Rowing for weightloss...

[jrp859]

how many people row for weight loss? Ive been doing 1min hard, 2 min slow for 23minutes a day, about 3 or 4 times a week and it seems to be working. I can tell its building up my chest, back, and arms very well and toning my stomach. Anyone else row other than bike or run? Im also picking up swimming too.

[rowing.guy]

how many people row for weight loss? Ive been doing 1min hard, 2 min slow for 23minutes a day, about 3 or 4 times a week and it seems to be working. I can tell its building up my chest, back, and arms very well and toning my stomach. Anyone else row other than bike or run? Im also picking up swimming too.

Rowing is an excellent way to lose weight. Rowing burns more calories than running, cycling, or swimming. Rowers are muscular, but very lean. Those intervals you're doing sound fine, but I'd suggest incorporating some longer, low intensity pieces in. Maybe start with 30min at a pace where carrying on a conversation could be done without too much difficulty.. and eventually bring this up to 60min or so. Also, be careful b/c too many consecutive high intensity workouts could lead to overtraining.

As far as building up your chest, etc.. I don't know what you're talking about. Although rowing is a full body exercise, the chest is one of the only muscles which isn't really worked. By far the main muscles being worked are in the legs.. specifically the quads. Secondary to that would be the back, and to a lesser extent, the arms. About 80% legs, 15% back, 5% arms for generating power and speed. Rowers actually do bench press and push ups, etc. to balance out the back muscles.

Good luck

[badocter]

I'm not sure if you mean on or off water. I have been using a Concept 2 indoor rower for weightloss and fitness for 6 monthes. Lost 40 pounds so far and made good gains on performance, but a good bit of that is also due to eating more sensibly. You will find more a lot of discussion, training tips, and challenges on the Concept 2 forum http://www.concept2.co.uk/forum/

[Joezilla]

i row twice a week, great feeling when getting off of that thing! i would definately recommend it for weightloss and overall toning. its also very easy to mantain a steady heart rate with it.

and swimming is always awesome.

[jrp859]

yea i ment on the indoor rowers, sorry about that. The last 3 months ive been rowing long distances to build my my aerobic threshold, but now 2 months before racing starts back up, i need to build my anaerobic threshold, so thats why ive been doing that type of routine. Its right around 3-4 times a week, and when i can't ride on the weekends, then ill do long rows... Does anyone have a suggestion on how to make the seat not hurt ur ass so bad? lol Im gonna bring a towel with me next time and see if that works...

[EerWVU]

Rowing is an excellent way to lose weight. Rowing burns more calories than running, cycling, or swimming. Rowers are muscular, but very lean. Those intervals you're doing sound fine, but I'd suggest incorporating some longer, low intensity pieces in. Maybe start with 30min at a pace where carrying on a conversation could be done without too much difficulty.. and eventually bring this up to 60min or so. Also, be careful b/c too many consecutive high intensity workouts could lead to overtraining.

As far as building up your chest, etc.. I don't know what you're talking about. Although rowing is a full body exercise, the chest is one of the only muscles which isn't really worked. By far the main muscles being worked are in the legs.. specifically the quads. Secondary to that would be the back, and to a lesser extent, the arms. About 80% legs, 15% back, 5% arms for generating power and speed. Rowers actually do bench press and push ups, etc. to balance out the back muscles.

Good luck

It is possible to work the chest (pectoralis minor) while rowing. It's a mistake that people make while doing lat pull downs as well. You have to really focus on using just your back to bring the bar towards your chest if you want to avoid working the chest.

Try it:
Flex your pecs and put your left hand right outside of your armpit while doing the motion of a row. Sometimes you forget to relax your pecs while doing back exercises.

[badocter]

Does anyone have a suggestion on how to make the seat not hurt ur ass so bad? lol Im gonna bring a towel with me next time and see if that works...

The deluxe seatpad works for me (up to a point...beyond an hour it still bugs me)
http://www.c2shop.co.uk/products/accessories.php
I've also had less blistering on my hands when using the gripmasters they sell.

[jrp859]

The deluxe seatpad works for me (up to a point...beyond an hour it still bugs me)
http://www.c2shop.co.uk/products/accessories.php
I've also had less blistering on my hands when using the gripmasters they sell.

alright cool, thanks! Do you think a towel would work as of rightnow? Its like when im on my 2min slow row, thats when it hurts, but when im goin all out its fine, lol its weird.

[badocter]

alright cool, thanks! Do you think a towel would work as of rightnow? Its like when im on my 2min slow row, thats when it hurts, but when im goin all out its fine, lol its weird.

Some guys report using a folded fluffy towel works better than the deluxe seat pad -- but even they complain that the towel gets compressed to the consistency of plywood on a long session. Just make sure it doesn't hang over or you risk catching it in the seat rollers.

[rowing.guy]

It is possible to work the chest (pectoralis minor) while rowing. It's a mistake that people make while doing lat pull downs as well. You have to really focus on using just your back to bring the bar towards your chest if you want to avoid working the chest.

Try it:
Flex your pecs and put your left hand right outside of your armpit while doing the motion of a row. Sometimes you forget to relax your pecs while doing back exercises.

Dude, I row. Trust me, you don't work your chest.

http://www.concept2.com/us/training/...usclesused.asp

[rowing.guy]

yea i ment on the indoor rowers, sorry about that. The last 3 months ive been rowing long distances to build my my aerobic threshold, but now 2 months before racing starts back up, i need to build my anaerobic threshold, so thats why ive been doing that type of routine. Its right around 3-4 times a week, and when i can't ride on the weekends, then ill do long rows... Does anyone have a suggestion on how to make the seat not hurt ur ass so bad? lol Im gonna bring a towel with me next time and see if that works...

Yes, use a towel if you must.

[apostolos23]

rowing is how i lost weight, of course with a good diet and being consistent!

[EerWVU]

Dude, I row. Trust me, you don't work your chest.

http://www.concept2.com/us/training/...usclesused.asp

Yeah, if you row properly.

[AreaCode201]

Buddy at the gym's doctor told him after he recovered from a serious illness, "if you can get to the gym and only have time to do one excercise....row." I enjoy rowing, its just not always easy to work it into my workout split.

[SteelyD]

I row 3 times per week on a Concept2 on my non-lifting days, usually switching between longer, steady rows and interval sprints.

For a KILLER workout, try doing Tabata intervals on the erg. I'll usually warm up with an easy 500m or 1000m row then jump into the tabata rows (ie 20 sec Max effort rowing, then very easy or no row 10 sec, repeat 7x for total of 4 minutes), then cool down with another easy 500m or 1000m.

My heart starts pumping just thinking about it....

[sean4104]

rowing is superb for losing weight. i just graduated from rowing 4 years at an elite division 1 school. you cannot find a better way to get cut up. the thing is, if you are erging, you have to make sure your form is up to par. i see a lot of ppl erging at the gym and they look absurd.

we had a workout called 'blasters', in which you go for 30 secs as hard as you can...then 30 off...and repeat for 10 intervals. i would say do one set. it will be like a HIIT workout. if oyu do it correctly, you will have trouble standing up when you are done cause your legs are so shot...and your heartrate will be elevated all day. allllll freakn day.

[SteelyD]

Sean-- who did you row for? I rowed for Stockton College (small school in S.Jersey). Rowed Dad Vales and Frostbites on the Schuykill (early to mid 1990's). One of the best experiences of my life-- I miss it).

And you are correct about 'erg form' and 30-on-30-off.

[jrp859]

ill deffinately have to try those out! Say if i want to get cut up good, what would be a supurb diet to go along with rowing? Like if i want to get on a strict diet, what woul dbe the foods to eat and not to eat? And how many times a week should i do those interval type training and should i take days off inbetween? Thanks