Anyone use a indoor rower?

ChrisFA5

I've been researching a indoor rower for a month or so as a long term fitness machine (the wife prefers the elliptical) and was wondering if anyone here is using /has used one? I've been looking at Concept2 Model D Indoor Rowing Machine over on Amazon, that's where we got my wife's Sole E95 Elliptical Trainer, and she loves it. I see that there is a community (aka forums) and competition(you can upload races, challenge, etc.) and was thinking this would be a great way to stay in shape when I can't get outside. Anyone have any input?

bubbles143

Idk, vie tried it at the gym, didn't seem to effective, maybe you have to do a lotttt of strokes,
Either way I gave up,
Id like to hear some positive feedback on how to properly use it,
But for now I say go for a different machine :

Visser1971

Hi there,

I have used indoor rowers and rowed on the Amstel river too, and it is a super cardio workout. I have a recumbent bike at home, but always use the rowing machine at the gym at my work. Just be sure to spend some time on getting the right / correct rowing technique so you don't mess up your back or arms by going full on to start. I don't know of any forums but hope this personal input helps!

Cheers, Christy

PhilipByrne

I find it quite hard to burn a lot of calories on a rower, much easier on the elliptical or treadmill for that matter. Not sure if that's a deal breaker for you.

ChrisFA5

Here is the model I was looking at and the proper technique:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqVmMd7FdAA

Visser1971

Looks good the film - just remember, the arms don't do any work until the legs are done! :-) If you combine with your wifes machine then you have a fitness playground! Cheers, Christy

ChrisFA5

Looks good the film - just remember, the arms don't do any work until the legs are done! :-) If you combine with your wifes machine then you have a fitness playground! Cheers, Christy

Thanks for the input.

vanillanilla

I am on a crew (rowing) team and even though I am a coxswain I use the erg a lot. (The erg is an indoor rower) Although it burns less calories it builds up more muscle and muscle burns more calories that fat, yes even if you aren't using them. Erg on! The erg is 10000x harder but much more rewarding.

uniqute1888

I bought my beloved b/f one last year .... Recumbent bike/rower. He absolutely loves it and has lost lbs and gained some sexy muscle ;-)... If I remember it was around $500.... Fold up to save space and has digital screen (calories burned / distance / speed/ resistance) I've tried it and while I worked up quite the sweat I cant personally justify working out while sitting on my bum. I prefer insanity, spinning, p90x.... Good luck in your search hope this helped

Bookers23

Not a much better piece of equipment than the concept two rower. The number of calories may not reflect what a treadmill says, but I assure you, you are getting a heck of a workout with proper form. You will also put on a bunch of muscle which will burn even more calories. Just from rowing, I have gained definition through my arms, shoulders and back. Love it. All the crossfit folks swear by it as well, it's the most complex machine they use.

MaggieG2015

I got tired of the usual stuff at the gym you know the elliptical the treadmill and so I decided to try the indoor rowing machine which just sat in a corner collecting dust and OMG I love it ! I looked at many videos for proper form and I can't say enough about how great IR is ! My arms are taking shape and is such a great stress reliever after a long day at work specially if you have a great music playlist I just lose myself ! I also have bad knees from running so IR is better on my knees. Now it seems I started something at the gym bc folks at the gym now use the IR lol I tell you it is awesome !!!!

deannalfisher

if you are interested in adding rowing workouts - the Concept2 website offers a daily workout that you can have emailed to yourself (they have a short, medium and long option) - i'm going to start working them back into my training

BrianSharpe

One of the best investments I ever made was my Concept2, I'm primarily a runner but use it for cross-training.

C2's website has great information for workouts and they run lots of motivational challenges (if the treadmill makers did the same I'm sure there would be a lot fewer of them being used to dry towels.....)

It's like anything else, you get back what you put into it. It does burn fewer calories than running (10K at a moderate pace takes me about 50 min and burns somewhere around 500 cal, running 10K at a moderate pace takes me a little over an hour and burns about 780 cal) but you could row every day if you wanted (no impact) whereas running every day would be ill advised, at least until you were more experienced.

If I was only able to do one thing I probably would opt for the rower in that it gives you a great cardio & full body workout.

mbaker566

it's funny, i was just about to add a rower to my work out to build muscle/definition. maybe i'll try it tomorrow. thanks for the post

AmberBlamberMamber

I use one at the gym, it's a concept 2. It's a great low impact total body workout. it gets kind of redundant, though. I usually use it for 5-10 minutes as a warm up. It gets ROUGH after a while hahaha

HamsterManV2

I program it as HIIT with little impact so it doesn't affect my squatting recovery negatively (the way hill sprints would).

I do

• 5 minute warm up
• [30 sec MAX speed/intensity followed by
• 2 min regular speed/intensity]
• Repeat 5 to 7 times
• Cooldown

You can tweak the durations above. You can do longer max sprints or less 'regular speed' rowing. Or just do long steady state rowing for 30+ minutes.

I love it! Your whole body moves instead of just legs (like running/biking), it is low impact, and you can go as hard or as easy as you want.

That being said, it is a tool for cardio and warm up. Resistance training is still required for muscles and strength.

sgt1372

I've used a Concept 2 Model D rower in various gyms over the years and I finally bought one a month ago. I also have a Lemond RevMaster Pro spin bike that I bought years ago. Bought are great pieces of cardio/exercise gear but, between the 2, I prefer the Concept 2 because it gives me a better overall body workout than the spin bike does.

I use a HRM on both machines and I can get a 250-300 cal burn on both in 30 mins but the spin bike only works my legs/hips while the rower works my legs, hips, arms, shoulders and back. However, both machines can literally create a PITA. The bike is less of a problem in this respect than the rower is for me and I'm still trying to find a solution to it.

This is only a problem when I row longer distances which require me to be in the seat for more than 10-15 mins at a time. I usually row 5000m in 26 mins (which is a very slow time BTW) but by the end of that time I am experiencing significant seat discomfort. I've tried a special seat that hasn't really helped and the best solution I've come up w/so far is just to sit on a small foam filled pillow.

Nevertheless, I am totally sold on the Concept 2 rower as a home exercise device. It takes up a lot more room than the spin bike does; you need a space of about 2.5'x9' to place it in. The bike only needs a space of about 3'x4'. Although it is not recommended, you can stand the rower on end or take it apart (in 2 pieces) which you can stick in a corner to save space. Rogue Fitness even makes a wall hanger for it. So, there are ways to make it fit in more confined spaces.

If you buy one, I suggest you buy it from the factory for $900 plus $40 shipping. Amazon charges $945 with "free shipping" which is actually more than the factory charges. Amazon may also charge you sales tax which the factory will not unless you live in VT, where they are located. Concept 2's customer service is excellent and whenever possible I prefer to buy directly from the manufacturer (than a middle man) in case warranty or service issue arise.

You can also buy a variety of accessories for the Concept 2 directly from the factory. The only accessory I recommend is the Garmin ANT+ HRM that's designed to work w/the PM5 monitor that comes w/the current model of the Concept 2. Other ANT+ HRMs are supposed to work w/the PM5 but the integration of other HRMs is not seemless and may or may not work w/the PM5. I bought the Garmin ANT+ HRM w/my Concept 2 rower and it definitely works.

One of the other benefits of buying the Concept 2 is the ability to log your workouts onto a USB flash drive that you can then transfer to an online logbook on Concept 2's website and/or to an speadsheet. There is also a large user community forum that you can join. The Concept 2 Forum is not as active as the MFP Forum and is heavily oriented (IMO) to people interested in rowing competitively or for the fastest times, which is a bit of a turn off to me, but there are parts of the form for "normal" people who are just interested in using the Concept 2 for general health and conditioning purposes.

Bottomline: I highly recommend the Concept 2 rower. It is a very well built and reliable rower that is widely used by individuals and gyms across the country. You really cannot go wrong buying one and, in the event you decide to sell it, there is very high demand for well cared for used models that sell for very high resale prices.

sgt1372

Correction: The price for a Concept Rower directly from the factory or Amazon is the same $945 (including shipping). I would still recommend buying it directly from the factory for warranty/service reasons but I suppose there may be reasons why one would prefer to buy it from Amazon instead.

middlehaitch

Just adding my voice to the concept 2 rower fans.
I use it as a warm up before lifting and alternate it with swimming for my cardio.

I would love one at home. I could watch movies as I rowed.

Cheers, h.

curlsintherack

when I had a gym membership I loved the concept 2 rower. Now that I have children I have neither the budget nor the space for such a machine at home.