Concept 2 Rower Model D (Exercise For Fat Loss)

[tropo]

Maybe you should inject some caffeine directly into the sleeping foot. to wake that sucker up.

[robblok]

Ok finished the 10km row.. again my foot was asleep a bit, but less then before. Wearing socks and even lower.

I had some nice trance music on my ipod but the selection was not long enough. So the last 7 minutes no music. I could not switch it as i was going so well and break a PR that i did not dare to slow down.

It was a great row, lets hope it burned some fat.

[robblok]

Again 10k, i like the distance. Too bad my foot keeps falling asleep. I prefer to row distance then to row time. Next month i might start rowing 12 or 13 to get to an hour of rowing. For now this is enough.

[tropo]

I find it too easy to become competitive with the 10,000m count down. You also cannot get off or take a drink of water without your time being affected.

[robblok]

I find it too easy to become competitive with the 10,000m count down. You also cannot get off or take a drink of water without your time being affected.

I know and yes i get competitive.. but stay in maf. But today i f.. up. I had my headphones in but they kept falling out so i stopped for a minute and got a bigger pair. But the rest of the row was much nicer with the music. I will keep those big headphones up.. small ones now only for weight workouts.

[robblok]

Ok another monologue

Tropo, i put my damper setting to 7 just like you, instantly things got heavier but my times went faster. I did my best row so far time wise on the 10.000 meters. I am not sure i like it i will have to do it a few more times like this to see. I felt that it was harder on my body.

But it seems by putting the drag higher you automaticly pull heavier and more watts. My normal lower setting give me a faster workout, my strokes went slower but more powerful. Someone said its like pulling a bigger boat, you pull harder more drag but go faster.

I also got myself a pair of new shoes for training, some lacoste with flat soals no cushioning in it what so ever. I read its good for rowing, i know its good for squat and deadlift and other lifts. I would have gone for an other less expensive brand but these were the only ones in my size and did what they had to do. Result, my foot is not falling asleep anymore during my rows.

I also set up row pro software i liked it, hope to use it more. All in all it was a good day i hope i get my muscles to relax a bit.

I am feeling im doing a bit too much as my heartrate has consistently been up a bit. Might either be because something im taking cafeine or t3 or whatever. But been using that for a long time so it should not be the cause. Might also be a sign of overtraining. But with my holiday coming up in a few weeks i don't worry too much.

I think my rower really is the best piece of kit i ever bought, cardio wise. I am still not bored with it.

[tropo]

What damper setting were you using before?

My damper setting is 6 - never changed since I bought it in June. It's the drag factor you should be considering. 6 on my machine relates to a drag factor of 132. That's just a little higher than recommended but I chose that setting because the machine I was using at California Wow on damper 10 was displaying that drag factor and after 6 months at that level I decided to keep it the same at home.

With a higher drag factor the flywheel slows down more quickly and you will have to use a lot more strength to get it moving again on each stroke. At the end of the day I don't think it will change your performance in terms of heart rate, but you'll be putting a lot more stress on the body.

[tropo]

Just a follow up thought.

Using the Concept Rower at high damper settings would be like using an exercise bike on high resistance settings at low RPM. High resistance at low RPM could be a knee killer on the bike, just a high damper settings could be a back killer on the rower.

[robblok]

@tropo

I think i used 3 or 4 (think 3) that was how it was set. I thought you used 7

What i noticed is that it goes from speed to power, higher drag will mean you use more power to get to go faster on the counter.

Lower drag setting you need speed to get the boat moving.

I think i might go down to 6 just like you as 7 was hard.

But the conversion from using power instead of speed did make me row faster as usual. That was of course to be expected from someone like me.

And yes it killed my lower back a bit more.

I am happy though with my new shoes, its great to row and not have your feet and then leg fall asleep.

[tropo]

@tropo

I think i used 3 or 4 (think 3) that was how it was set. I thought you used 7

What i noticed is that it goes from speed to power, higher drag will mean you use more power to get to go faster on the counter.

Lower drag setting you need speed to get the boat moving.

I think i might go down to 6 just like you as 7 was hard.

But the conversion from using power instead of speed did make me row faster as usual. That was of course to be expected from someone like me.

And yes it killed my lower back a bit more.

I am happy though with my new shoes, its great to row and not have your feet and then leg fall asleep.

But were your calories burned in relation to heart rate the same, assuming you didn't increase your heart rate for the workout on the higher damper settings?

If you're pulling harder I would expect a relative increase in heart rate to compensate for the extra effort.

I'm interested in this as I haven't experimented with different damper settings. I do know that I don't like the feel of increasing it. There's no way I could row at 10. I don't really want to turn a cardio session into a full on lower back workout. If we were doing this exclusively instead of weight training, there may be some benefit in doing some high damper session workouts to increase lower back strength but I don't think long sessions at high settings would be a good idea.

[robblok]

Like i said, i am not 100% sure i like this damper setting. I do know that i like a higher setting then what i am used too. But maybe not this high. Next thing is trying setting 6 and see how that goes.

I think they measure the calories burned in relation to distance. I think that if we both do 10k we both get the same calories burned. Because to move 10km you need to use a certain amount of watts. Those whats are what count, because calories are nothing more then watts.

[tropo]

Of course watts/calories are directly related, but the question is whether you burn more or less over the same distance at the same heart rate on the different settings.

Put another way, you did your 10,000 meters faster at the higher damper setting, so was your average heart rate higher to produce this higher performance.

If I was going to increase my damper settings by 3 or 4 positions, I would do it slowly over a couple of months. That way you won't notice it much.

[robblok]

Of course watts/calories are directly related, but the question is whether you burn more or less over the same distance at the same heart rate on the different settings.

Put another way, you did your 10,000 meters faster at the higher damper setting, so was your average heart rate higher to produce this higher performance.

If I was going to increase my damper settings by 3 or 4 positions, I would do it slowly over a couple of months. That way you won't notice it much.

Tropo,

I think my heartrate was higher, but recently i don't know what is wrong with my heartrate. Its higher as normal.

I think you will always burn the same amount of calories over the same amount of distance (at least on the rower). I think if you do 10k real fast you will burn as much as when you do 10k slow. You will just burn more calories per time unit.

[tropo]

I've now switched from 10,000m rows to 45 minutes rows, but when I was doing the 10,000m rows I noticed a higher total calorie burn over the same distance the harder I rowed... along with the expected increase in heart rate.

Let's say we take a fixed time (say 45 minutes) and row precisely to our MAF for the total time. Will a higher damper setting result in more calories burned or not? I suspect not. I suspect a lower stroke rate or watts would be required if the damper settings are higher.

(this can get really confusing)

[robblok]

your 10k rows are shorter then your 45 min rows that is for sure. After a while i might switch to 12k rows as i want to build it to hour long rows.

I just compared a row of 46.40 and 46.50 (the 40 was today on the high damper and the 50 yesterday on lower damper). They almost had the same calories per hour.

I had slower rows too and then the calories per hour go down.

I think what is important is how many watts you rowed.

I agree with what your saying, what i am saying is though that the higher damper setting makes its nicer to row for me (not the 7 but i think the 6) because its more power based then not speed based.

[robblok]

the things we do in the name of ............ getting into shape.

Ok i got row pro, connected it to the laptop and the laptop to a 23 inch screen on a small table next to the rower.

I set up for interfall, 250 meters at 1:30-1:40 then 500 meters at 2:20-2:30 with 5 repeats and a warmup of 1000 meters and cooldown of 100 meters.

Brilliant how row prow tells you to do it, but deadly heartrate up to 193 after ever sprint i was dead. I really hate high intensity training but thought it was good for a change. After that i just trained my shoulders, i forgot about legs (was the plan all along). But boy was that intense. You burn a lot less calories as a normal steady state row. But this really gets the blood pumping.

I am not planning on doing this more then once a week or even every 2 weeks. Its not something that i look forward too. The normal 10k rows are ok, this is something totally different. Like doing deadlifts for 20 minutes with breaks.. Feels like my lungs explode. But i must say the rower is a machine made for HITT, no need to set anything just pull as hard as you can.

[robblok]

i obviously have a split personality as im talking to myself here. But that is the least of my problems.

Anyway, did not row for a week and just came of the rower almost blew my previous best away with 1.20 seconds on the 10km. I almost made it in 45 minutes 45:06. But i must admit part of the last 500 meters was not MAF heartrate as i got carried away and wanted to go for the 45 min.

I knew i was doing it well as the row prow program showed how i was going faster as me in a previous session.

Anyway shows me that a bit of rest once in a while is not bad. I am working the body hard 6-7 days a week and that for months on end. So this rest week came in good. Later more rest as i go on a holiday. Still it was a great row, when i came off i felt all high,of the endorphin and the fact that i rowed so fast. Determinately a better feeling as normally.

If im feeling masochistic tomorrow ill do a bit of HIIT, not for the calory burn but just to get my VOmax up The faster i can row the more i can burn in a set time.

The rowing machine is definitely one of the best cardio equipment you can buy for home use. Most bang for its buck.

[tropo]

I'm not as surprised as you are that you improved your performance so much after a break. There's no doubt you're overtraining, but considering your main goal is to hold onto muscle while you get ripped, a bit of overtraining is not such a bad thing.

[SamGio]

I'm not as surprised as you are that you improved your performance so much after a break. There's no doubt you're overtraining, but considering your main goal is to hold onto muscle while you get ripped, a bit of overtraining is not such a bad thing.

New here. Have read TV on/off over the years - in TH 20+ years.... yes, met young while studying and got married to my Thai author wife.

Wanted to say to all of you in this thread - you are motivating, positive, friendly and so on. Let me contribute a bit....

I got my first C2 model C about 13 years ago. We moved and a few years ago I upgraded. The PM4 computer with cable on the E model makes it fun logging into one's personal logbook at concept2's website.

Anyhow - enjoying seeing fitness goals discussed here.

For the Concept2 erg my goal is to stay at the 90th percentile in my age group from 500 m. to a marathon - great fun and motivating too. I will do a 100k row once just for the fun of it, but shorter distances are more fun than 6+ hours on the c2....,

Terry at concept2 in Vermont is a woman by the way ;-)

Looking forward to interact in all things healthy.

[robblok]

I'm not as surprised as you are that you improved your performance so much after a break. There's no doubt you're overtraining, but considering your main goal is to hold onto muscle while you get ripped, a bit of overtraining is not such a bad thing.

New here. Have read TV on/off over the years - in TH 20+ years.... yes, met young while studying and got married to my Thai author wife.

Wanted to say to all of you in this thread - you are motivating, positive, friendly and so on. Let me contribute a bit....

I got my first C2 model C about 13 years ago. We moved and a few years ago I upgraded. The PM4 computer with cable on the E model makes it fun logging into one's personal logbook at concept2's website.

Anyhow - enjoying seeing fitness goals discussed here.

For the Concept2 erg my goal is to stay at the 90th percentile in my age group from 500 m. to a marathon - great fun and motivating too. I will do a 100k row once just for the fun of it, but shorter distances are more fun than 6+ hours on the c2....,

Terry at concept2 in Vermont is a woman by the way ;-)

Looking forward to interact in all things healthy.

Hi nice to see a fellow rower, though rowing is not my main form of sport i have found its the only cardio that i like. It has helped me greatly to loose fat while lifting weights. I have no idea how i preform compared to others. But im still improving, im not even close to Tropo. And he is a bit older.

Today i did HITT 250 meters at 1.35-143 then 500 at 2.20 and repeat this 5 times. Did have 2000 meter row first. Wow i feel did, please give me a normal 10.000 row.

I cant even inmagine you SamGio 100k row.. wow.. my highest is a 12k row and i was thinking of suicide already. Thumbs up for you.. great performance.

Tomorrow off lifting weights again its great to combine both with a healthy diet. The results so far are great.

[tropo]

New here. Have read TV on/off over the years - in TH 20+ years.... yes, met young while studying and got married to my Thai author wife.

Wanted to say to all of you in this thread - you are motivating, positive, friendly and so on. Let me contribute a bit....

I got my first C2 model C about 13 years ago. We moved and a few years ago I upgraded. The PM4 computer with cable on the E model makes it fun logging into one's personal logbook at concept2's website.

Anyhow - enjoying seeing fitness goals discussed here.

For the Concept2 erg my goal is to stay at the 90th percentile in my age group from 500 m. to a marathon - great fun and motivating too. I will do a 100k row once just for the fun of it, but shorter distances are more fun than 6+ hours on the c2....,

Terry at concept2 in Vermont is a woman by the way ;-)

Looking forward to interact in all things healthy.

You sound pretty serious on the rower. How would you manage a 100k row without tearing the skin off your hands. I sometimes get blisters doing 45 minutes. Of course the harder I work it the harder it is on the hands. I couldn't image rowing that far.

I started out with the Concept B at gyms, then purchased my own Concept C in Australia, and now a Concept D in Thailand, so I've rowed a long while but always as an adjunct to weight training and usually as a 10 - 15 minute warmup. They even had some Concept D's at a gym in Manila which I used last weekend. Unfortunately they were very badly maintained and damper setting 10 had a drag factor of only 83 compared to a brand new machine which has a drag factor of about 220 at setting 10.

http://www.concept2.com/indoor-rowers/training/tips-and-general-info/damper-setting-101

Edited November 14, 2012 by tropo

[robblok]

Tropo, do you still get blisters if you wear gloves.. since i started wearing gloves (the same i now use for lifting) i have no blisters.. and no calluses anymore. I was always against gloves but after buying them for the rower i started using them for lifting too.

[tropo]

Tropo, do you still get blisters if you wear gloves.. since i started wearing gloves (the same i now use for lifting) i have no blisters.. and no calluses anymore. I was always against gloves but after buying them for the rower i started using them for lifting too.

Sometimes I get one on the 3rd finger joint on the 4th finger of left hand. It's because the glove doesn't cover that area properly. I can't see how the hands would last 100 K even with gloves. That would be 8.33 hours at 12K per hour. That would be a good pace for that distance.

[SamGio]

Tropo, do you still get blisters if you wear gloves.. since i started wearing gloves (the same i now use for lifting) i have no blisters.. and no calluses anymore. I was always against gloves but after buying them for the rower i started using them for lifting too.

Sometimes I get one on the 3rd finger joint on the 4th finger of left hand. It's because the glove doesn't cover that area properly. I can't see how the hands would last 100 K even with gloves. That would be 8.33 hours at 12K per hour. That would be a good pace for that distance.

Blisters and rowing distances..... Great gloves are a must for me. I've tried a few over the years and have come to like my ninja's. www.ninjagloves.com has a great selection for rowing.

During long rows I will use 2-3 pairs for comfort.

Like most things it's a matter of conditioning, but pushing through discomfort builds mental strength for other situations IMO.

[robblok]

Tropo, do you still get blisters if you wear gloves.. since i started wearing gloves (the same i now use for lifting) i have no blisters.. and no calluses anymore. I was always against gloves but after buying them for the rower i started using them for lifting too.

Sometimes I get one on the 3rd finger joint on the 4th finger of left hand. It's because the glove doesn't cover that area properly. I can't see how the hands would last 100 K even with gloves. That would be 8.33 hours at 12K per hour. That would be a good pace for that distance.

Blisters and rowing distances..... Great gloves are a must for me. I've tried a few over the years and have come to like my ninja's. www.ninjagloves.com has a great selection for rowing.

During long rows I will use 2-3 pairs for comfort.

Like most things it's a matter of conditioning, but pushing through discomfort builds mental strength for other situations IMO.

Ah we do similar things lifting weights and with the HIIT rowing i did.. not only mental but physical discomfort. I find a day where i have good muscle soreness from lifting nice. Means i did a good job. But 100.000k on the rower... not yet. I want to build it up higher anyway to burn more.

I mean higher as my current not higher as 100.000k. Tonight a lifting session, i row around 3 times a week and lift 4 times a week. Its actually a bit too much as i saw after a week off. Suddenly great improvements. But im now only going for fat burn. So that is ok.

But i love the rower, the gf is slowly discovering it too. But her work and lifestyle does not give her much chance to do it regularly.

[tropo]

Blisters and rowing distances..... Great gloves are a must for me. I've tried a few over the years and have come to like my ninja's. www.ninjagloves.com has a great selection for rowing.

During long rows I will use 2-3 pairs for comfort.

Like most things it's a matter of conditioning, but pushing through discomfort builds mental strength for other situations IMO.

LOL. I do a lot of pushing through discomfort, but ripping the skin off my hands is not something I will push through.

Actually my gloves are cheap lifting gloves not designed specifically for rowing.

I do push myself pretty hard, but doing marathon rows is not something I'm ever going to try. I would consider that detrimental to everything I'm trying to accomplish.

Edited November 15, 2012 by tropo

[robblok]

Blisters and rowing distances..... Great gloves are a must for me. I've tried a few over the years and have come to like my ninja's. www.ninjagloves.com has a great selection for rowing.

During long rows I will use 2-3 pairs for comfort.

Like most things it's a matter of conditioning, but pushing through discomfort builds mental strength for other situations IMO.

LOL. I do a lot of pushing through discomfort, but ripping the skin off my hands is not something I will push through.

Actually my gloves are cheap lifting gloves not designed specifically for rowing.

I do push myself pretty hard, but doing marathon rows is not something I'm ever going to try. I would consider that detrimental to everything I'm trying to accomplish.

I am also not going for the 100k, i find it a great accomplishment though. I am more looking to go to 1 or 2 hours just for burning calories. So far im doing 50 minutes at times. Slowly building it up. Though 2 hours might be a bit too much not only mentally but also for the time that i have available on a day. 1 hour and a bit would more suit me.

[SamGio]

Blisters and rowing distances..... Great gloves are a must for me. I've tried a few over the years and have come to like my ninja's. www.ninjagloves.com has a great selection for rowing.

During long rows I will use 2-3 pairs for comfort.

Like most things it's a matter of conditioning, but pushing through discomfort builds mental strength for other situations IMO.

LOL. I do a lot of pushing through discomfort, but ripping the skin off my hands is not something I will push through.

Actually my gloves are cheap lifting gloves not designed specifically for rowing.

I do push myself pretty hard, but doing marathon rows is not something I'm ever going to try. I would consider that detrimental to everything I'm trying to accomplish.

Agree with the no need for ripping skin off... Actually the ninja gloves are basically sold in homepro

[SamGio]

Blisters and rowing distances..... Great gloves are a must for me. I've tried a few over the years and have come to like my ninja's. www.ninjagloves.com has a great selection for rowing.

During long rows I will use 2-3 pairs for comfort.

Like most things it's a matter of conditioning, but pushing through discomfort builds mental strength for other situations IMO.

LOL. I do a lot of pushing through discomfort, but ripping the skin off my hands is not something I will push through.

Actually my gloves are cheap lifting gloves not designed specifically for rowing.

I do push myself pretty hard, but doing marathon rows is not something I'm ever going to try. I would consider that detrimental to everything I'm trying to accomplish.

I am also not going for the 100k, i find it a great accomplishment though. I am more looking to go to 1 or 2 hours just for burning calories. So far im doing 50 minutes at times. Slowly building it up. Though 2 hours might be a bit too much not only mentally but also for the time that i have available on a day. 1 hour and a bit would more suit me.

Please don't get me wrong. The 100k is a rare feat - my daily avg is more like 20k. Mix of once/twice a day with various types of rows included.

I was actually thinking about starting a thread on how a daily sports/activities program might look like, if the goal was to loose weight and later to maintain - just from each of our experiences - nothing fancy - just examples. How about some of you senior posters here started off - If not I will give it a shot later this week.

[robblok]

Blisters and rowing distances..... Great gloves are a must for me. I've tried a few over the years and have come to like my ninja's. www.ninjagloves.com has a great selection for rowing.

During long rows I will use 2-3 pairs for comfort.

Like most things it's a matter of conditioning, but pushing through discomfort builds mental strength for other situations IMO.

LOL. I do a lot of pushing through discomfort, but ripping the skin off my hands is not something I will push through.

Actually my gloves are cheap lifting gloves not designed specifically for rowing.

I do push myself pretty hard, but doing marathon rows is not something I'm ever going to try. I would consider that detrimental to everything I'm trying to accomplish.

I am also not going for the 100k, i find it a great accomplishment though. I am more looking to go to 1 or 2 hours just for burning calories. So far im doing 50 minutes at times. Slowly building it up. Though 2 hours might be a bit too much not only mentally but also for the time that i have available on a day. 1 hour and a bit would more suit me.

Please don't get me wrong. The 100k is a rare feat - my daily avg is more like 20k. Mix of once/twice a day with various types of rows included.

I was actually thinking about starting a thread on how a daily sports/activities program might look like, if the goal was to loose weight and later to maintain - just from each of our experiences - nothing fancy - just examples. How about some of you senior posters here started off - If not I will give it a shot later this week.

Good idea, this section can use new posters. I just row 3 times a week.. 2x 10km and 1 time HIIT and lift weights 4 times a week. Sometimes 1 of the 7 days is off. Its quite a lot like this but i can handle it. Though i get close to over training. Did gain around 5kg of muscle and lost 23kg of fat sins 1 jan this year. But i was overweight (no beer gut but overweight) to start with. Now im lean, and want to become even leaner.