Hi! I'm a 20 year old university student from NZ and have recently joined the university rowing club. So far I love it! Erg sessions are a bit of a drag and we've only been out in the 8s a couple of times (scariest experience of my life) but it's wonderful to do a team sport again and have people telling you what exercise to do (instead of having to think of work outs myself). And the social life... is pretty good!

Hi, I'm Manning, I'm 45, very overweight with a sedentary job and an autoimmune disease. I want to get in shape and lose weight because I know it feels much better to be strong and healthy than sick. I also want to keep up with my sporty son and husband.

I bought a C2 for the new year and immediately damaged my lower back. I couldn't figure it out, I rowed in college and was pretty sure my form was close to being right. As it turns out, my body is different now that when I was 19 (what?!) and my lack of core strength as well as belly fat pushing against my spine was not a good combination. After two months of PT and continuing my exercises (as well as enrolling in a Feldenkreis/Somatics class), I am slowly getting back on the machine, adding two-three minutes every other day.

I'm still in the lowest 25 percentile, which is GREAT it means I'm not pushing myself too hard and am less likely to reinjure my back. I'm in this for the long haul, and my goal is to eventually be able to erg every day. Thanks for having this group!

Hi there! Indoor rower here...taking it seriously since end of September 2012 and thoroughly enjoying it! I have a Concept 2 PM3 at home and I try to row 3x a week averaging 25K meters. We don't have a on-water rowing club in this city so eventhough it is ENTIRELY different water sport I just joined a dragon boat club. They paddle not row..! Hard work just the same. I have lost all the weight I needed to and my body is much toner than it ever was. On a good day I thought I can see a 4-pack! (The 6-pack will come..)

Unfortunately the little pouch of wobbly bit - I blame it on child bearing and age - just under my belly button is still hanging around there - refuse to budge - be it much less wobbly! Got to find other ways to rid of that one.

So to those who are considering rowing as part of your exercise regime..I'd say go for it! You can see the result on your body and it is pretty awesome!

But please...go to the Concept 2 website to see how it is done properly because too many people are doing it wrong initially and mess up their back. You Tube also have some good videos.

Edited to add:* At the moment I am with Free Spirit Virtual Club (January Challenge 175K meters!) and at the moment doing the April Challenge (not doing that well due to Dragon Boat commitment). Maybe for the next challenge I should join the MFP team! *

Hi, I'm Howard. I took a learn to scull class put on by the local rowing club last June as a bucket list type thing. I liked it and joined the club and sculled 2-3 times a week until the middle of August when I had rotator cuff surgery on my right shoulder. This was unrelated to rowing and I had been scheduled for it since the previous April. Rowing didn't seem to bother my shoulder at all.

I found a used Concept2 on Craig's List and bought it. I did buy a new PM3, handle, wheels, and seat bearings for it. It's smooth now. I erg at home 3-4 days a week 30 to 60 minutes and I erg with our club 2 nights a week for close to another hour a week. I can't say I'm very accomplished or speedy but I try. I just did a 3:45 for a 1K and 7:59.8 for the 2K this month. I'll be 64 in a few days and both times put me above the 50th percentile for my age group. When I started I was working very hard to get my times into the 30th percentile. I like that Concept2 has their ranking pages. It's another incentive to try and better myself.

Our club will have a move the boats out of winter storage day this coming weekend. We'll probably have ice out on our lake and get on the water in two weeks. Right now spring is running late. After a winter of erging, I really want on the water. I'll be getting a new 1X in late May so that has me really excited too.

Hi VW and Howard - welcome! I am an indoor rower - no water clubs around here, either VW. I do like the C2 (I have a PM3) - I love the UK site - I think it has more information than its US counterpart.

Howard- I would love to read your bit about the threshold. Do you have a post about it?

Best,
Tammy

Hi. I have been rowing on a Concept2 for about 5 years and it keeps my weight stable, but it is time to loose some weight so I am going to mix my rowing with weights and change my eating habits.

Hello, I'm fairly new to MFP. I've been rowing with the St. Louis Rowing club for almost 3 years. Love it. Very addictive.

Hi Linda, welcome. I'm glad to see another rower sign up.

Welcome aboard.

The Concept2 people have a fairly good website for indoor rowers. Here is their beginners page: http://www.concept2.com/indoor-rowers/training

Reading over what they say can't hurt anything. I wind up logging in my indoor rowing meters on their logbook page and much of my on the water rowing meters goes in there also. Check out the Concept2 site, you will probably find much that is useful to you.


Set the louver for ~3 and pull to your heart's content. Hmmm, maybe I should have said the more you pull, to certain limits, the more your heart will like it. I hope you enjoy the workout and keep the torture to a minimum. Keep it within what you can do and what your body is ready for.

Thanks, Howard! I followed your advice and reviewed the technique video on the Concept 2 website. Turns out the machine at our gym is a Concept2, so yay! I did about 15 minutes pretty slow, just figuring out my form, and then I did 30 minutes, giving it some pretty good effort. Whew! My legs and butt are gonna be so sore tomorrow. LOL. But it was, dare I say, kinda fun. It was good to do something new. Next time I'll bring my iPod.

You'll be toned in no time..!