Rowing machine

larmurf

Hi
does anyone think that regular sessions on rowing machine (concept 2) have
a beneficial effect on training for cycling. During winter I did a bit on the kitchen
turbo and fairly reguilar sessions on rower. During a rare spell of reasonable weather
did a 48 mile fairly hilly run and found a measureable improvement. Would any of
this be down to rower

lm

brit66

In a word, yes.

I rowed for many years and did hundreds of erg sessions and it's one of the best cardiovascular workouts you can get.

It's also kind on the knees.

incog24

Beneficial, but not as beneficial as cycling. Personally I find my legs feel heavy on the bike after erging, presumably because of the lower rate compared to cadence on the bike. Builds upper body muscle too which isn't hugely useful on the bike.

Probably better going rowing to cycling than cycling to rowing though. When rowing I was doing a 6:30 odd 2k (@74kgs), and 24 odd 10miler. Now I'm cycling I'm down into the 22mins for the 10, but only managed 6:51 for the last 2k I did...And that was horrific to! I guess its the upper body conditioning.

There's also the other issue; you must be mad to prefer erging to cycling!

tlw1

I am looking to get one of these - any recommeneded websites?

incog24

They come up 2nd hand a fair amount on ebay. Pretty bullet proof too so should be any issues. You can hire them direct from Concept I think?

Spend that £1000 on a powertap and a coach though!

larmurf

incog24 wrote:

There's also the other issue; you must be mad to prefer erging to cycling!

A bit of both As for choice I prefer the rowing machine to the turbo

pbt150

Yes, rowing will improve general cardio fitness and help your cycling, but not as much as a turbo or cycling! Most people however can't use rowing machines properly due to a lack of technique and can end up hurting themselves (I've been rowing for years and went to see an osteopath today who says I need to fix most of my hip/pelvis region).

Rowing also does funny things to your blood pressure. Because you use both legs at once your systolic bp goes very high rowing, which is why cycling and rowing fitness don't always correlate exactly. You'll also develop upper body mass that will just slow you down on the bike.

Cheap second hand Concept2 rowers can be found, but they vary in quality a LOT. Get a good one and it'll be as good as new, bad ones are no fun at all - imagine rusty chain combined with knackered bearings.

G-Wiz

I used to row for about 18 years and avoided ergo's like the plague after I stopped. Devil's spinning wheels they be.

I had another crack recently and just use them for a warm up in the gym now, a fairly short session is quite good on all the abdominals, back and arms which are all needed for climbing. You'd have to stick it on 10 and do a LOT of work to put any bulk on, most rowers do stacks of weights and are still pretty lean.

Not as good as riding but a useful addition if you're confined to the gym for a lot of your training.

bristolpete

I bought a second hand rowing machine from a junk shop, when I unpacked it I noted that the oars were missing. I used to sit on it and drift for hours....

acidstrato

great core workout rowing

i just use a cheap skulling type device

rick_chasey

Sit up straight when you use it, or else you'll regret it...