afternoon. I would hope (if there's reasonable uptake of the StrengthErg) that there will be quite a market for accessories.