Beginners

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Gir3vik74
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Re: Beginners

Post by Gir3vik74 »

Hi guys

I did the first row of my new RowPro programme tonight - a 2k focusing on technique. However, I was a bit miffed because for the second time doing anything other than a "set piece" in RP, I rowed the required distance plus say 10m before stopping and my boat disappeared off the screen. I didn't get the "finished" box with the big green tick, it said pull handle to continue or press stop. I pressed stop and it threw an error, did not make an entry in my logbook and I might have said something cheeky. It also, I noticed, didn't pre-set the distance to 2000 on the PM5 and count down, it incremented from zero m.

It appeared to have lost connection with the PM5 at the end and my HR in RP stayed high while on the PM5 it started returning to somewhere around normal.

Anyone else experienced weirdness like this? The other time I had a problem was rowing the first of the beginner Pete plan intervals - I set it up for 6 x 500 with 2 min rests and after the 5th interval, it went to the start of the 2 min rest period but didn't count down and nothing I did would restart it. It didn't actually crash that time, it let me stop the row 500 m short and then I had to row a 500 to make up the missing distance (this is why my timed 500 is so poor, I was beat!)

If this is par for the course with RowPro, I'll get my money back and resume with the BPP. I work in IT and I conduct due diligence on software all the time before we purchase and I won't stand for anything half-baked and flaky.

Kind regards
Neil
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Re: Beginners

Post by Magrew »

Thanks Plummy, it was actually a timed row that I did, it was an eye opener for me to see how fast a properly fit, trained rower can go. It was like i was standing still.
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Gir3vik74
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Re: Beginners

Post by Gir3vik74 »

Hi all

Well, I did the second 2km row from my RowPro plan tonight and everything worked perfectly, although bizarrely I noticed that the manual entry I put in the RowPro log yesterday (and then manually exported to the C2 logbook) has completely disappeared.

I think the issue I experienced with RowPro might be to do with my laptop switching off the USB ports to save power. Before tonight's row I set them to not switch off to save power but it's too early to say whether this was the cause of the error last night. I hope it is/was, as I really do enjoy using the software.

One potential issue though is I'm supposed to be in a heart-rate range of 88-106 BPM. My resting heart rate before starting was 85 and by the end of the row it was 160. I initially had my drag factor set to 120 but I've reduced it to 90 for these early "technique" sessions. I have managed the two 2k rows without getting seriously out of breath or having to stop (as I did on my first 2k attempt) half-way through but try as I might, I can't keep my heart rate anywhere near the target range. I'm guessing it's just because I'm massively unfit? I did shave nearly a minute off my 2k time tonight though without really trying (stroke rate of 18-20).

Kind regards
Neil
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Re: Beginners

Post by Magrew »

Neil,
I have found exactly the same thing with RowPro training plan in respect of heart rate. I am not Mo Farah but I am relatively fit having completed a running half marathon last year with ease and a various other physical challenges over the year including a cycle from Cambridge to the Hague. I take regular medicals at work which is a stringent requirement to allow trips to Antarctica and my VO2 is confirmed as in the 44-46 range. Not an athlete but more than acceptable for a man in their 50's. When I complete a 2k at a working but not thrashing it pace I complete at 150 bpm or so.

If I were to try and remain at the rates prescribed on rowpro I would be ashamed at my pace.

Stewart
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Re: Beginners

Post by Wolfmiester »

hi guys, without doing a proper max hr test, your training bands will be a bit of guess work.
the rough 220-age guide is just that, rough. Each individual will be different.
My suggestion would be to treat yourself to a max hr test :-) (there are a couple of ways to achieve this, the 'step test' probably being the best. we can help with links if you can't find any)
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Gir3vik74
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Re: Beginners

Post by Gir3vik74 »

Hi Stewart and Wolfie

Stewart: I feel a lot better mentally after reading about your experiences with RowPro. I feel perfectly fine at 160 bpm, not sick, faint or otherwise unwell, just really pushed. Antarctica? Wow. Arriving at Chicago O'Hare from Hong Kong in December was more than enough cold for me.

Wolfie: I unintentionally discovered my max HR last week. I comfortably "beat" someone on the C2 rankings for 1km so I had a go at chasing him in RowPro for the 2k. I had a certain part of my anatomy handed to me within about 500 m and had a handle-down event at 1km. I then soldiered on with the second half and kind-of reached a brick wall. I couldn't push any harder if I tried and believe me I did. That turned out to be 177 bpm which by chance is exactly 220 - my age. I must be missing something in the RowPro setup if it really thinks I should be rowing at such low HR?

Kind regards
Neil
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Re: Beginners

Post by Magrew »

Hi Neil,

Yes, 160 is the area I kind of settle at when rowing, I know I am working but it is a rate I can maintain for a 30 minute row.

It is now 3 weeks since I got my rower and I have added almost 1000m to my 30 min distance. I am still well behind the distance an experienced rower would do but I am happy with my progress.

Stewart
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Re: Beginners

Post by Gir3vik74 »

Hi Stewart

I can't claim to be anywhere near attempting a 30 minute, but my last 2k I decided to give a real push for the last 500 and got my time down to just over 10 minutes. My HR hit 180 but I felt OK with it. I'm psyching myself up for the 3k training row I'm scheduled for today; I've not completed a straight 3k before.

I've only been at this for 2 weeks but I already feel a great deal fitter than when I started.

Kind regards
Neil
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Re: Beginners

Post by Amunah »

Hello all,

I joined the forum because I'm a member of a similar one for skiing for the last 3 years (Snowheads), and I know I have learned a great deal from reading other people's advice on there and I'm hoping this is a similar 'home' for my new rowing habit, so I'll be doing a lot of lurking and reading all the old posts for a while - but I thought I'd say hello and tell you a bit about me.

I'm new to this forum AND new to rowing! Firstly, I'll confess that rowing ISN'T my first love! I'm female, 45, fairly active but not what I'd call 'sporty', I'm 5'5'' and weigh 70kg. I'm taking up a third activity to improve my first love (skiing) to maintain my fitness in the off-season - and maybe help lose the spare tyre (i.e. I'm not fixated on the scales, my previous 'PB' was 64.4 but to me it's more about how I feel than how I look). I hate running, and I can't fit swimming easily into a daily routine, so I figured a rowing machine might be my best option to compliment the yoga (weekly class, and aim for daily practice) and skiing (I ski about twice weekly at my local dryslope for about an hour each visit, the 3 monthly visit to Hemel for a 6-8 hour session on fake snow, and a weekly alpine holiday of 6 days of 6 hours skiing every day).

I'm not one for splashing out on new interests before I'm fully committed, so on Friday I bought a machine from someone off Gumtree. It is used but in good condition and no instructions, and I've Googled to find out exactly what model of machine it is without success, but I think it's a magnetic type, it has 'Regatta' on the side of a blue 'body', a dial that goes from 1-5 (in half increments) on the front, and a display which shows Distance, Speed, Calorie and Time (it looks as though you can set a target, or just row and watch the numbers rack up), and it folds up fairly easily to fit into the cupboard where it will live when not in use. I've spammed a fair few YouTube videos on technique over the last week or so, so for my first session today I've been trying to nail the technique rather than go hard at it, and I think I achieved that BUT my first stats are probably appalling (using resistance point 1.5, and after a 5 minute warmup, my first 1k took 14m 22secs and then a 30 sec rest before the second 1k 13m 16 secs), but afterwards, I felt nicely tired and achy, but not hammered - so I can probably fit a sprint session in the middle as my fitness/technique improves. I'll be keeping a manual log, so I can monitor my performance, and I'm aiming to complete (at least) 30mins 3 times a week. For the first week I thought I'd resist fiddling with the resistance knob too much and see if I can improve my 1k times to less than 10mins each, and get a good rhythm and technique.

Anyway, any hints or tips for a beginner will be gratefully received. My hubby thinks skiing is dangerous, yoga is daft, and rowing on dry land is particularly amusing, so there isn't much encouragement here at home!
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plummy
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Re: Beginners

Post by plummy »

Welcome Amunah - and thank you for choosing Free Spirits. You are at a considerable disadvantage in that you don't have a Concept 2 machine as pretty much all of the information here is based around it. That said, the rowing technique doesn't (or shouldn't) change no matter which machine you sit it on.
I do wonder about the time for 1km though as 14 minutes is a heck of a long time and it makes me think the comparison between your "Regatta" machine and a C2 are just too outlandish to be real. I say that as the "quick" guys here can knock out a 1k row in around 3 minutes and quick ladies in under 4!!!

There are lots of Youtube videos that can be watched for good technique tips but I would stick with the Concept 2 ones to be honest.

Whereabouts are you based?

Plummy
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Re: Beginners

Post by Amunah »

Thanks Plummy - it would be great to blame such lousy times on the equipment, so until someone unearths a copy of the manual or I take a C2 for a spin, I'll imagine I'm in a parallel universe where 5min/1k is possible... Hey, maybe I SHOULD turn that dial up to 5 and see what happens? ;)

TBH most of the videos I've watched so far are either using a Concept machine or that fancy pants water one... As you say, the technique is the same, even if the technology isn't!

I live in the west of Norfolk, but my work takes me all over the county.
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Re: Beginners

Post by Heavyvino »

Howdy, thought I would introduce myself,
Troy, 51,cancer survivor, love kettlebells, and my new c2. Have been rowing just over 6 weeks and love it, goal is to row one million meters, and kettlebell one million kilos. I am located in the upper left coast of the U.S.
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Re: Beginners

Post by Wolfmiester »

Welcome Troy, I wish you success in your goals, and hope you get the encouragement and support that most of us feel we get within Free Spirits.
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plummy
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Re: Beginners

Post by plummy »

Welcome Troy - thank you for choosing Free Spirits and welcome to the forum. Lookig forward to hearing of your progress towards your goals.

Upper left coast - Northern CA or Washington State?

Plummy
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Re: Beginners

Post by Paul Victory »

Plummy, I think California and Washington State are on the West coast.

Anyway, you're very welcome Troy. Lots of friendly advice and encouragement available - you only have to ask.

Paul V
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Re: Beginners

Post by Peter_S »

Heavyvino wrote: Mon Mar 19, 2018 2:06 am love kettlebells ... I am located in the upper left coast of the U.S.
How do you keep your kettlebells from rusting? :lol:

Welcome Troy. I guess you drink the occasional glass of wine. :roll:

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Re: Beginners

Post by Heavyvino »

Keep my bells in the house. I am more of a beer snob.
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Re: Beginners

Post by Swinny »

Hi all,

I would say i'm still a beginner, been rowing on concept 2 for about 4 months. I would like to ask a tip about my rowing stroke please.
I completed my first Marathon last night, nothing special on the time side of things, a 3:19:44, I want to get this to 3 hours.
During the row, after about 1.5 hours I was getting sore at the back of my armpits, from the bottom to top of it. This morning I have 2 quite big sore marks on both sides.
Is my technique wrong, or does this just come with the territory of doing longer rows? Cheers
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Re: Beginners

Post by plummy »

Hi Swinny - any completed marathon is "special" - most people will never do one, let alone a first one in 3:19:44.xx so first of all, congrats on that.

Re the chafing - that does seem a bit of an odd place but it would be fair to say on very long rows there are all sorts of areas that will become "sore/red raw/even bloody" and some areas you may not even wish to share!! The only way to see if there is something wrong with a technique would be to take a look at it. This forum isn't the easiest to share some video but the FS Facebook site makes it very easy to upload a 30 seconds or so vid if you want. Thank would be a good start point methinks.

Plummy
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Re: Beginners

Post by Swinny »

Ok,thanks. I don't do facebook, but I have an account for clubs and things, so I will get a vid up there and you can all have a good giggle.
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Re: Beginners

Post by j_old »

I hope I'm posting my question in the correct place. I'm way out of shape and am getting started rowing using the Interactive Weight Loss program. In fact, I'm so unconditioned (deconditioned?) that I feel I need to do the 2nd week of the program for a couplathree weeks before rebooting and starting the program as written. (The longer workouts flat fried me and I want to get in five sessions a week so I can improve as a rower/erger). Anyway, my question is: Is rowing strapless supposed to feel so goshawful? I'm trying to do the UT1 sessions strapless to work on form. And, it just feels awkward and slow. Rowing strapped at a higher SPM is much more comfortable. Are the benefits of rowing strapless such that it is worthwhile just to be patient, tough it out, and wait for the benefits to become apparent? Happy to hear any advice. Apologize if my question is in the wrong place. Thanks.
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Re: Beginners

Post by plummy »

Hi J_OLD and welcome to the forum.

I'm a complete non-fan of strapless rowing. As far as I'm concerned if they fit straps, they're there for a reason. You spend so much time and effort trying to nail a technique that isn't necessary for anything other than "rowing strapless" I just wouldn't bother - but that's just my opinion. I agree it feels awful - and you can see the fight going on when people are doing it trying not to fly backwards and adjusting everything else to compensate.

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Re: Beginners

Post by j_old »

Plummy,

Thanks for responding. After reading your note, I tried one more session strapless. It was miserable. I then searched the C2 website, excluding the Forum, for strapless rowing and couldn't find anything about rowing strapless. So, I'm just going to strap in, plug along, and work toward improving. Also, thanks much for the "welcome." (This might be a duplicate post. My internet blew up and I can't tell that that I got this note posted earlier. Apologies if I'm duplicationg.)
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Re: Beginners

Post by Iain »

plummy wrote: Wed Jul 25, 2018 3:31 pm Hi J_OLD and welcome to the forum.

I'm a complete non-fan of strapless rowing. As far as I'm concerned if they fit straps, they're there for a reason. You spend so much time and effort trying to nail a technique that isn't necessary for anything other than "rowing strapless" I just wouldn't bother - but that's just my opinion. I agree it feels awful - and you can see the fight going on when people are doing it trying not to fly backwards and adjusting everything else to compensate.

Plummy
While not aexactly a fan of strapless rowing, it does help to counter some possible bad techniques. If most of your rowing is on your own without appropriate mirrors it is difficult to track your errors, toppling over backwards helps to concentrate the mind! That said if your technique is reasonably good, the only possible benefit is to slow you down a bit on recovery sessions to stop you tiring yourself for full on sessions (the most common fault in amateur's training programs). There is a limit to how high a rating you can achieve strapless (one of the "bad techniques" countered is rushing the slide, a necesity when sprinting). I used it to try and stop me leaning too far back and help to concentrate to separate the elements of the stroke. That said, it wasn't wholly successful. I started to grip the rail with my shoes and ruined the inside of my trainers!
55 year old Lwt (in ability and in weight) trying to develop a technique that doesn't cause hysterics and continue to row regularly.
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Re: Beginners

Post by Draggon »

Iain wrote: Tue Aug 07, 2018 3:45 pmThat said, it wasn't wholly successful. I started to grip the rail with my shoes and ruined the inside of my trainers!
:lol: :lol: Those darned unintended consequences!
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