Concept 2 rower questions

[410Stroker]

Hello all,
please bare with me for some newbie questions. I am trying out different cardio equipment at the gym trying to find something that doesn't bother some old injuries. There is a concept 2 rower there which overall did not bother me nearly as much as other equipment, but I do have some questions.

Keep in mind I have never used a rower before, so i am curious if this is working as intended or if as some people who work at the gym said, it might not be working the best because people tinker with things when employees arent handy.
1) When pulling back there is almost no tension on the handle i hold onto until about 1\2 way through the row, unless i jerk it super hard like im trying to race my boat not cruise. I assumed there would be a feeling of tension the whole way through, or am I wrong about that?
2) If i keep a lower pace, the tension is VERY light. It was set on 9 when i got there so I left it, i am not sure what 9 relates to or is a measurement of, but it felt very light.
After the gym last night i found a starters manual for it and it said use resistance 3-5 and try for 25-30rpm, so I will try that today.
3) Is there a manual for that screen thats on it? Pretty much all the labelling has been rubbed off so i cant tell what needs to be pushed, but RPM was the only metric it showed and gave .1 distance after 10+ minutes at 35-37RPM, so can I assume I need to make some selections prior to starting?

I know i dont know what im doing so im here asking Also this rower is always very well reviewed, if I need a pic of the display incase there is more than one version i will have that later tonight.

[Afo3]

You didn't mention what generation of rower it is (current shipping model?) but nothing you are saying sounds unusual. A few thoughts:

1. It is normal that the tension will build on the pull stroke as the air resistance increases as the fly wheel spools up. It does sound a little late in the stroke to be only in the back half unless your strokes are very short. However, remember "pull hard, recover slow" is a pretty common refrain for rowing so you want a fair amount of effort in the pull stroke.
2. The 9 is the damper setting. Think of it like gears on a bike. It controls the amount of air that will hit the flywheel. You can make it easier per unit of work/ pull by reducing the airflow but that will also reduce your distance per stroke. I prefer a high damper setting myself but I have a high stroke rate to start with so trying to reduce that with more effort per pull works well for me. I believe Concept2 recommends more like 6-7 on average.
3. You can definitely find screenshots for any model concept2 display online. If it is the current shipping model (D or E) they are the same monitors (PM5). Generally speaking, the largest number on the screen in the middle will be your split time (time per 500m) which is a useful reference. A good sprint time for a flat out 500m is probably 1:40-1:50 to start out with. Sustaining 1:50 for 30:00 min is around a world record on the Concept2. You may also find it useful to switch to watts to get a sense of how your wattage compares to what you are used to on an exercise bike. I find 200-220 watts to be about what I'm comfortable with for a cardio workout and that translates to a 2:00 to 1:56 split time.

You should also check how dusty the fan has gotten. My experience with rowers in hotel gyms and other crappy gyms is they accumulate dust and the flywheel starts to have noticeably less bite.

C2forum.com and the concept2 webpages both have a lot of good info. You might also enjoy following someone like Lizzy Carson (Lizzycarson.row) on Instagram who is a pretty successful masters indoor rower and who along with her husband (Carson_EBC) train CrossFit games athletes in rowing.

Lastly, since this is the equipment forum, one out there suggestion you might consider as you get more into rowing is the Slides. They do require a very level floor but they give a very nice different feel to rowing that forces you to be more even and less jerky in the pressure and are supposed to be better for your back and joints by absorbing some of the force you produce. I don't really break mine out often as my garage floor isn't level but they do add whole different dimension. I've yet to transition to real rowing but would like to eventually.

[410Stroker]

You didn't mention what generation of rower it is (current shipping model?) but nothing you are saying sounds unusual. A few thoughts:

1. It is normal that the tension will build on the pull stroke as the air resistance increases as the fly wheel spools up. It does sound a little late in the stroke to be only in the back half unless your strokes are very short. However, remember "pull hard, recover slow" is a pretty common refrain for rowing so you want a fair amount of effort in the pull stroke.
2. The 9 is the damper setting. Think of it like gears on a bike. It controls the amount of air that will hit the flywheel. You can make it easier per unit of work/ pull by reducing the airflow but that will also reduce your distance per stroke. I prefer a high damper setting myself but I have a high stroke rate to start with so trying to reduce that with more effort per pull works well for me. I believe Concept2 recommends more like 6-7 on average.
3. You can definitely find screenshots for any model concept2 display online. If it is the current shipping model (D or E) they are the same monitors (PM5). Generally speaking, the largest number on the screen in the middle will be your split time (time per 500m) which is a useful reference. A good sprint time for a flat out 500m is probably 1:40-1:50 to start out with. Sustaining 1:50 for 30:00 min is around a world record on the Concept2. You may also find it useful to switch to watts to get a sense of how your wattage compares to what you are used to on an exercise bike. I find 200-220 watts to be about what I'm comfortable with for a cardio workout and that translates to a 2:00 to 1:56 split time.

You should also check how dusty the fan has gotten. My experience with rowers in hotel gyms and other crappy gyms is they accumulate dust and the flywheel starts to have noticeably less bite.

C2forum.com and the concept2 webpages both have a lot of good info. You might also enjoy following someone like Lizzy Carson (Lizzycarson.row) on Instagram who is a pretty successful masters indoor rower and who along with her husband (Carson_EBC) train CrossFit games athletes in rowing.

Lastly, since this is the equipment forum, one out there suggestion you might consider as you get more into rowing is the Slides. They do require a very level floor but they give a very nice different feel to rowing that forces you to be more even and less jerky in the pressure and are supposed to be better for your back and joints by absorbing some of the force you produce. I don't really break mine out often as my garage floor isn't level but they do add whole different dimension. I've yet to transition to real rowing but would like to eventually.

Thankyou for the reply, i took some pics of it, i can get them added later.
I apologize for the late reply, i became quite ill, then was hospitalized for a bit, and just yesterday i got backl to the gym.

Looks like they serviced the rower, the lcd screen is working again and when im at level 5 i can feel tension very early in the pull not just the last 6 inches.

So im going slow per docs orders, but I have no idea what times and distances are normal for this machine. Level 5, 10 minutes, and i had 1675 meters. What is normal for a novice, and what is a score of someone more advanced, it just kinda helps me for goals, also i will work on getting past 10 minutes, but thats docs orders right now, but want to go for 30 eventually. What is a normal RPM and distance for that?

[DutchB1]

Great thing about the Concept is that parts are readily available too. Good equipment to save on used and invest a little to get it working like new.

Thankyou for the reply, i took some pics of it, i can get them added later.
I apologize for the late reply, i became quite ill, then was hospitalized for a bit, and just yesterday i got backl to the gym.

Looks like they serviced the rower, the lcd screen is working again and when im at level 5 i can feel tension very early in the pull not just the last 6 inches.

So im going slow per docs orders, but I have no idea what times and distances are normal for this machine. Level 5, 10 minutes, and i had 1675 meters. What is normal for a novice, and what is a score of someone more advanced, it just kinda helps me for goals, also i will work on getting past 10 minutes, but thats docs orders right now, but want to go for 30 eventually. What is a normal RPM and distance for that?