I've always had a hard time running because my knees are fucked but since I'm getting older I bought one of pic related for cardio work and I like it so far but I really only looked into brands/pricing etc. Can anyone tell me about times, spm, distance etc that are measurable goals? Did I waste my cash or are these legit?
Former college rower (real D1, not club).
Spend the money for a Concept 2. Buy once cry once.
Start with sets of 10 min. The only screen you should run is 500m pace, damper on 3-5. People putting the damper on 10 means they don’t have a clue what they’re doing.
Keep your pace sub 2:10/500m, work your way to sub 2:00.
You’ll be in good shape when you can do 20min sessions sun 1:50.
For HIIT, do min on min off at sub 2:00 and work your way down to sub 1:40.
You’ll get in great shape fast. Keep good form, back off if you loose tension in your core and your back arches.
Not op but every time I try using one of these, it feels as if my back/arms are doing far more work than my legs. What are the most likely causes?
Probably shooting the slide, your legs are just pushing your hips back without tension.
Proper form has your body’s hinges acting in unison.
You’ll need to immediately engage your back at the catch and pull while pushing with your legs.
you're not using you legs
How do you use your legs?
Same here anon. Looks like some other anons have given some good tips though, will try this contraption again. Mainly just been using eliptical crosstrainer for my cardio lately. Pretty easy on the joints too.
Also, speed should be 17-20 rpm for steady state and 28-33 for HIIT.
spm?
Screenshotted for future. Thanks fren that's easy to see
I have a deformity in my lower legs where if my knees are forward, my toes point out at around a 70 degree angle (I can actually turn them completely backwards). When I was younger I tried to force "proper" form on a lot of lower body movements like squats and listen to idiots advising me that I just had a posture issue. Turns out it's an actual deformity and when I was squatting 300lbs the "right way" it would be like anyone else trying to do it pidgeon toed. I probably never should have done barbell squats at all honestly but there's nothing to be done about it now, I just do split squats and other stuff instead
Yeah I wish I never did barbell squats seriously, technical lift that I did wrong mostly as a beginner. I like to do bodyweight squats for mobility and goblet/split squats for strength.
>real d1 not club
>tfw college club rower because poorfag college couldnt afford more than 2 sports teams
We had a club team…and a lightweight club. The difference is that those are student run organizations, these are common.
“Real D1” means NCAA/IRA program. We got scholarships, competed in intercollegiate regattas, etc
Did you know anyone who got spondye-boisthesis in their lower back who rowed a lot? I already have it without issues now but want to row. From what I heard it's more common in rowers.
Different dude, I competed for years, especially in sprint races and I have one bulging disc that doesn't really bother me. Nothing else
How am I looking bossman?
If you had the energy to do an all out sprint at 35rmp at the end of your row you could have kept that 2:16 average down.
Work for a solid 15min at 1:55.
So time is better than distance?
Yes, average 500 split is how you are measured at the higher levels.
It’s primarily because that’s the number you’re staring at while on the erg so the focus is keeping it at a certain level for a certain result.
Our tests were 2k and 6k. So if we needed a 6min 2k, we had to keep that split at 1:30.
Okay, that's actually very helpful. I would normally just set a distance and race a few of my friends to hit it first, hence the sprint at the end. You also said to leave the setting at 5 or lower? What is that about?
drag factor (how much the dampener reduces brakes the flywheel)
there's a test-program in the pm which allows you to set a "proper" value to reflect real world conditions
That's an awful average split
bought a concept2 rowerg during corona, but I never really did much (occasionally 2km/1.5/1/.5 program with 2 min rest in-between)
last month I said fuck it and started to row daily
5km, currently 1:58.8/500m at 22 rpm
1:50 feels like a long way to go
also, too much of a noodle boy to go 20 rpm for that time
on the plus side, I do feel some improvement. not as exhausted afterwards + I recover faster
Reducing split times on 5ks sucks ass imo I would focus on 2k sprints
so 2km, rest (how long?) and repeat 3 times?
pic was today
Imo the best way to get strength up is a 10 x 500m sprint piece w/ 2 min rest
For 2ks you want to be picking a target split and then
First 500m go 3s under but dont burn out
Middle 1k is 1s over
Final is just emptying yourself on the erg. Final 100m should be a power 10
gotta go long slow distance to build aerobic capacity. means doing like a 12000m 3-4 times a week. it makes a massive difference. my 5k went from a 1:56 pace to a 1:48 by doing 5 days LISS and 1 day HIIT per week.
so what split times and rpm should I be aiming for those 12k?
idk it depends on a lot of things really such as your first ventilatory threshold and first lactate threshold etc.
it should be slow enough that you feel no burn in your muscles. it might be appropriate to row it based on average power not average pace on the actual monitor. i would try it at like 130 watts average power. pace wise /500 im not sure what that is probably like 2:17ish. it should be easy and you should be able to do it with your mouth taped shut breathing only through your nose. if you cant do that then you are above your first ventilatory threshold and need to go even slower.
ok, nose breathing is probably the best indication
will remember this, thanks
will try this too. I tend to speed up later on (as well as increase rpm) when I'm not focusing during a monotone 5k, so having some change throughout the workout might help combat that.
on a side note, anyone got a nice companion program for the pm5?
I've tried rowpro (on trial), but they want a monthly subscription and at that point it's not worth it.
But I'd really like something where I can hook up my laptop and have a training plan loaded and track my performance
Yeah my split improved much quicker when i switched to 5x 1 hour steady states rather than the plan i found that was half steady and half intervals.
Can you please check my form? https://youtu.be/trsbaGF7jw8
I do 4 minutes hard, 1 minute coasting, break then repeat for a set of 3. That's about the pace i keep with a drag of 6.
Damper 10 chad checking in. Also, I end up rowing incorrectly on purpose (pulling into the stomach not leaning back and pulling into the chest) because its harder and works me out more.
that is idiotic
how do you make working out on a cardio machine not boring though
I have mine set up in front of the TV and watch movies or documentaries. It's hilarious to me that some rowers have a fancy screen and sell for $3-4k when you could easily get a C2 and a giant TV and still have quite a lot left over for that money.
c2 comes with a tablet holder
>my knees are fucked
why is this so common? I run way too much and only ever really feel tendonitis in my achilles
They are super legit but also not for everybody. personally i hate their rower but love their bike erg and ski erg.
anyway as far as measurables and benchmarks your first goal should be a sub 2 minute 500m, then a sub 8 minute 2000m, then a sub 20 minute 5k, then a sub 40 minute 10k, then a sub 60 minute 15k. id say if you can pull a sub 20 minute 5k you are officially no longer a complete beginner and the real fun has actually begun.
Finally someone who has the skierg. I am thinking about getting the skierg for a while now in addition to my rowerg. Together, they should be a full body cardio session, right?
sort of. personally i much prefer doing the bike erg and ski erg and just lifting weights for my 'pull'.
These are legit and these are the best ones
Anyone here rowing without the feet strapped in?
Did this sometimes to warm up and get the technique down
For longer stead state rows i always do it without feet strapped in now because my form stays better over the distance. I tended to get sloppy when i got tired.
Another low impact that will absolutely smoke your shit is the versa climber
I recently started rowing due to shot knees (grappling for a while) and have access to an Aviron. I understand that Concept 2 is the gold standard but it just isn’t in the cards for a while. I’m just in it for the cardio. Am I doing myself a disservice? Is there an appreciable difference for a layman? How do splits compare vs. machines?
exercise on the machine you have is a lot more effective than not exercising on a machine you don't have
That’s totally fair. I guess what I mean is ask is do I bother to save up for a concept 2? Is it that much better than an Aviron in the long term that it’s worth it? Don’t get me wrong; I’m absolutely using the machine and having fun on the thing, but I have no idea if I’m building bad habits or hurting myself or cheating myself or anything. Are concept 2 people arguing over literal micro optimizations?
No, C2s are as bulletproof as it gets in the exercise world. Now if you're just rowing casually on anything available in the gym, then it doesn't matter so much, but if you're investing in a personal rower, it doesn't make much sense to get anything other than a C2. Set up a craigslist alert and browse what's available in your area, tons of people buy them and never put more than 20k on them because this is a country of fat fucks. You can always sell later and basically get your money back.
The other option if you don't want to worry about technique is an assault bike like here
these are retard proof and probably even more cardio efficient, although it gets really fucking boring doing long sessions with them. And it goes without saying you definitely want a heart rate monitor for cardio, but they're not expensive, the wrist polar sensors are fine for it, I use a polar oh1+
To add on to this, I personally bought my C2 rowerg for $700 off craigslist from a guy who'd bought it during covid and only put 37k on it over a year, it was in brand new condition and I've put on about 600k in 8 months. There really should be no reason to have to pay full price, honestly.
the nylon belt is a major weakpoint on all these 'lifestyle' rowers. it's fabric, of course it'll fray
Thanks anons, I really appreciate the feedback. There are guided programs on the aviron so it’s nice for coming in completely blind, but the presentation feels culty and memey. There was only one time I was worried about injury when I went for my first distance row (12k ish) and couldn’t sit for a couple days after, but I’ve trying to do my due diligence on form and research in general. If the effort is comparable across machines, I think I’m doing ok, since I can typically float around 1:55/500 for 5k.
C2 is the standard because the times are comparable across all of them but not other machines. I know some people get completely wacky times on waterrowers that they can't match on the C2. But again, for starting out, it doesn't really matter. I would use your HR as more of a metric, because while you're new, you really want to work on low intensity long duration Zone 2 cardio, not HIIT stuff that could throw your back out.
Apple watches should be accurate. There's been tons of studies on them, I wouldn't be too worried.
I use my Apple Watch to watch heart rate, but I’m a little skeptical since it claims I have a resting hr of 43 which seems really low for a fatty (5’10”, 240 lbs)
yeah get a chest strap and see if it agrees with your watch or not
I think it has more to do with the mechanical quality of the machine and the fact that it's a fan and not a water impeller or spring cylinder thing. as long as you have a device with a pull bar and a sliding seat you should be able to row productively
now that I google the aviron I see it costs twice as much as the c2 and it's the same layout. there's no problem with that machine
Where to buy one?
I been walking and recently started running, kinda like it but the sun is a bitch and the back of my right knee is been feeling funny so thinking of getting one for some comfy cardio at home.
I prefer these since I feel I can control the movement better, although it’s better suited for HIIT than rowing
Same, I like these a lot. Not that I don't like rowing, but it's way easier to go balls to the walls without your technique imploding and your back getting busted. Which means you get cardio gains faster.