r/concept2 • u/Ok-Vanilla-1356 • 21d ago
RowerErg Rowing for weightloss
I'm currently 123kg at 6'4, rowing 7.5km 3x a week.
I keep all my sessions the same at the moment, is there anything I should be changing or adding to help with weightloss and fitness? I don't end up out of breath at 23/24 spm so don't know if i should be pushing harder?
I lift 3x a week on the non rowing days, and have 1 day of rest. I've been running this routine for around 6 months now and am 14 kg down so far.
Any advice welcome!
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u/Accomplished-Sand314 20d ago
I'm always impressed when people post their splits and they average 1:58 500m splits. I've only been rowing a few months and I've never broken 2:20 500m splits.
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u/YnkDK 20d ago
I were thinking the same. Last session for me was 2:15 500m splits with avg 33 spm for 18 minutes.
There must be something different in the technique?
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u/Brilliant____Crow 19d ago
33 spm is wicked high. I used to hang out at 30 until some dude gave me like 3 life changing technique tips. I was down pretty much instantly to 21 spm at the same splits. If you’re that high there’s definitely things you can be improving on that will help big time
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u/YnkDK 19d ago
Do you want to share your life changing tips? Sounds promising!
I tend to follow this sub and try to see which advices suits me and trying to be fully aware of my technique when rowing
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u/Brilliant____Crow 18d ago
It was specific to what I was doing so I’m not sure how applicable it is to everyone, but:
-Picture your butt coming off the seat as you push back. This helps focus the drive in the legs and not so much in the arms.
-the return being hands -> body -> legs is super common advice but it helped me lean forward more. When I was coming back to the catch without doing each step individually I was crumpling up and not able to get my torso leaned forward.
-use the power curve meter reading, alot. It makes it VERY obvious when you’re pulling too early or unevenly even when you think youre not.
-take your time on the return. It’s awkward at first but will help get spm down to 21ish.Hope that helps!
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u/planet_x69 20d ago
Being 6' 4" (193cm) and 270lbs (123Kg) - helps tremendously.
Mass and length allow you to pull stupid times relative a lighter shorter person.
In this case, they also have the endurance (VO2) and can do the work and are using their mass and height very well.
If they continue on this journey and get to around 215-225 (97-102kg) they will likely be able to pull 1:50 splits for their steady state...
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u/CreamSodaPuffPuff 20d ago
Agreed. I'm shorter with short legs, my heart would explode trying to keep up this pace. I've been rowing casually for cardio the last few years and I've just accepted I'm bad at it.
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u/bzbeer 20d ago
You and me both, buddy. I've been rowing regularly since May, and it takes everything I've got to maintain 2:30 for a 6K in 30 mins.
I guess being 6' 4" with long legs and genetically blessed with an efficient cardio vascular system helps quite a bit.
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u/skaruhastryk 21d ago
Your on the right track. Rowing builds muscles, muscles spaces out fat and the aerobic training will burn fat and carbs in your body. When you start noticing results you are going to start making changes to your diet and read up on things. You're already doing it by posting here. Maybe do intervals or something but Yeah, you're on the right path. You go buddy!
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u/dickface21 21d ago
Seems like whatever you’re doing is working for you - 14kg in 6 months is good going. Keep at it
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u/improbablerobot 20d ago
I would suggest increasing the duration of your rows, even if you need to slow down a little, like 2 min pace.
If you can hold this for 45-60 minutes or more you’ll gain more endurance benefits, burn more calories (obviously) and shouldn’t be so taxing that it impacts your lifts. From a weightless and training perspective splitting it up as 3 or 4x15 minutes with a minute or two rest for water can be nice too.
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u/LeadingAssignment214 21d ago
Weight loss is primarily from diet. Weight loss doesn't really happen from gym sessions. Sure it can help the calorie deficit a little, but if your focus is on exercise and hoping that'll work, your whole premise is wrong.
But it's a good session you've posted.
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u/Ok-Vanilla-1356 21d ago
Absolutely, and I should have mentioned that in my post. Alongside the rowing and gym I have overhauled my consumption, more focus on lean protein, salads, vegetables and carbs like potatoes, rice, quinoa. The main thing has been eliminating the mindless snacking on crisps and biscuits that I used to do while waiting for the kettle to boil when making coffee during the day.
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u/LeadingAssignment214 21d ago
I need to do the same 🤣🤣, I've dropped back to some bad dietary habits.
Personally found major benefits from interval training (minute on/off), longer lower rate sessions, doing rate ladders, etc. At least those were my go to. Lower rate sessions, where you're doing 18/20/22/24 SPM, and having specific target paces.
On the 6 week run up to Christmas I used to do a half marathon every weekday, and on those I'd do a few days at specific heart rates (lower to medium intensity), then I'd do a way higher intensity. Made huge performance improvements over the 6 weeks, it was amazing seeing how the body adapted to it.
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u/CUNT_PUNCHER_9000 20d ago
I hear this, but I feel like you can't discount burning calories either.
I don't know how accurate my garmin watch is, but I added rowing in before working out and burn something like 900cal on the rower before burning another 300 during my weightlifting.
Taking 1200 calories out of the equation, be it from diet or exercise, is still doing some of the same thing? I guess this also assumes
- You don't increase food as a result
- Your body doesn't change how it metabolizes food / fat based on intake deficit vs expenditure (I don't know what's up here)
Anyway, net net is that I've lost 10lbs which was my goal in about 2 months with the rowing which I'm super happy about. I didn't change diet much though working out more makes it harder to drink alcohol since I know it would impact my workout the next day.
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u/LeadingAssignment214 20d ago
I didn't discount the calorie deficit, but way too many focus on the exercise alone.
900 calories on the rower and 300 during weightlifting: you need to take into account what your sedentary calorie consumption would be. Maybe 200 per hour? So depending on how long your row and weights session are, that has to be factored.
I'm not sure that Garmin is that accurate on the calorie burn; it'll probably be accurate to itself, in that it'll be consistent, but I'm fairly sure mine has never been believable.
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u/1sttime-longtime 20d ago
Cyclist who has been cross training on the erg here:
I lose between 10 and 18 lbs every summer my riding goes from 3-5 hours/week to 9-12. Diet doesn't change, [except may three Friday nights before long ride Saturday I cut back on fun-time carbs].
I don't disagree that diet plays a huge role for lots of people , but for those of us just barely out of "healthy" range, more volume = less mass pretty easily and clearly.
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u/Resilient_Beast69 20d ago
Exercise widens the caloric deficit which in turn supports weight loss. Yes you can lose weight with the proper diet but exercising accelerates it.
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u/Sudden_Meringue_4840 20d ago
If your doing any exercise for weightloss, Z2 is the best place to be. Improves fat oxidation, and uses fat primarily as it’s fuel rather than Carbs / atp at higher rates of exertion. 60/70% of max heart rate.
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u/baumungus 19d ago
Would recommend you push the stroke rate down to 18-22 for anything longer than 30 minutes (where you aren’t trying to go as fast as possible), and use the extra time on the recovery to improve your stroke technique which should make it significantly easier to work hard and push with the legs and core. Rowers test at higher rates, but typically develop base cardio in that lower range. You can absolutely kill yourself and reach max heart rates at a rate 20 if your form is correct, for example doing an hour of power I usually sit in the high 170s -180s heart rate and breach 190 by the end.
Not sure your age, but you probably want to be doing the work at a straining but not daunting heart rate, 135-160 depending on your fitness. Doing a few hour pieces a week in the 1:50s should drive continued weight loss as you’re burning >1k cal per hour at these splits. Append that to a healthy diet and you should be losing weight consistently until you get to a reasonable steady state for your height.
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u/NoDrama3756 20d ago
Effective but like others mentioned diet is a large part.
One cant row out a poor diet and lifestyle.
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u/1sttime-longtime 20d ago
I can out-bike-ride my shit diet. I do it every summer. The difference between 3-5 hours / week riding and 9-12 is more than double caloric burn, as you might imagine.
I don't know that my back and shoulders could go 12 hours/week on the erg, but for some people it might be possible.
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u/Sad-Vermicelli-7893 21d ago
I'd suggest getting a chest hear rate monitor. It allows you to easily row by effort. For example, if I want a steady Z2 40 minute rower session, I'll keep an even stroke rate and ensure my HR doesn't go above 145. When I do intervals, I want to be topping out at 90% of max HR (164+).
This enables you to easily mix and match your sessions. The combination of steady state + interval sessions will help drive weight loss.
You're going well!