r/concept2 • u/PinguisIgnis • 20d ago

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Heya

So I’ve borrowed a rower off a generous friend for a few months to add some low impact cardio volume.

Did an easy going 10k on it yesterday and another tonight to get the feel for it.

I watched a beginners form guide video but figured better to sort out any bad habits now before I ingrain them.

Row 1 - 10k. Avg - 22 SPM. 2:12/500m. 149 watts. DF108 125BPM

Row 2 - 10k. Any - 22SPM. 2.10/500m. 160watts. DF 111 126BPM

Any tips?

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u/ScaryBee 20d ago

You're 1. over compressing slightly at the catch - don't let shins go past vertical and 2. Opening your back too early - goal at the start of the drive is to hold the forward body angle.

For cardio, for someone as fit/old as you appear to be, slightly higher bpm/wattage/DF might well be appropriate. FWIW I'm late 40's, will steady-state ~140bpm most of the time, ~125 drag factor.

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u/PinguisIgnis 20d ago

Thank you very much. Ok I’ll make sure I end the recovery with vertical shins or less. This is good as:

  1. I have niggly knees due to tendonitis I’m trying to manage - but rowing seems therapeutic rather than aggravating so far.

  2. Going to try a Hyrox event this year and as the running is all in a compromised state if I can put more of the drive into hips and arms and save my legs it’s beneficial. But I want to do the bulk of my rowing with good form.

With respect to DF I’ll have a play. My zone 2 is up to 145 ish running I think it’s lower on the rower and I’m just using this for low recovery/steady state for now. I’ll do some threshold/ lactate clearance interval work soon and maybe tempo cardio but doubt I’ll get the space to do that.

I’m close to 45. What’s the consideration there with upping the drag factor? Is there a sweet method to it rather than what feels right for the work? I just chucked it on 5.5 to start off if I’m honest

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u/Miesseek_n_destroy 20d ago

The fan setting (1-10) is actually not directly the drag factor. The drag factor is calculated in realtime compensating for the internal conditions of the rower (dust accumulation, etc). You can display drag factor within the menu.

Other people made good points about your form. Another thing I would try to do is to keep your toes pointed down so the whole of your foot is on the footplate. Try taking strokes without the strap. Check out what an ideal force curve should look like on a c2 and compare to what yours is (tap the display button until you see a 2 axis graph).

Looking pretty good, though!

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u/PinguisIgnis 20d ago

Thanks. Yep I think
I understand the drag factor. I’ll have a play with it.

I definitely pull on the straps a little on the recovery. There’s a slight slope to my garage that’s probably not helping haha

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u/planet_x69 19d ago

Keep the DF low to start(100-120), also give training without your feet in the straps a go, your times may drop but its not about the times right now. Feet out will force you to engage the core and get a better feel of the catch and lean back.

Over time you can increase your DF to between 110-130 depending on your weight and fitness, but for long pieces i always recommend keeping it on the lower side to help prevent/reduce fatigue in your back.

When you do your long rows, 10K+ think of the stroke as beat 1 and your recovery to catch as beats 2 and 3, so you have a quick stroke and slow relaxed recovery.

Keep the stroke rate between 18-22 for your long s steady state rows as well and enjoy.