Anonymous wrote:If you have never rowed before, it’s highly unlikely that your form is OK. I have literally never seen someone who was a novice sit down on an erg and row with the correct technique. 95% of people who I see at gyms on ergs are doing it completely wrong and stand out to anyone who has rowed. I’m sorry I don’t want to come across as snobby, but it is a bit presumptuous to just assume you know how to do an entirely new sport. Would you make the same assumptions about swinging a golf club or doing the butterfly?

This.

Most people using the rower at the gym are using it incorrectly. If your rower has resistance, you can get a MUCH harder workout on a lower number, than higher, by pulling faster.

When I want a hard workout, I pull fast, return slower, pull fast, return slower.

And pull the bar to chest-ish level (or a little below), with your elbows out like you're doing the chicken.

Anonymous wrote:Why do I have to eat excess calories to build muscle when I *have* the excess calories on my body?

Why does my body not take the calories it needs from my fat to repair muscle? BTW, I am eating plenty of protein for muscle gain.

If I lift in addition to rowing, should I row every day or alternate rowing and lifting?

The fat on your body is not "excess calories". It is your body and the calories you eat daily go toward maintaining your current weigh made up of both the fat and muscle. Even when in a calorie deficit, while it would be lovely to only burn the fat, the reality is that your body will burn fat and muscle to make up for the energy it needs. You can minimize the muscle loss by lifting and eat enough protein. But it will also be very difficult to gain physical muscle as you do not have excess calories to store. Keep in mind gaining muscle/muscle hypertrophy is not the same as gaining strength. You can get stronger without getting physically bigger.

If you are eating at maintenance calories while lifting heavy weight you will get some body recompositing over time, that is losing some fat while building muscle, but it will take significantly longer than bulking and cutting.

Why do I have to eat excess calories to build muscle when I *have* the excess calories on my body?

Why does my body not take the calories it needs from my fat to repair muscle? BTW, I am eating plenty of protein for muscle gain.

If I lift in addition to rowing, should I row every day or alternate rowing and lifting?

If you want to track your fitness improvements, you can pick a distance (say, 2k meters but doesn’t have to be) and test yourself periodically. I have a Hydrow and try to do a mix of interval workouts (shorter pieces at high ratings with breaks) with longer steady state rows, just as I might design a week of workouts as a runner.

It’s very common for new rowers not to feel it in their legs. Part of it is probably that your arms and shoulders are pretty weak and fatiguing easily because you’re not used to rowing. This should change a couple of weeks into it. Then you will have more endurance and can really focus on driving with your legs.

Anonymous wrote:I have an erg. I have started to use it. I am pretty confident that my form is OK, but I am confused about the best way to measure progress and how to row to meet goals.

I want to lose weight and build muscle. Most rowers I see have massive thigh muscles, and they say rowing is more thigh muscle than upper body (although it is good all over workout.). And yet, I don’t really feel like my thighs are working that hard even though I am consciously driving through my heels and try to push strongly in the drive. I can feel the work in my arms as I drive with my legs and then pull, but not so much in my thighs.

Also, I would like to build muscle. Can I do that on the rower, or should I also be lifting weights? If both, what is my schedule - rowers row daily, but weightlifters lift on alternate days to rest muscle for growth.

What am I looking at as a marker for improvement - just total miles rowed? My average time over 500m? What is a split? How long or what distance do I need to row to see weight loss?

Watch your diet and lift weights. While you will get al little stronger rowing you really need to lift heavy weights to get stronger.

To lose weight and build physical muscle mass.. can't really do this at the same time. To lose fat you need a calorie deficit. To gain muscle you need a calorie surplus. Hence, the reason bodybuilders go through bulking and cutting phases. Now you can do a more "lean bulk" where you gain muscle but not a lot of fat by eating more calories some days and fewer calories on other days, but this will take a LOT longer.

OK, thanks all, I also found that Concept2 has a rowing workout Podcast. It’s annoying to listen to while I row, but it is useful to listen to (on double speed) to get the basic idea of watts, varying stroke rate, etc. along with some “workout” structure.

YouTube has some great videos. Way more help than clearly anyone on this forum is willing to provide

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1nf2Zfbazs

Start at the 29 second mark.

There are a ton more too.

Anonymous wrote:Kids have been rowers for the last eight years and have had some guidance from them on basic form, so I am pretty confident that basic form is fine. But, obviously, I don’t want to be consulting them for more than that basic guidance, which is why I am crowdsourcing on DCUM.

NP - and former competitive rower - you need a more authoritative source than DCUM. The rowing sub-Reddit is probably a good first place to start; they can advise you on your questions as well as possibly suggesting someone in person to help you. You’re asking questions that go way beyond basic form.

I have concept2 w/ PM5

If you have the owner's manual use it. Or get it from the manufacturer's site. But if you want to see progress, go on the menu and pick a setting that lets you compete with yourself. I don't know what kind you have but Concepts have workouts you can do that let you keep track.

Kids have been rowers for the last eight years and have had some guidance from them on basic form, so I am pretty confident that basic form is fine. But, obviously, I don’t want to be consulting them for more than that basic guidance, which is why I am crowdsourcing on DCUM.

If you have never rowed before, it’s highly unlikely that your form is OK. I have literally never seen someone who was a novice sit down on an erg and row with the correct technique. 95% of people who I see at gyms on ergs are doing it completely wrong and stand out to anyone who has rowed. I’m sorry I don’t want to come across as snobby, but it is a bit presumptuous to just assume you know how to do an entirely new sport. Would you make the same assumptions about swinging a golf club or doing the butterfly?

I have an erg. I have started to use it. I am pretty confident that my form is OK, but I am confused about the best way to measure progress and how to row to meet goals.

I want to lose weight and build muscle. Most rowers I see have massive thigh muscles, and they say rowing is more thigh muscle than upper body (although it is good all over workout.). And yet, I don’t really feel like my thighs are working that hard even though I am consciously driving through my heels and try to push strongly in the drive. I can feel the work in my arms as I drive with my legs and then pull, but not so much in my thighs.

Also, I would like to build muscle. Can I do that on the rower, or should I also be lifting weights? If both, what is my schedule - rowers row daily, but weightlifters lift on alternate days to rest muscle for growth.

What am I looking at as a marker for improvement - just total miles rowed? My average time over 500m? What is a split? How long or what distance do I need to row to see weight loss?