Concept 2 Rower Model D (Exercise For Fat Loss)

[tropo]

630 meters is a big increase.

I need the motivation this morning to get started. I'm having my coffee getting ready for an hour session. It is very hard to predict how I'm going to perform for a session that long - I just take it as it comes. I'm not sure if I'll keep up the 1 hour sessions. Perhaps more often and shorter maybe better. It's trial and error right now.

I find rowing a bit more difficult to fit in with my weight training as it is very upper body intensive compared to lower body cardio (such as the Cybex Arc Trainer). I have to be careful not to overtrain the shoulders and lower back.

Rowing at home gives me 3 days a week off going to the gym - I like that. I don't feel like I'm living in the gym.

[robblok]

There is a reason why i do it first thing in the morning, because that way i feel it does not interfear with my life. I see it as waking up a bit earlier and getting it over with. I make sure im done before 9am

[robblok]

Did an other morning row 30 min only. Last full out effort i without MAF i did 6500 meters now MAF 6630 meters.. so i passed my old workouts that left me all tired. When i finish a row i feel good.

I am going back to 45 min but slowly dont want to drive my body crazy.

[robblok]

Again a 30 minute row, yesterday was a crazy day and i felt sore all over my body so i did not workout. Now im feeling great again. I really like rowing, though it takes effort. As i get stronger and my stamina gets better i understand Tropo a little better. At first its hard to get my heartrate up. Later in the row its not a problem.

Tonight will be training my legs and shoulders. Things are looking up if i can break through my weight platteau things will be great. But just feeling better is good too.

[robblok]

Just a monologue now, no problem. I am doing great but my meters have not improved even went down a bit. Now around 6530 instead of 6630 when i was rested. But still i cant complain as it is an improvement over my previous times.

I hope i will slowly improve so i can burn more calories and get a better vasculair health. I must say it does help a bit with my lifts. I don't mean i can lift more but i recover faster.

[tropo]

It's always interesting to pop in and see how you're going.

I did a 60 minute row again yesterday. I nearly stopped at 30 minutes but decided to get on with the full hour. I also resisted the urge of going over MAF apart from a few minutes at the end. I posted 14,630m at 947 cal. I think with the correction that should be about 1000 cal.

I've been running around town trying to find a suitable gym to join. I want to add at least one more cardio exercise for some variation. I may go for the bike or perhaps elliptical. I really miss my Cybex Arc Trainer.

Today I won't be rowing or training as it's my birthday.

Cheers

[tropo]

Is everything ok Rob? We get worried when we don't hear from you on this thread.

I did a 500 calorie row today which takes a fraction over 30 minutes. I'm starting to alternate 30 min and 60 min rows now for some variety. Adjusting using the Concept calorie calculator that comes out at 547 calories.

I've just hit the quarter million meters on my new machine.

I'm think I've reached the stage where I need to revamp my whole program. It's starting to get stale and progress seems to have stopped. I'm going to join a new gym today (Tony's), so I'll have access to different equipment so this is a good time to change.

[robblok]

I am alive and im training, my rows are normal at the moment. But today i skipped the row but worked out with weights real hard. I hope to do a nice row again tomorrow. I am contemplating doing a row tonight, but i think ill pass im just not in the mood.

[damo]

Good to see everyone is still moving forward with things, Myself I have now got more control of my HR, MAF and have increased my runs to an hour each/ 7.5 km which for me is massive. I have dropped 7kg's in as many weeks, have become noticably stronger and I have got a real positive spring in my step. As you can imagine Im feeling stoked and my wife is happy about myself losing a bit of weight and getting fitter. Cheers guys and keep up the good work.

[tropo]

That's impressive progress in such a short period of time. HR training certainly makes it all a lot easier and safer as your heart knows what is best for you. I'm really surprised that I hardly ever see HR monitors being used in gyms - and they've been around for about 30 years... and especially in Thailand where it is so hot & humid and overtraining (from heat stress) is an ever present danger.

I start talking with other gym members about HR and they stare at me like I'm speaking another language.

[robblok]

Great work keep it up. I have still have nice rows, now im using some gloves also for lifting. Must say i never expected gloves to help but they do. I had a few blisters from rowing and excessive sweating.

I also put an extra fan blowing straight at me while rowing it really does make it more manageable. I am seeing some progress too so that is good.

[damo]

Too true about HRMonitors, not used enough, I use the Polar FT80 with FLOLINK, as with gloves for the gym if I forget either my gloves or my watch then I get mighty pissed at myself. Riding the stationary clycle is a classic, I really need to pump it on the bike to get my HR up to 146 but running on the treadmill @ 2deg inline / 7.8 km hour achieves for me the same HR. Alot of difference in effort between the two. Without my HRM I would be wasting a lot of time either overtraining on the treadmill or starfishing on the bike.

I have just been spending a bit of time watching Dorian Yates on youtube, the guy allmost overtrains which is'nt for me but he volounteer's some excellent info regarding form and range of motion. Somthing I need to learn more about.

Have fun & take it easy guys,

Damo.

[tropo]

Too true about HRMonitors, not used enough, I use the Polar FT80 with FLOLINK, as with gloves for the gym if I forget either my gloves or my watch then I get mighty pissed at myself. Riding the stationary clycle is a classic, I really need to pump it on the bike to get my HR up to 146 but running on the treadmill @ 2deg inline / 7.8 km hour achieves for me the same HR. Alot of difference in effort between the two. Without my HRM I would be wasting a lot of time either overtraining on the treadmill or starfishing on the bike.

I have just been spending a bit of time watching Dorian Yates on youtube, the guy allmost overtrains which is'nt for me but he volounteer's some excellent info regarding form and range of motion. Somthing I need to learn more about.

Have fun & take it easy guys,

Damo.

What do you mean by "starfishing on the bike"?

It would be very difficult to estimate HR by feel. To get my heart rate high (into the 140's and 150's - my max is 172) I need to make a huge effort on the rower. This is because the action uses predominantly upper body muscles. On the bike, which is a quad dominant exercise, it's not difficult to get it up there. If you use a cross trainer where you're using upper and lower body equally (cybex arc trainer), it's even easier to get the HR to max.

[damo]

Starfishing on the bike, sorry, I mean not putting enough effort in.

When I do squats I can boost my HR up to 160+ within 15 reps, the pump is awesome. I find running gets my CV pumping faster that cycling, IMO i'm putting more muscles into play.

I'm progressing again now, I had a bit of a stall on the scales (haven't got a tape), I started to get into protien alot and seemed to stop loosing fat but now Im loosing numbers off the scales so ~ all good, I'm getting fitter too, I'm now getting more Km's/hr for my 146BPM or MAF.

To be able to do some of these sort of

is one of my goals, I've got a long way to go yet.

[robblok]

@damo,

Pull ups there are bands that can help you. I bought a few so i can use my pull up for wide grips controlled. Without the band i can do them but not that controlled. But the bands give me a bit of a lift.

Those exercises are nice to look at and you need a lot of balance for them. I wont be able to do them.

[tropo]

Starfishing on the bike, sorry, I mean not putting enough effort in.

I'm now getting more Km's/hr for my 146BPM or MAF.

I've never heard that expression before.

Are you only 34 years old?...,, just going by your MAF of 146 bpm.

[damo]

38 years Troppo. My Max Hr I have recorded 186 bpm, slightly above the yard stick.

[damo]

Those exercises are nice to look at and you need a lot of balance for them. I wont be able to do them.

Yeah, that guy is like a robot. The human flagpole is one way out there goal.

[tropo]

38 years Troppo. My Max Hr I have recorded 186 bpm, slightly above the yard stick.

In that case your MAF is only 142. I can also get my maximum heart rate above my theoretical maximum of 168... I've managed 176 and I could get it higher if I really tried....but I calculate my MAF using the 180 - age formula. You can add 5% if you've trained at a high level for 2 years without injury.

[damo]

Your right, I have been slighly over then. I might have to increase the inline on the treadmill and reduce speed or vis-versa to get that HR.

[robblok]

Im rowing again in the morning, feeling good again. Don't know what was wrong but its great to row 45 min in the morning and have that out of the way. Then a weightlifting session later in the day.

The performance was not that great but i still burned around 700cals (using the conversion on the site) Not bad at all. I don't know why but for a while i was too tired in the morning to do much of anything.

[robblok]

Been doing 10k rows, just finished one 20 minutes ago. It was a busy day and i almost skipped it. But in the end i thought damm i loose out on at least a 500-600 cal burn then. Completed it in 47 minutes. I know its not much for you Tropo but i was happy with it. Kept it at MAF but not the last 500 meters i went all out there heartreate up to 168 or so

[tropo]

Been doing 10k rows, just finished one 20 minutes ago. It was a busy day and i almost skipped it. But in the end i thought damm i loose out on at least a 500-600 cal burn then. Completed it in 47 minutes. I know its not much for you Tropo but i was happy with it. Kept it at MAF but not the last 500 meters i went all out there heartreate up to 168 or so

What a coincidence, I was going to bump this old thread but you beat me to it. A 10,000m row is a big deal really - you're being to hard on yourself. Whether you do it hard or slow, it doesn't make a big difference in time. I think the best 45 minute row I've done so far was just over 11,100m. My best 10,000m was 39:13 but normally it's around 41 - 42 minutes, so there's only a 5 minute difference yet a big difference in intensity... which is really not the goal. It's amazing how much harder you need to row just to take a minute off the time.

I've started doing the 45 minute "Just row" again because I was getting too competitive on the 10,000m fixed distance row. On the "Just row" option you can stop and take a drink without it interfering with your time or distance.

[robblok]

Been doing 10k rows, just finished one 20 minutes ago. It was a busy day and i almost skipped it. But in the end i thought damm i loose out on at least a 500-600 cal burn then. Completed it in 47 minutes. I know its not much for you Tropo but i was happy with it. Kept it at MAF but not the last 500 meters i went all out there heartreate up to 168 or so

It's amazing how much harder you need to row just to take a minute off the time.

That part of your post is so true.. just a minute is a major improvement.

[robblok]

Did an other 10.000 meter, it was faster but harder. Because i went all out the last bit yesterday some muscles were sore. Heart rate was lower had an better row. Next 10k row if work permits it will be wednesday. Mon and Tue just normal workouts with weights.

[tropo]

What's your total meters now?

[robblok]

Not too many been off the rower for a while believe now 350k or so

[robblok]

Cranking out 10 k rows now.. i passed 400k meters. Anyway i encountered a problem. One of my feet is falling asleep (Dutch term dont know the correct english one) It goes numb because of lack of circulation. I have shoes on without socks my laces are not done. So almost no pressure there. But still after half an hour so so it starts to act up. Other foot no problem at all.

[tropo]

I just passed the 400k myself on my last row. I can't offer any advice on the foot falling asleep problem (your term is the same as the English one) as I haven't had that. I've had the hands getting numb but not recently - that's very irritating. Perhaps wearing socks will make a difference. How many holes from the top do you keep your foot pad? I'm on the 2nd from the top with size 12 (US shoes). Maybe you need to move your foot down.

[robblok]

Yesterday cranked out an other 10k and will do one today too. I had my foot fall asleep again but it was less. I had socks on and put the feet rest lower.