Rowing
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QuikDogs
Posts: 194 Member
Starting a discussion about rowing...my biggest current question is, what should I wear? I assume, for us rookies on machines in the boathouse in January, that there will be a lot of standing around. For weightlifting, I wear thin little Lulu leggings. I could wear those under some old floppy sweatpants? And for shoes, anything special? I only have flat soled shoes, I'm not a runner, just a lifter. So I have Chuck Taylors, a pair of Metcons, and NoBulls. That will have to do.
I guess I will wear what I've got the first day, and hope they either tell us what to wear or I can spy out what the non-rookies are wearing.
/rowing noob
/kindof good powerlifter
/really incompetent weightlifter but I'm improving so whatever
I guess I will wear what I've got the first day, and hope they either tell us what to wear or I can spy out what the non-rookies are wearing.
/rowing noob
/kindof good powerlifter
/really incompetent weightlifter but I'm improving so whatever
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For the actual rowing, nothing very loose or floppy - you're on a sliding seat, and you don't want anything so loose it can get caught between seat and rails. Even long shirt-tails (that you can't tuck in) can be a problem.
I'm a weirdo who never wears shorts or capris, so I always wear leggings. You could wear something over the leggings that's warm/loose that's quick to take off for the standing around part, like your sweatpants. Once you get rowing steadily. you'll generate a lot of warmth, so having a light underlayer for rowing in is good.
I'm not sure how they run your instruction, so it's possible that in the initial sessions, rowing could be more intermittent, so if you have a slightly more fitted outer layer you could wear, that might give you more flexibility. For the colder part of on water season, I usually wear light leggings with fleece leggings or closefitting wind pants over; something like that could work in a cold boathouse. For machines, it's a plus if you can get the outer pants off without taking off your shoes (or if you have easy slip-on shoes). (Boats have shoes attached to them, mostly, so you wear the boat's shoes)..
Shoes: Most people machine row in any ol' athletic shoes. They don't need thick soles particularly. One thing to think about: The usual foot strap-in configuration in a machine has a bit of heel-cup, and your feet flex, so think about avoiding shoes with rough surfaces in the heel interior that could cause blisters if they move against your heel. (Shoe-wise, for machine rowing, I'm still a weirdo. I always machine row in sock feet. I'm literally the only person I know who does this, and I know a lot of rowers.)
Definitely take a water bottle. Personally, I sweat copiously, so for machine rowing I like a small towel & a sweatband, but you probably won't need those in a first class
I've been rowing for about 15 years, regularly, boats both sweep & sculling, and machines in off season. Attended different camps, classes; had private coaching off and on; got coaching certification but never formally coached (I do help with our club learn-to-row classes and new rowers on my breast cancer survivors team); raced some and medaled waaaay less
. I usually row 4 days a week in season. Ask anything: I'm more than willing to admit ignorance.
Rowing is very fun . . . boats are much more fun than machines (but also more complicated). I hope you enjoy it!3 -
Thank you! I will do some shopping over the holidays and try to find some tighter fleece. I've been, well not losing weight, but getting thinner. My lifting coach is very good at his job and I've been getting a lot stronger, so my weight hasn't changed a whole lot. Sweats that fit last winter just don't this year.
Good to know about socks, that is actually how I row in the gym...I row about 5 minutes or so to warm up before I stretch and do muscle activation stuff. I'm too lazy to put on my shoes and then take them off 5 minutes later to stretch. lol
Will I be able to wear gloves? I have arthritis in my fingers and I can't stand it when my fingers get cold.0 -
I'd avoid gloves while actually rowing, if possible, but if you need to, go with something flexible, grippy, and relatively thin, like driving gloves.0
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P.S. Pants need not be super tight, but if you can pinch out 2-3" deep fold above knees, that's maybe pushing your luck.0
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It might be as good idea to try to make do for the first class (if you can) in case they have any Firm Directives . . . unless you need some of this stuff (like closer-fitting fleece) for other reasons. Like any other religious institutions, rowing clubs can have their own orthodoxy. First class might be kinda talky, anyway, vs. lots of rowing; hard to predict. 0
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I'd wear shorts or capris. I sweat !!!0
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MostlyWater wrote: »I'd wear shorts or capris. I sweat !!!
Sweat? Yeah, me too, big time. But if my knees are exposed, it seems like my Evil Knee fusses about temperature differential, even in pretty warm weather. I occasionally risk shorts on the river if it's over 90F, but otherwise not. Like I said, I'm a weirdo.
You're helping me realize I should've asked @QuikDogs where she is. Reading between the lines, I was assuming this was a boathouse in January in a climate with real Winter (and boathouse are often cold, barn-y spaces), but I should've asked.
Good point!
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I’m in NorCal, seasonal temps this time of year at 5am are in the high 30s.1
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BTW, @QuikDogs, let us know in January how it goes (wardrobe and otherwise ), please?
I hope it'll be great!
I will! I'm so nervous about it. lol I did buy a new pair of workout leggings from Virus, they are warmer weight. Mainly for lifting but I will try them for rowing.
At the very least, I will learn how to properly use a rowing machine...at my gym, we have MMA and boxer guys doing conditioning work. They row a lot better than I do, so hopefully I will learn a thing or two and be able to apply it elsewhere.
I finally told my weightlifting coach about the rowing thing. He was not very happy, as we have a meet mid Jan, but I promised to take that week very easy. He was sort of okay with it, esp after I reminded him he told me to do more cardio. He's like "but not THAT much". He's very protective of his lifters, as is only right. I consider myself beyond lucky that that he's my coach.
Oh and this is the club www.rivercityrowing.org2 -
BTW, @QuikDogs, let us know in January how it goes (wardrobe and otherwise ), please?
I hope it'll be great!
I will! I'm so nervous about it. lol I did buy a new pair of workout leggings from Virus, they are warmer weight. Mainly for lifting but I will try them for rowing.
At the very least, I will learn how to properly use a rowing machine...at my gym, we have MMA and boxer guys doing conditioning work. They row a lot better than I do, so hopefully I will learn a thing or two and be able to apply it elsewhere.
I finally told my weightlifting coach about the rowing thing. He was not very happy, as we have a meet mid Jan, but I promised to take that week very easy. He was sort of okay with it, esp after I reminded him he told me to do more cardio. He's like "but not THAT much". He's very protective of his lifters, as is only right. I consider myself beyond lucky that that he's my coach.
Oh and this is the club www.rivercityrowing.org
There's no need to be nervous. You're *strong*, and (I'll bet) have some good body awareness from your powerlifting/weight training. You're so gonna rock this! Give yourself some time/patience to learn the (somewhat complicated) mechanics, and you'll do great.
I highly recommend sticking with it for boat season: So fun!
On the "cardio"/weightlifting question: With rowing as my personal priority, I drop leg weight work in rowing season. I personally need the leg recovery time, at 62, when rowing 4x a week. Partly, it's truthfully that I don't love weight training . . . but rowing is around 1000+ reps of boat+body weight+water friction per hour. I do spin classes 2 other days. That's enough legs for me. IMO, while rowing uses upper body, it's more an accessory, for me. I can do bench presses, shoulder press, bis/tris & such on the off days without under-recovering.
I would think that your priorities (?) might be inverse to mine.
(OK, truth: I usually drop all weight training in rowing season, because not fun to me. But I truly believe I need to drop legs, at this point (I also have a bad knee, torn meniscus, which doesn't help). YMMV. But rowing is leg-power-centric.)
Keep in mind that, especially on water, intensity is your choice: Even when rowing with others at the same cadence (strokes per minute, spm) you choose your intensity. I predict that you're so strong that you'll be an asset to any boat our age - once you get rowing mechanics down - and that no one will know if you sandbag a bit to prioritize weight work.
Have fun, don't be anxious!3 -
Day 2 of erg class in the books. Day 1 they mostly corrected my form. I tend to want to overpower it...lol no surprise there.
I was practicing what I'd learned at the weightlifting gym last night. Coach walks in, sees me rowing approximately 3000x better, nods and say "F yeah". So I guess he's more okay with it than before?
Today we did a 2000m row for time. I got 10.55.5 I'm sure I will get better.3 -
Day 2 of erg class in the books. Day 1 they mostly corrected my form. I tend to want to overpower it...lol no surprise there.
I was practicing what I'd learned at the weightlifting gym last night. Coach walks in, sees me rowing approximately 3000x better, nods and say "F yeah". So I guess he's more okay with it than before?
Today we did a 2000m row for time. I got 10.55.5 I'm sure I will get better.
Glad to hear it's going well - hope you're having fun!
I've been rowing for 15+ years. After 1575+ days, do you know what my coaches do? Correct my form. That's rowing!
When you say "overpower it", do you partly mean overusing upper body strength, perhaps before letting legs do their full portion of the job? Liking upper body too much was something I've struggled with. (A lot of men have big trouble with it!)
10:55.5 is great for day 2. I'm not sure how old you are, but that would put you at 263 (of 305) in the Concept 2 world rankings for W 50-59 all weight classes, 119/137 for 60-69. Yeah, main indoor racing season hasn't really gotten going yet, so the super-fast aren't in yet (with their best, anyway) and that's still toward the low end, but it is among pieces folks think a serious enough effort to rank. If you weigh under 135, you're a lightweight, so probably even higher level percentagewise. You're doing well on day 2!
Seriously, with your strength, you'll progress quickly if you focus more on technique than immediate speed, and when you develop more sport-specfic CV capacity/endurance.
Have you figured good things to wear to erg, ideally without spending a bunch? Hope so!
Thanks for the update; have fun!
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Re. overpowering it, yes, I totally want to use my back and arms and I don't give my legs the time they need. I'm starting to develop the correct muscle memory. I'm sure there's other things I could improve as well.
I did get out of breath on that 2000 though. It would be good to have maybe some cardio fitness. Weightlifters hate cardio. I think 10 deadlifts == cardio. After that I sit on the bench for like 15 minutes to recover lol.
As far as age, I'm 59 but turning 60 this year. In USAW and USAPL, I'm in the 60-65 group now, as they use January 1 as your birthday. Is it the same for rowing?
I'm so not under 135 though. I'm working on the weight, I am overweight, but I do so much strength work that in the last 4 month I lost 7% bodyfat and gained weight. I gained 8 lbs of muscle.
I was the first female to finish in the class, so that made me happy. I do need to not get over-competitive, just keep my head down and try to make my stroke as perfect as I can.1 -
You have the right emphasis for now: More perfect stroke + muscles = faster.
CV fitness will improve with rowing volume (initial stages don't require huge intensity, just low-aerobic volume, so it seems like it needn't screw up your lifting).
For an actual 2K race, competitors don't finish out of breath. They collapse off the erg, gasping and coughing. Sometimes they need help to walk. Don't try that yet! (But just for fun, here's a wold record holder doing it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DL7Yk2ks_2c ).
With your muscle mass, you may not be a lightweight candidate even if fairly petite. I'm short for a rower (5'5") so indoor lightweight (<135) is fine for me now, and would continue to be with my narrow body type, even if I were to add substantial muscle. On-water lightweight, which is 125, is reasonable for me now at current LBM (and I'm too lazy to work for lots more), but I'm above that weight now. If I gained 8 pounds of muscle (which ain't gonna happen ), <125 would be iffy.
Couple of things that helped me with legs (may not make sense to you right now, dunno):
1. Feeling suspending weight between feet and handle, right off the catch. I assume they've done the thing for you where a helper leans over the flywheel and holds the handle from the side opposite you, as you slow-push.
2. Thinking about the body wedge you create coming out of the finish, with the smooth arms-away/body-over, and (post recovery) driving that wedge-shape backwards along the slide with your leg power at start of drive.
Some power lifters I met compared it to a horizontal deadlift but I'm unpersuaded (seems like not the right hip imagery/action) . . . but you wouldn't use upper body to do that, would you?
Best wishes!
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Today we did another 2K for time. I'm a little bit better at rowing than last time, and this time I tried a little harder. I'm kind of wrecked still from my powerlifting meet this past Saturday, so I got tired fast. I know I can do better if rested. And if I have any kind of cardio endurance at all. lol My time was 10.05.0
I started logging on the Concept2 website, in my age group I'm doing okay for a powerlifter. lol0 -
How did your meet go? I’ve been powerlifting for a few years, but don’t compete.0
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You should compete! It’s fun! I got first in my division...of course I was the only one! But I set state records in squat, bench, deadlift, and total. I got 57.5 kg squat, 42.5 bench, and 120kg deadlift. And I made some new strong friends, that was the best part.How did your meet go? I’ve been powerlifting for a few years, but don’t compete.
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I’d likely place well. Not a lot of 61 year old powerlifters in rural Nova Scotia. I’ll give it some thought. Congrats on the lifts.2
