Are your skierg results similar to your rower results?

[mromero680]

One of the main things I love about the rower is, without fail, the more I row the better my times get. I've never followed a structured plan for long enough on the skierg to know if the payoff is the same. For those who have been consistent, do you get a result on the skierg that is similar to the rower in that the more you ski the faster you get? If so, do you see a similar rate of improvement on the skierg compared to the rower?

[gvcormac]

My SkiERG 500m pace is about 15s slower than RowERG, regardless of the distance.

Some others report similar or even faster pace on the SkiERG.

[mromero680]

My SkiERG 500m pace is about 15s slower than RowERG, regardless of the distance.

Some others report similar or even faster pace on the SkiERG.

I'm thinking more about the rate of improvement assuming someone puts in the work. The stroke is so different I wonder if someone could expect a rate of improvement that is similar on both machines. I'd be surprised if my rate of improvement on the skierg was similar to my rate on the rower, assuming a similar time and effort invested, but I'm curious to hear from people who have been consistent on both (since I have been inconsistent on the skierg).

[Sakly]

My skierg performance is about 5s slower than on the rower (can only report that for shorter distances up to 5k).
When I started to incorporate the skierg, I was a good bit slower, as I rated low and had an inefficient stroke. Additionally I was not used to the higher breathing rate.
Changing the technique to shorter strokes at higher rate was giving me better results with lower fatigue, when I adapted to the even higher breathing rate, which was the main issue and took about 3-4 weeks.
In terms of cardio fitness there is a huge carry over from the rower, so I think I don't necessarily need the long steady stuff at the skierg to improve the same way as on the rowErg. I do 15min skierg warmup every time in the gym (3/week), that is enough to ingrain technique.

[HornetMaX]

For me it's +10s/500m for same perceived effort / heart rate on slow sessions.

I haven't tried yet to go full out on the skierg but I suspect it will be =10s/500m at least, likely a bit more.

[Dave Neve]

Hello mromero680 and all

My guess is that it's probably easier to improve your rowing times than your ski-erg times

The reason I think this is that you use your legs on the rower, and your legs are by far the biggest muscles in your body.

So if a "novice" or unfit persons start training on both machines, as they get fitter, their times will improve more on the rower.

To put it another way to clarify, it's like asking where you can improve most between your calves and your pecs in terms of weight.

On a sit-down calf machine, you might start at 10kg and get up to 40kg (30 kg gain) but on the bench press, you might start at 30kg and get up to 100 kg (70 kg gain)

I'm not saying though that rowing is "better" than ski-erging, but trying to answer your question as I understood it

Dave Neve

[drluvguru]

I’ve found the improvement curve on the SkiErg a bit slower than the rower, probably because of the different muscle focus. That said, with consistent training, the gains definitely come, just not quite as quickly in my experience.