Is a rowing machine the silver bullet to weight loss?

[throt]

mondeoman said:

throt said:

13m said:

throt said:

15,, that sounds a gutty workout. I bet on the last few sets you arms start to detach from your shoulders....

It's not my arms, it's my lungs and my legs.

Surely thats saying something about my technique because my legs could go on and on, or i just have strong legs, or I am not working them enough. My upstairs muscle is also fine and i never am puffing and panting after a hard workout. I just can't work it out, looked at youtube etc etc and am quite sure Im doing everything okay. And , yes, I am pushing myself.

However, I do recall the C2's down my gym and the pull back on them was so much more free. Once you got going the fly wheel spinning fast, every pull back was easy, so it was a case to just keep the momentum.

On my new C2 ( brand new ) the fly wheel has slowed right down as you slide back towards it for the next pull back. 1200m every 5 mins is a workout and so is 8.15 secs for 2000m. On the gym C2 those times would be smashed by me..

I did notice the same scenario, thinking back when I was filling my home gym, that my Life Fitness Elliptical machine , also purchased from new, had so much more resistants than the gym one I used prior. I have to move the foot rest, there is no aid from the machine.

So, can C2's differ that much with ease of use across various ones. And maybe its just that a new one takes time and use to be kind of run in. Time will tell.

Ant thoughts on the above guys.

Edited by throt on Sunday 22 January 13:35

Edited by throt on Sunday 22 January 13:35

Two identical machines at the gym I go to... I use a drag factor of around 143 (i'm a heavy bugger) and on 1 machine, the damper is set at 8, right next to it the damper has to be on 10. These machines are only three months old... Thats why checking DF when you get set up is a good thing to do.

Thanks, guys.

All looks okay. On mine and on damper 10 the drag is 138 to 141's.
Cheers..

[clonmult]

throt said:

Sorry, Chelb.

How many secs are you rowing 100m in. Cant find the math of 100m in 1.38. Is that 1min 38secs per 500m..??..

Yup, thats 1:38 pace per 500m, which equates to around 19.6 seconds for the 100m.

The 100m is the only distance over which I'm currently comfortable, and to do it fast uses a VERY different technique to normal rowing. Using a normal "full" stroke my PB is at around 16.3s (1:21.5 average pace). Using the 100m technique its 15.2 (1:16 average pace).

Difference is to put the foot plates up a few notches, which reduces the amount of leg movement - its all about deep into the catch with the arms stretched out as far as possible, then just yank it back as hard as you can but don't move the legs much (half a leg stroke I guess).

Ruddy painful, and the thought of doing a round of 100m intervals as part of a general circuit class .... sign me up! hateful, but it will bring amazing results.

Look up videos on youtube of Ross Love doing the 100m (he holds the world record, 12.8 seconds - thats an insane 1:04 average pace). His videos show the technique perfectly.

[throt]

clonmult said:

throt said:

Sorry, Chelb,,

How many secs are you rowing 100m in. Cant find the math of 100m in 1.38. Is that 1min 38secs per 500m..??..

Yup, thats 1:38 pace per 500m, which equates to around 19.6 seconds for the 100m.

The 100m is the only distance over which I'm currently comfortable, and to do it fast uses a VERY different technique to normal rowing. Using a normal "full" stroke my PB is at around 16.3s (1:21.5 average pace). Using the 100m technique its 15.2 (1:16 average pace).

Difference is to put the foot plates up a few notches, which reduces the amount of leg movement - its all about deep into the catch with the arms stretched out as far as possible, then just yank it back as hard as you can but don't move the legs much (half a leg stroke I guess).

Ruddy painful, and the thought of doing a round of 100m intervals as part of a general circuit class .... sign me up! hateful, but it will bring amazing results.

Look up videos on youtube of Ross Love doing the 100m (he holds the world record, 12.8 seconds - thats an insane 1:04 average pace). His videos show the technique perfectly.

Thanks, Clon.

I have never thought of adjusting the foot plates, interesting. I am more of a distant type than a 100m blaster. 15.2 is awesome.

Cheers...

[ajcj]

Don't want to turn this into a classified ad, so if any of the contributors on here are looking for a second-hand C2, PM me for details.

[Cheib]

throt said:

Sorry, Chelb.

How many secs are you rowing 100m in. Cant find the math of 100m in 1.38. Is that 1min 38secs per 500m..??..

Yes that's correct....100m at a pace of 1min 38 sec per 500m! Just realised it wasn't exactly clear. Did the third set at 1.35 or at least tried too. I just can't generate the power to get the thing moving quick enough though to do that four times.

[gareth h]

I used to do a 4 x 500 intervals with 2 mins rest, wife banned me because my face was grey by the time I finished! It was bloody hard work.

[clonmult]

gareth h said:

I used to do a 4 x 500 intervals with 2 mins rest, wife banned me because my face was grey by the time I finished! It was bloody hard work.

Hehe, it is bloody hard work.

I'm kinda lucky (or unlucky), my other half pushes me to go faster on the erg - we met via the on-line rowing community. We're both going to be racing at the EIRC in just over a weeks time.

Well, I'm not exactly going to be racing. More like sitting on an erg watching the amazing performances of others. My category (40-49 HWT) has one entrant who is sub 6 over 2k, and a few others who are good for around 6:10 pace. If I'm lucky I'll be sub 7, but doubt it.

She's the one who is responsible for pushing me to PBs over the 100m (15.2), 500m (1:29.7), 1k (3:21.3) and marathon (sub 3 hours). Sadistic so and so ....

[13m]

clonmult said:

gareth h said:

I used to do a 4 x 500 intervals with 2 mins rest, wife banned me because my face was grey by the time I finished! It was bloody hard work.

Hehe, it is bloody hard work.

I'm kinda lucky (or unlucky), my other half pushes me to go faster on the erg - we met via the on-line rowing community. We're both going to be racing at the EIRC in just over a weeks time.

Well, I'm not exactly going to be racing. More like sitting on an erg watching the amazing performances of others. My category (40-49 HWT) has one entrant who is sub 6 over 2k, and a few others who are good for around 6:10 pace. If I'm lucky I'll be sub 7, but doubt it.

She's the one who is responsible for pushing me to PBs over the 100m (15.2), 500m (1:29.7), 1k (3:21.3) and marathon (sub 3 hours). Sadistic so and so ....

How's your 2k?

[throt]

clonmult said:

Hehe, it is bloody hard work.

I'm kinda lucky (or unlucky), my other half pushes me to go faster on the erg - we met via the on-line rowing community. We're both going to be racing at the EIRC in just over a weeks time.

Well, I'm not exactly going to be racing. More like sitting on an erg watching the amazing performances of others. My category (40-49 HWT) has one entrant who is sub 6 over 2k, and a few others who are good for around 6:10 pace. If I'm lucky I'll be sub 7, but doubt it.

She's the one who is responsible for pushing me to PBs over the 100m (15.2), 500m (1:29.7), 1k (3:21.3) and marathon (sub 3 hours). Sadistic so and so ....

Your a lucky man, clon. All I get is ""training again"", ""you over do it"" etc etc..Sub 6 over 2k, i would love to see his technique...

[Birdster]

My two recent efforts with the machine set to 6, or 7 to achieve a drag factor of around 114.

[throt]

Nice, Birdster,

What time do you want to achieve for 2000m then??, whats your aim??..

[clonmult]

13m said:

How's your 2k?

Probably shocking at the moment. PB is 6:57, but if my last 10x1 is representative of form I'm currently at about 7:10.

[clonmult]

throt said:

Your a lucky man, clon. All I get is ""training again"", ""you over do it"" etc etc..Sub 6 over 2k, i would love to see his technique...

Sam has the disadvantage of being short (think he's about 5'8-5'9) - height is a fair advantage on the erg. I think he's the shortest person to do sub 6.

But he's an ex rugby player, runs a pretty decent gym and has developed a fairly interesting training programme too.

[13m]

clonmult said:

13m said:

How's your 2k?

Probably shocking at the moment. PB is 6:57, but if my last 10x1 is representative of form I'm currently at about 7:10.

Still very good.

[throt]

13m said:

Still very good.

Yep,, its not shabby is it......

[768]

Felt a bit inspired by this thread to dust off the C2.

Did 2.5k the first time, then 7-8k every other day for the last 10 days or so. Tried to eat better, lift weights on the off days. I've got a cold now so sniffling off for a couple of days.

I've put on half a stone. Probably need to increase the time I'm spending on it but find that mentally difficult as much as physically.

[throt]

768 said:

Felt a bit inspired by this thread to dust off the C2.


I've put on half a stone..

Hahaha,,, exactly what happened to me when I purchased mine. Had it for 2 weeks and was rowing around 26k a week, got on the scales, and holy moly, I put on half a stone too. And it was half a stone purely above the waist which I did not want as I was happy with what mass I had upstairs already.

All my expensive slim shirts were a bit tighter. Not good....

[mondeoman]

Here's one to try..... 9k for time at 20spm or less. Can't see that as being less than 40 mins of pain for me, but a sub 30 has been done.
Comes from rowingwod.co.uk.

[Birdster]

throt said:

Nice, Birdster,

What time do you want to achieve for 2000m then??, whats your aim??..

Sorry to reply late. A year late. Didn’t set out to have an aim m, it was more to just add something to my fitness when at the gym. Kind of fell off of the wagon a bit and put the weight back on.

Was running up to 20K as well, but only manage 5K now, sadly.

I’ve seen a Model C unrefurbished for £250 + delivery. Am I still right in thinking a new Model D at £860 is the best way to go?

As a Model D PM3 is £660
And a Model C is £540

From http://conceptrus.co.uk/product/serviced-model-c-r...

Not seen any cheaper than that.

[gareth h]

With all the rubbish weather since xmas I decided to try some longer (for me) sessions, used to do intervals and a long row was 6k.
Built up over a couple of weeks to 3 x 10k per week, the breakthrough in upping the distance from 8k to 10k was increasing stroke rate, I used to row at 20-22 spm and would be burnt out by the time I got to 8k, increased this to 25-26 spm and pretty much cruised to 10k, not great splits 2.10 the first time but managing to knock a second off each time so down to 2.05 now and not feeling too bksed at the end, feeling quite motivated