Lowering The Drag: Impact On Muscle Toning

[[old] R S T]

I normally row all training on 130. Today I reduced it to 110.<br /><br />Just wondering - what is the impact, if any, on muscle toning aspects of erg training if one uses a lower drag.<br /><br />Please assume that the work done is still the same, i.e. same pace is being achieved.<br /><br />Cheers<br />RichardT

[[old] Almostflipped]

From an aesthetic point of view.....probably not much. IMO body fat % will have a much larger impact on muscle tone than the resistance on the fan. Do you do any resistance training outside of rowing? If so then I'd definitely say it will have no impact.

[[old] ranger]

<!--QuoteBegin-R S T+Mar 3 2005, 04:58 AM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(R S T @ Mar 3 2005, 04:58 AM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->I normally row all training on 130. Today I reduced it to 110.<br /><br />Just wondering - what is the impact, if any, on muscle toning aspects of erg training if one uses a lower drag.<br /><br />Please assume that the work done is still the same, i.e. same pace is being achieved.<br /><br />Cheers<br />RichardT <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />If you don't adjust your technique to fit the drag, changing resistance won't have much effect on anything. On the other hand, the different drags, if they are responded to fully, invite different strokes; and if you accept this invitation and modulate your stroke to fit the drag, the difference, especially on muscular strength and tone, can be enormous. <br /><br />In particular, as you lower the drag, you can get both longer and faster with your mobile levers--legs, back, and arms; and as you increase this length and speed, you increase the force applied to the handle per stroke, but without addiitonal exertion (once you get used to it). The result of this stronger force applied, of course, is a stronger stroke; and at low drag, if you have a stronger stroke, it helps even more to expand the recovery phrase of the stroke (i.e., lower the stroke rate) in order to take advantage of the freely spinning wheel. <br /><br />The stroke that results (at low drag), then, has a different contour entirely (than a stroke at high drag). The movements in the drive are quicker and more expansive, the force generated (momentarily) during the drive is greater, and the recovery/relaxation phrase of the stroke becomes much more complete and significant (to the overall economy of the stroke cycle), too.<br /><br />To me, these strokes feel _entirely_ different; and physically, the effect is almost entirely muscular. At high drag, the rowing stroke feels a lot like weight lifting (digging, shoveling, etc.). At low drag, the rowing stroke feels like nothing else I have ever experienced. Because of the speed, length, and complexity of movement, a rowing stroke at low drag doesn't feel much like the steady alternation of effort and rest involved in weight lifting (digging, shoveling, chopping, etc.) at all. It is a quick, complex sequencing of extended accelerations followed by an even more extended period of dynamic relaxation. <br /><br />ranger

[[old] R S T]

How do 'Heavy Tens' (ie ten hard strokes on Damper ten) work then? Or should such a workout not be seen as rowing?<br /><br />RichardT