Since it's now too cold to do my regular 30 mile Saturday bike rides, I've jumped on the Concept2 bandwagon, but I have a few questions for you rowing experts.
I did my first session today. Rowed 5000 meters in 35 min. 59 seconds. I had the damper set at 5, my avg watts was 36 and my avg stroke speed/min was 31.
After 5000 meters my forearms were a bit tired, but I wasn't sweating and wasn't breathing hard. I had on my heart rate monitor and max BPM was only 121 (I regularly get to 160bpm climbing hills on the bike). I believe I'm using proper form because I've spent some time reviewing YouTube videos and there was a mirror immediately to my right, so I was watching to see that my form matched the videos.
So to my questions:
1. Any thoughts, based on the numbers provided, on why this exercise didn't wipe me out like I expected? Am I doing something wrong? Or is it possible that my cardio good from the hundreds of miles on the bike?
2. What is the appropriate way to make this exercise harder for me cardio wise without overdoing muscles that aren't used to doing this form of exercise? (i.e., Raise the damper number, row faster, other?)
Thanks for your advice.
I don't know how old you are or how tall or heavy, but rowing for that time at that speed at your heart rate seems like a good fairly easygoing workout. You may find that your muscles feel quite used up for a day or so.
I would cruise like you are doing for a while, maybe at least a month. It is easy to overdo and hurt little muscles in the back which can sideline you. Also, if your max theoretical HR is 170, 121 is roughly 70% of max, certainly in the aerobic training zone. Just go a little faster and you will pump faster too, if that is what you are seeking. But I think that it is best to row carefully and slowly for at least a month.
Once you have your base and your form seems stable, the easiest way to get more heart rate is to do intervals. Get yourself well warmed up to a pretty good heartrate, then pull 20 strokes as hard as you can, then maybe 40 at a moderate pace (sec/500 m), then 20 as hard as you can, etc. until you have done 10 cycles. Be sure to cool down rowing at a moderate pace for at least 5 minues after this. But I believe that it is way more important to just row, to avoid injury, and to be regular than it is to go fast. Unless your goals are athletic rather than medical, in which case you will have to do athletic training.
Basically what counts is not your damper setting, or your SPM, but the readout in terms of watts or speed or calories/hr. Usually you will up these metrics by pulling harder once your stroke is grooved. The best stroke is usually the one with the smoothest application of power. You want the catch to be adding on the stroke before, not starting all over again. With really good form you can pull hard and sometime feel your butt come off the seat briefly in midstroke.
If you really want heartrate, mimic an on the water race. You go 2000 m as hard as you can go. If you are really doing this, you are near collapse by the end. I haven't done this since I was a young rower, it is very punishing. It also seems to me to not be a really good plan for a middle aged person. I do think that bicycle hill climbing, especially off road where the hills can be really steep, is more HR challenging. When my youngest son was still at home, about 15 years ago, I was 55. I could get pretty winded climbing with him on mountain bikes. But my its very nature hills on a biclycle are intervals. Unless you are going up an entire mountain, you climb for a while, then level out.
My typical workout when I am not trying to get winded (which is usually!) I will row 5000 meters =<30'. Then go get a drink, change my music or TV, and do the same again. Then I usually warm down for 1000 meters. This is not an exhausting workout, no huffing or puffing. The second 5000 meters is usually faster than the first.
I find that if I push hard for more than part of the workout, it is difficult to face it the following day.
Now I have to get off my butt and row! I want to get outside while it is still nice and sunny too.
Ha
