Rowing for Weight Loss & Motivation

[Rob C]

So, after a few years away from the erg (ultimately I got disillusioned and bored with it, and the constant aches and pains and trips to the physio, so quietly slunk away), my weight has got out of control over the last year - now tipping the scales at 19st (120kg) which is most unhealthy for a 56 year old 5'11" (180cm) bloke. So I've retrieved the erg from the corner. Initially this has been complete purgatory, the first sedentary 2:30/500 pace I bared coped with 10 minutes with HR reaching 160 Getting on the erg most days this month I've so far covered over 90k metres since my return usually doing distance set intervals. I can now manage half hour rows, at a paltry 2:25 /500 pace, with HR reaching only the 140s. Despite the distance, I've actually added another kilo weight.

The issue is now very much how to use the erg, most effectively, to get some proper weight loss with an ultimate target I'd see an overweight rather than obese standard BMI. Despite clocking up a couple of million metre seasons a few years ago the weight never really came off, and 17st was probably an average weight. Should I now be concentrating on distance, short or long? Should I look at intervals, or single distance rows. Am I better at a faster pace for shorter time, or lengthy periods at slower pace. Perhaps I should focus on heart rate, or stroke rate?

But I will also struggle with maintaining motivation to get on the erg regularly, despite I have to keep walking round it in my living room. Bottom line it's so much easier to default as a couch potato, and not suffer all the aches and pains. Most of the time I'll have the TV on watching some rubbish (noise of the erg means you can't really concentrate on what's on), but perhaps the TV distraction means my workouts are less efficient? There seem to be lot's of glossy tv adds for workout systems such as Peleton Nordic, although I'd baulk at the monthly cost of those, and the specialist kit they want. Are there any equivalents for the Concept 2?

[paulgould]

So, after a few years away from the erg (ultimately I got disillusioned and bored with it, and the constant aches and pains and trips to the physio, so quietly slunk away), my weight has got out of control over the last year - now tipping the scales at 19st (120kg) which is most unhealthy for a 56 year old 5'11" (180cm) bloke. So I've retrieved the erg from the corner. Initially this has been complete purgatory, the first sedentary 2:30/500 pace I bared coped with 10 minutes with HR reaching 160 Getting on the erg most days this month I've so far covered over 90k metres since my return usually doing distance set intervals. I can now manage half hour rows, at a paltry 2:25 /500 pace, with HR reaching only the 140s. Despite the distance, I've actually added another kilo weight.

The issue is now very much how to use the erg, most effectively, to get some proper weight loss with an ultimate target I'd see an overweight rather than obese standard BMI. Despite clocking up a couple of million metre seasons a few years ago the weight never really came off, and 17st was probably an average weight. Should I now be concentrating on distance, short or long? Should I look at intervals, or single distance rows. Am I better at a faster pace for shorter time, or lengthy periods at slower pace. Perhaps I should focus on heart rate, or stroke rate?

But I will also struggle with maintaining motivation to get on the erg regularly, despite I have to keep walking round it in my living room. Bottom line it's so much easier to default as a couch potato, and not suffer all the aches and pains. Most of the time I'll have the TV on watching some rubbish (noise of the erg means you can't really concentrate on what's on), but perhaps the TV distraction means my workouts are less efficient? There seem to be lot's of glossy tv adds for workout systems such as Peleton Nordic, although I'd baulk at the monthly cost of those, and the specialist kit they want. Are there any equivalents for the Concept 2?

Hi Rob

I completely sympathise with you as I was in pretty much the same boat as you 4 months ago. I was 55, 1.74m and weighing in at 114 kg. I was busy recovering from a cardiac arrest that I had 6 month previously but had been erging for many years and had well over 35 million metres logged.
As a matter of urgency I needed to lose weight to take the pressure off my heart, and in 4 months I have managed to shed 20kg and feel 100% stronger.
I just applied a few simple(if trite) principles to my lifestyle and reluctantly accepted that the key to weightloss is 80% diet, 20% exercise.
I replaced my daily lunchtime gluttony fest with an hour walk, cut out the junk food and basically had one meal a day, albeit a large-ish one.
On the rowing front, I have kept things similarly simple. I try and row every day(or 6 days a week) and I just do long,slow,steady rows in the fat-burning zone( you should be able to hold a normal conversation while rowing at that intensity).
I would say that if you have the opportunity to have a TV as a distraction then watch by all means.
There will be a lot of people on here who will swear to the effectiveness of a structured plan(like the PP) with lots of intervals of varying intensity, and there is a place for that, but in my opinion it is important to just build that base.
I use the re-row function quite a bit as I find it quite motivating to compare with a workout done say two weeks prior, and noticing the improvement.
I think the key to getting the most out of the erg as a weight-loss aid is consistency - you need to row often enough that it becomes a habit, and you need to keep those workouts at a manageable intensity so that you will look forward to, rather than dread, your next session.

Maybe think about posting on our 2021 Weight Loss thread - I and a few others recordour weekly progress and I am finding that little sub-community very supportive and motivational.
I hope that helps a bit - I know my advice is fairly simplistic but it has worked really well for me.

Best of luck on your journey.

Paul G

[Iain]

Losing weight is primarily about what you eat as rowing will tend to make you hungry and it is easy to eat far more than you have burned. That said it will keep your metabolism up so that you can continue to eat well while losing weight. THe key is to keep rowing. As such, while you can debate the calories burned by different plans, I believe that by far the most important factor is starting a routine that you enjoy and so can continue. If you can get ear phones to allow you to watch TV while rowing and are happy to do so, great. Otherwise you need to be happy to do long slow rows if that is what you choose. Personally I do not think I could maintain this. 3 in a row is about the best I have ever managed. For me it is getting faster that motivates me to row and the aches are a pleasant reminder if the session was a success.

I used PP to get back into rowing (see thread on this section). The key is taking Pete's pacing seriously and starting intervals at a pace that you could do all the intervals at continuously so you know you can finish. Otherwise you will find the intervals get very hard quickly and it gets hard to continue. But any plan will do.

I hope you find something that works for you and that you come back to let us know.

[Rob C]

hmm, thanks. Don't like the diet bit. Just getting on the rower has very much increased the appetite.

I've never been what some might call sporty. My best times in my sig were hard work and even years later far from enjoyable. Chasing improving times is not going to win me medals and indeed risks turning those "pleasant aches" (there is no such thing) into pain of muscle strain. I think Paul G might be right that I will need to find sustainable pace and HR that gets me into a fat burning zone, wherever that might be. Not quite sure that something like the PP would work, but I'll have to look through it, I think it is more about how I distract myself from having spent too long pounding away. I've recently got some of those bluetooth earbud type headphones so I'll experiment with those, I think a full headset and wires would get very annoying, it's bad enough with a sweatband to mop my head (my old halo FS thing has disintegrated).

[Wolfmiester]

Hi Rob, I'd agree with Paul, long and slow will win the day. But you do need to be realistic and watch what you eat, the old adage weight is simply calories in V calories out cannot be argued. In your situation I would also agree that the PP wouldn't work too well.
Best of luck with it

[Kevinhorne44]

Hi Rob.
Agree with the slower & longer approach 100% with the rower. But as an old coach always told me "you cant outrun a shit diet"
I know everyone might grown at me but. Have you ever tried something like Myfitness pal ?? App on your smart phone or tablet that will help you track your daily intake.
I have times throught the year when I use it. Just to help me either reset my eating or just check my accountability. I hate the word diet. That's just a commercial gimmick to help you jump on the merry go round of food fads.
If you can I'd invest in a heart strap that will link to your monitor. If you know you true heartrate this will give you an excellent guide to the correct zones for you to train in. This site has a decent utility section that will give you your zones. The only thing you need to put in is your full resting rate & a good guess at you maximum. (220- your age isn't a bad start)
The longer you can train for in one session will help your body in its adaptation.

But if you can't do 45 - 90 minute rows dont kick yourself. Start at 10 & work up to it slowly. It's better to do little & often. Than to do 1 big session a week or worst still give up & do nothing.
Good luck with your journey. I'm sure you'll receive encouragement from everyone here

[Rob C]

Hmm, I had been on a one man mission to support the local takeaways during lockdown. I get the message that isn't a good idea for my waistline. But more seriously I'll have to do better understanding and balancing intake. I'll take a look at that app thanks.

I do have the heart strap. But I think there is some interference now I've also got a set of bluetooth earbuds with the TV which is stopping the auto connect to the PM5. It does mean I'm starting to watch a lot of dodgy series streamed from BBC iplayer. That's not going to help the motivation.

Starting to see a bit of stamina from doing various intervals at slow pace, and now pushing myself to do 10k or more 5 or more days a week holding a HR around 140. That is ultimately tiring, but if I've worked it out correctly is just about in the 80% zone which seems sensible for both stamina, sustainability, but perhaps to burn some calories. May need to find a better way to predict calories, especially if I were to worry about balance from diet intake, as I'm not sure the PM5 can really work it out just from distance and HR if it doesn't know stuff like weight or other measures of the metabolism.

[paulgould]

Hmm, I had been on a one man mission to support the local takeaways during lockdown. I get the message that isn't a good idea for my waistline. But more seriously I'll have to do better understanding and balancing intake. I'll take a look at that app thanks.

I do have the heart strap. But I think there is some interference now I've also got a set of bluetooth earbuds with the TV which is stopping the auto connect to the PM5. It does mean I'm starting to watch a lot of dodgy series streamed from BBC iplayer. That's not going to help the motivation.

Starting to see a bit of stamina from doing various intervals at slow pace, and now pushing myself to do 10k or more 5 or more days a week holding a HR around 140. That is ultimately tiring, but if I've worked it out correctly is just about in the 80% zone which seems sensible for both stamina, sustainability, but perhaps to burn some calories. May need to find a better way to predict calories, especially if I were to worry about balance from diet intake, as I'm not sure the PM5 can really work it out just from distance and HR if it doesn't know stuff like weight or other measures of the metabolism.

Sounds like you are off to a good start.
Working in the 80% zone does sound a bit too high for me and doing 10k+ 5times a week is going to be tiring. I would be looking to row at about 70% as this would firstly be more sustainable, and secondly would put you in a zone where you are using fat rather than carbohydrate as your energy source.As you get fitter and the weight starts coming off you will find your average HR dropping.
As far as using the machine as a calorie counter - doesn't work.It is notoriously inaccurate and I think it is supposed to be based on an 80kg male rower - as far as I know it has a baseline of 300 cals per hour(just going up and down the slide) so tends to over-read - on the other hand a 120kg person will expend more calories than an 80kg person.
With regards to the eating - I don't think anyone on here is advocating a strict diet - as Kevin pointed out, they just don't work - all they do is put your body into starvation mode - your body is very good at self-regulation and when it doesn't know when the meal is coming it will slow down the metabolism accordingly.It's more about picking the healthy option e.g. Baked potato instead of chips, and cutting out the junk (in my case, crisps!!).

Paul G

[Kevinhorne44]

100 % agree Paul 70% is the sweet spot.

No foods are banned in our house. We eat cake just not all the time. Have treats but earn them first.

One thing that people forget to do is "drink water" sometimes your body needs fluid not food. If you have a glass with each meal you will feel more full.

Keep it going

[Rob C]

So I should slow down a bit and not hope for instant results? Back of my mind I know this is long haul but, for motivation I do need to see change occurring else I will quickly become disenchanted and wonder why I'm bothering.

At the moment, having started from a negligible fitness base, any exercise of more than say 15 minutes is always going to push that HR upwards. Unless I'm going to erg at a paltry 2:45/500 pace or slower I can't see any sustained rows, even interval based, holding at 70% (only around 115bpm) or less. At the moment I'm looking at 140bpm as being the upper line which is around 85% with workouts of an hour or so overall duration including breaks, at around 2:25/500 pace.

Rowing technique may also be a factor in my efficiency here. Despite that slower pace, I'm often doing 25 spm, the erg's fan lever is set around the mid pint (no idea what that drag factor actually is). So perhaps I'm whizzing back and forth a lot, without actually achieving much. Even so I do know that I now have muscle aches in most parts of the body, so most bits are getting used, and the stomach overhang seems to be tightening just a tad.

Perhaps as my stamina from a negligible start point shows real improvement, the HR will naturally drop into a more realistic zone?

[Iain]

I am no expert and many here know more than I do, but to help assess some of the statements here, here are my thoughts:

While 220-age gives a reasonable HRmax for some, it is a long way out for some and what matters to you is what it is for you NOT the average of the population. For example 220-age is 169 for me, but I have recorded 187 in one workout (increased to that, not just a spike). So 70% is at least 131 for me while the formula would give 118. That is a huge difference and I have not recorded HR as low as 118 for more than a couple of minutes at more than 10 strokes per minute with very weak strokes! Even after adjusting for this, my HR is stubbornly high. I keep my HR below 75% on long rows. For a 90 min row that is 18S/500m slower than my recent HM PB. At that pace my HR reaches about 70% of max 10-15 min in (when I am sweating) then climbs more gradually. This is after 6 months of substantial metreage (3,000km since 1 May). At one point I was 7S/500m slower than that. Also, a PT friend of mine has a few client whose HR will not stay at <75% for a significant period even under very low loads. This is after long low intensity training for some time. The important statistic is how hard your heart is working. This is the product of the rate and the volume of blood pumped by each beat (stroke volume). As work increases both the rate and the stroke volume increases. Unfortunately research on how volume increases is inconclusive with different patterns being reported. The one thing that they do agree on is that endurance trained individuals have a higher stroke volume at the sme proportion of maximal aerobic exercise. This means that at the same proportion of maximal rate a well trained individual will be working harder. As a result, I believe that when untrained then higher proportions of HR max can be tolerated.

Finding true HRmax means doing an all out test. Many people do not recommend this without qualified people being on hand. In addition, it is difficult to push ourselves that hard without help. Personally I have done many hard sessions and just revise my assumed maximum to the highest recorded. If you can maintain a normal conversation, your exercise level is in the correct zone. So monitor HR to ensure that you don't over do it and to give feedback, but I wouldn't stress over the numbers. If you are finding HR higher than previous similar rows, then you are either tired, stressed or ill, so need to drop the intensity or duration of exercise.

As for weight, I admit to not having the experience of others on losing weight over lengthy periods. I am blessed with a high metabolism, but put on weight when not rowing as I have learned to eat the amount I consume at high training loads and cutting back to more normal levels is a struggle. As a result, I lose weight (usually 8-10kg, possibly 15% of my lean mass) when I start training. However there is always a lag. I believe this is because blood volume (and to a lesser extent muscle fluid) increases in the early stages of adaption. Slowly there will also be an increase in muscle if you are rowing hard, but I don't think that this increase in muscle protein is likely to be visible short term on regular weighings. So don't dispair if weight doesn't decrease or even starts to go up a bit initially, stick with it.

As for the "fat burning zone". I am cynical of this, sorry Paul, I respect your opinion but am not sold. There is an advantage of training at these low levels for endurance athletes as there is documented increases in the amount of fat burned at the same intensity after this training. If you are running a marathon or rowing 50km or more, this is important as it delays "the wall" when the body becomes short of carbs for fuel. If you burn the carbs, the body will naturally use more fats the rest of the time, so for most of us this is not important as while a higher intensity session may not burn off the spare tyre directly, you use far more calories in your daily life and these will use it up if they don't have the carb reserves available for them. Where there may be a point is that low carbs will make you feel hungry, so there may be a benefit on helping a sensible diet to be maintained (not my area of expertise).

So in essence, in common with everyone, the message is food first and getting into an exercise regime that you will continue with. Some people manage to last long enough on slow rowing to see demonstrable fat loss to motivate continuing, but unfortunately this is a long term project and I reiterate you need to do an exercise regime that you will maintain. Initially at least this is paramount to determining what exercise regime to follow. I never claimed PP was for everyone. It worked for me when others haven't. But you know your own motivations so plan accordingly.

I find that at normal stroke powers my HR is lower at teh same pace at a lower rating. In addition, your stroke will become more efficient if you practice maintaining an effective stroke and this is most easily done at lower ratings. Personally my stroke gets sloppy at low power per stroke as sloppiness (in my case rowing with bent arms and dropping my hands at the catch) doesn't show up obviously in the pace. Sloppy and low powered strokes waste energy. While the C2 assumes all rowers burn 300 kCal/hour on top of that required to move the fan, in reality for the same length strokes, the energy "wasted" going up and down the slide increases with the cube of the rating. So increasing rating from 20 to 25 will double the wasted energy! As a result, it is worth learning to row at a slower rating. The key is to drive hard with your legs going backwards, then crawl back forward up the slide. You may find rowing without strapping your feet in helps you with this as you cannot pull yourself back up to the catch. But be careful until you get used to it. Start slowly and make sure you start with the legs and finish with arms and back or you will go flying backwards!

I wish you well

Iain

[Rob C]

Thanks Iain for your thoughts

70% HR on the formula is 117 bpm for me. At the moment even a few minutes walk would bring that up, let alone some time on the erg. I have no idea what my actual, safe max HR actually is, other than the formula. In practice, I'm now finding that if I let the HR reach up to 140 which would be around 85% on the formula, I can keep going for some time, much more and I'll start to tire swiftly, much less and I don't feel like I'm actually making an effort. Perhaps as fitness improves the HR will change?

What this is all showing is there is not a one size fits all approach to weight loss and exercise, diet. But I have to accept that, with the amount that I really need to lose to get to even an overweight rather than obese BMI, I need to be into this for the long haul. There won't be a quick fix and there are going to be q lot of hours spent moving back and forth to go nowhere.

[Iain]

Rob, I agree with your conclusion. I think there is very strong evidence that absent a physical obstruction (eg stapled stomach) a rapid weight loss is very unlikely to be long lasting, so that is an encouraging conclusion. However, it reinforces that you need a plan you can continue long term. Indeed as the rowing was part of the new regime, ideally it should continue for weight maintenance after you reach Adonic perfection.

As for max HR, if you can face it, I would recommend attempting a reasonably tough row of decent duration. This month's CTC probably won't elicit HRmax, but if the last interval is pushed, especially at the end, you will probably be only a handful of beats away and so it may well be better than the formula. Unfortunately UT2 is at a pace that is slower than I would naturally row. When I warm up, I start at a comfortable pace. This pace would raise my heart well above 80% of max and probably above 85% after 5-10 mins. I believe I can do a marathon at that pace (last Marathon about 3S/500m slower could have been faster and I have got quite a bit faster in the 9 months since). The threshold that you would tire significantly more rapidly if you exceeded is the anaerobic threshold. I have seen 85% quoted for this, although this does vary significantly between people. As such, I would suspect that the pace you refer to is way above long slow distance pace. That said, you may find that your body adapts and allows you to maintain that effort for much longer after you have been rowing again for some time. IE you may not be limited by HR but by the endurance of muscles that you have not used to the extent required for some time &/or you are yet to re-establish your knowledge of your limit to continue through pain.

- Iain

[Rob C]

Adonic perfection. That's the best laugh I've had for a while

Not that sure I like the idea of continuing through pain, but yes I do need to push myself with a some timed rows simply to establish that fitness is showing some dividends and that, if I don't push, increasingly the slow paced endurance rows are likely to have less effect on my "physique" as they'll become too easy.

The real issue is going to be finding some form of plan that makes me want to go on the erg, and for that it will be variety. From what I see things like the PP are aiming to improve speed and capacity rather than my current goals of reducing blubber. It's a shame there isn't a Zwift for the Concept 2 as that might float my boat. Short term I'm happy binge watching older tv stuff on iplayer, but if we get to the stage we are allowed out again so there is a conflict between the erg and something else, I'm going to need some bigger attraction.

[JonT]

Rob - see Claudius’ write up of Zwift with a rower

https://www.freespiritsrowing.com/foru ... f=7&t=3779

You could also try and get on the beta programme for EXR app, which rowing specific but still being developed.

[Rob C]

I did see the zwift thread of Claudius. thanks. Unfortunately it confirmed that Zwift isn't currently really suited to the erg, making it work is a bit of a cludge. Shame that Zwift were looking to develop a specific rowing module, but have shelved it.

Hadn't seen the EXR app. Will have to take a much closer look as that may have potential for my sort of rowing.

[wojtek]

Rob, Paul, Iain, Steve and Kevin,
.
Reading this thread seems incredibly similar to what I am going through at the moment. I find myself nodding, agreeing and smiling at what people are writing.

Back in October 2020, after finding that I was huffing and puffing to tie my shoe laces (no word of a lie) I finally relented and went to see my wife´s gynaecologist! He is also an holistic doctor looking that looks at all aspects of your health. I wanted to get a deep picture of what was actually going on. When I stood on the scales I asked " Are these accurate?". I was over 127 kg! something I had never been in my life.

Blood tests showed that I had turned into a blimp, was worringly close to being pre-diabetic and generally was not healthy. He suggested a nutritionist which I went to with an open mind. What she laid out seemed to be quite challenging, but I gave it a go and was surprised that I did not feel hungry, was eating lots of homemade curry and feeling better for it - the "batidos" - kind of veggie shakes (celery, Swiss Chard, and half a cucumbe) just stopped me feeling hungry and I started to re-define when I ate! I am not the eat breakfast in the morning, lunch at lunchtime and dinner at tea time person - never was. Eating later in the morning after drinking an infusion of rosemary, thyme, parsley and corriandor with lime worked. and then eating when I was hungry and not at set times, seemed to fit better.

I think most of what weight sustainable weight loss is down to, is how and what we eat - find something that works and then put some exercise on top.

I agree that using Myfitness Pal has helped me get a better handle on what I eat. I am not so much into my calorie intake, more as to what my protein, fat and carb intake is. I work to this and it suits me.

No food is banned, I just reserve it for when we go out as a family for a meal. Otherwise I would say 97% of what we eat is home cooked and prepared, and I follow some simple guidelines given to me by my nutritionist.

As to exercise I was ready and raring to go with my new PM5 which finally arrived from the States via a new teacher at my school, only to find that my daughters had cut the power generator cable that went to the monitor, so I had to wait another three months for that to arrive via another teacher.

During this time I contracted Dengue, but got over that, finally got the machine up and running, after giving it some TLC and started back rowing in January this year.

I have now been rowing for about a month. I have seen an improvement already in my ability to go to row for an hour. A lot slower than before (13 years ago) but I have to factor in less healthy, less fit and a bit older.

I am just trying to row distance, do a couple of standard rows, even if they are going to well below my best (from 13 years ago), and starting on the Beginners Pete Plan (beginners) just to get me back into the swing of things.

I like structure so I am going to start the full Pete Plan in a couple of weeks: I am strangely looking forward to the pyramids, the focus on UT2 and UT1, the hard sessions and the constant improvement that you get with it. Regarding rowing slow, it does take getting used to, when you naturally want to go faster. I also am setting a goal of seeing if I can go sub 7 mins for 2000m before I hit 50 on the 19th July.

Regarding heart rates, I am in the same boat as Iain. Mine is all over the place. Resting HR @58, and a supposed max of 171 (according to 220 - age) is weird for me. I maxed at 186 on a step test, and yesterday I got to 184! I have looked at four different ways to estimate max HR, and I am somewhere between 172-186 according to different methods and what I have measured. (This is one site that takes into account other factors: https://www.ntnu.edu/cerg/hrmax ; Another method is 208-(0.7 x age)).
I find using the HR belt useful: it helps me concentrate on sticking to a HR band whilst rowing. I guess I just get focussed on it.

Finally I think it is important is to get into the right headspace and go from there, and always keep this in the back of your mind. At 127kg, 181cm, nearing 50, I thought, this was not a good place to be. I have had hip, knee, shoulder surgeries in the past 10 years - quite a lot I would guess to excess weight. I also had my gall bladder removed. Blood tests concerned me. I do not want to suffer from Type 2 diabetes (my brother who is seven years older has just been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes), and want to get back to a weight where I will feel comfortable working on the farm and playing/exercising with my two 10 year old twins. I also want to be around for future events in their lives, so this with the shock of 127kg, seeing progress and having to wear braces for loose trousers is motivation.

I see this as something I am not doing just to lose the weight and be happy: it is more about getting truly fit, loose trousers, a slimmer build and less puffing are the by products.

Woj

PS: I have convinced my brother to get a model D Concept II. He is on the waiting list but should get it in a couple of months, so expect another Waliszewski on the Forum

[handricks]

The question now is how to employ the erg most efficiently in order to achieve proper weight loss, with an end goal of an overweight rather than obese standard BMI. Despite a few million-meter seasons a few years ago, the weight never truly came off, and 17st was probably an average weight. Should I now concentrate on short or long distances? I'm not sure whether I should look at intervals or single-distance rows. Is it better for me to work at a quicker speed for a shorter amount of time or to work at a slower pace for longer lengths of time? Is it possible that I should concentrate on heart rate or stroke rate?

I would say that if you have the opportunity to have a TV as a distraction then watch by all means.
There will be a lot of people on here who will swear to the effectiveness of a structured plan(like the PP) with lots of intervals of varying intensity, and there is a place for that, but in my opinion it is important to just build that base.
I use the re-row function quite a bit as I find it quite motivating to compare with a fitness workout done say two weeks prior, and noticing the improvement.
I think the key to getting the most out of the erg as a weight-loss aid is consistency - you need to row often enough that it becomes a habit, and you need to keep those workouts at a manageable intensity so that you will look forward to, rather than dread, your next session.

[JonT]

My very simple advice would be to row long distances (probably broken into 15-20 minute intervals) at a very steady pace. The key to this resulting in weight loss though is to remember that rowing will make you hungry and replacing those burned calories will reduce the impact to zero.

[obirobsan]

Yep, I've found that either crazy gym or crazy diet alone don't work for me. I have to have the combination (at a sustainable level of "crazy").

I saw one of our members did 10,000m every single day so far on the meterboard. I have great envy of that. I think that'd tip me into the realm of too hard where I start dreading over looking forward to. 5k/day with a couple rest days seems quite pleasant. I've been working on upping to 7k/day with a couple rest days, but that's been significantly harder mentally.

[Draggon]

JonT's got the gist... Most people don't want to hear and/or believe this, but, generally speaking, you can out-eat nearly any reasonable exercise program you put in place. Exercise makes it EASIER to lose weight if you're also watching the intake.