Is the rowing machine a good workout?
Is the rowing machine a good workout, and how does it compare to treadmills and exercise bikes?
Rowing machine a good workout.
- Thread starter sglowrider
- Start date
Concept 2 owner here. Excellent machine. They even sell an attachment to hold your phone so you can stream shit. I try, and usually fail, to get 250k a month.Is the rowing machine a good workout?
Is the rowing machine a good workout, and how does it compare to treadmills and exercise bikes?www.livescience.com
Is the rowing machine a good workout?
Is the rowing machine a good workout, and how does it compare to treadmills and exercise bikes?
I have the Concept 2 as well...love it...here is a recent very fair review: "function, not form"
review
Concept2 RowErg review
Robust and reliable, the Concept2 RowErg (formerly called the Concept2 Model D) deserves its reputation as one of the world’s most popular rowing machines
250K a month? Damn, between you and SD, I've got to row more/longer. My million meters took me almost 2 years but I had a long stretch where I wasn't rowing. I've gotten more into it lately, but I try and do it every other day and then do some strength training on the off days. I was afraid if I did it every day, I'd be more likely to get injured. I generally go about 5-6K but think I will start trying to have some longer row days and try to get up to 10K.
SD, my knee has been giving me problems, so after those 2 timed rows, I've been on the shelf for a couple weeks. Seems to be feeling better and I'm going to the Dr tomorrow so hopefully I can get it back in check and get back to rowing. Missing it!
To be fair, the 250 is a goal i set and rarely ever achieve. I generally try to get 10k in per workout. Which, if I go straight through is about 42 mins (I'm old and broken). I mix it up with intervals like doing 500's and rest for a mins between or doing 2k on and 500 off, etc. I used to care more about times but then realized I'm an idiot.
LIke, seriously, my best 2k time is like 7:30 which isn't great. I'm just trying to stay on the right side of the dirt.
But you row daily? No injury issues doing that? I love it and it's great for me mentally too, but anytime I try and do too much of one particular exercise, it seems like I injure something. Just like know. I was trying to do my ranked verified rows on the weekend, and a couple Saturdays ago i went on a pretty hard bike ride Saturday and then did my timed row Sunday and since then, my left knee, which has always been balky, has swelled up and I haven't done anything since.
I gave up on rowing for time. It's like playing golf for score. It sucks and I never improve.
I like to mix up the rows. It seems to help. Also check your foot position and try a few different ones out.
I row about 4-5 times a week. Again, that 250k is always a goal I just can't bring myself to lower. Haha.
lars, sounds like you are a lot faster than I am, just like kkott... I'm just a grinder doing 10k in 55-60 minutes...I was doing 10k a day for a long time but the last month due to pain in one of my hands I have cut back to 5k and skip every 3rd or 4th day. My goal is to get back to the gym next year so I don't have to depend on the rower for all of my exercise.
kkott, are you sure the knee problem is due to the rowing? I have a bad knee after a failed knee replacement and rowing, because of the low impact, is one of the few exercises I can do. I can't even walk or hike for distance but the rower doesn't seem to cause addtl knee pain.
Would you row faster if they were in front of you?lars, sounds like you are a lot faster than I am, just like kkott... I'm just a grinder doing 10k in 55-60 minutes...I was doing 10k a day for a long time but the last month due to pain in one of my hands I have cut back to 5k and skip every 3rd or 4th day. My goal is to get back to the gym next year so I don't have to depend on the rower for all of my exercise.
kkott, are you sure the knee problem is due to the rowing? I have a bad knee after a failed knee replacement and rowing, because of the low impact, is one of the few exercises I can do. I can't even walk or hike for distance but the rower doesn't seem to cause addtl knee pain.
To be fair, I'm only 46. The downhill slide is picking up steam though.
No, I absolutely DO NOT think it's due to rowing. Honestly, while I've always heard it's good for your knee, it's the biking, which I also enjoy. But, when I got on the bike that day, my knee had limited range of motion and didn't want to go around the pedals, but I'd been planning this ride with a friend for a long time, and so I toughed it out, and in fairness, it did seem to warmup and I thought was OK during the ride. Again, the next day, I toughed it out on my row, even though it was hurting and I had to favor it. I am wanting to just get the inflammation down and get back to where I can row, and will give up the biking for now. Thats my hope!lars, sounds like you are a lot faster than I am, just like kkott... I'm just a grinder doing 10k in 55-60 minutes...I was doing 10k a day for a long time but the last month due to pain in one of my hands I have cut back to 5k and skip every 3rd or 4th day. My goal is to get back to the gym next year so I don't have to depend on the rower for all of my exercise.
kkott, are you sure the knee problem is due to the rowing? I have a bad knee after a failed knee replacement and rowing, because of the low impact, is one of the few exercises I can do. I can't even walk or hike for distance but the rower doesn't seem to cause addtl knee pain.
1) If she was my friend, a bike would not have been involved in the workout, and 2) It would not be my knee that was hurting!Your friend must have been worth it to put up with the pain.
Hey, I'm happy to see we have a little band of rowers forming on here! SGL, you gonna break down and join us? C'mon in, the waters fine!
BTW, 10K in 42 minutes sounds pretty stout to me. I've never tried to row a 10K for time, but if I'm doing a 5K in 19:15 balls to the wall, 10K in 42 sounds like it's cooking... not sure I could do it even. Guess it gives me something else to shoot for!
Things I'm trying to hit:
500 - sub 1:40
2k - sub 7:30
5k - sub 19:30 (I don't do this one much b/c I'm dead after and want to just get off the rower)
10k - 40 mins (that's 2:00/500 pace. This is never going to happen and if it does I keel over right after)
30 mins - 7500 meters
1hr - 14k+
By the way, never watch the damn Olympic rowers on Youtube. Talk about feelings of inadequacy.
On edit: I just checked my unranked rows and I did a 19:16 for 5k. So sub 19. Again, that's probably never happening.
Absolutely, if you are talking about those nurses!
I've got about 20 years on you and 10 on kkott.... you rabbits will slow down to my turtle speed in time. 😉
Have you found any good videos on rowing form for a concept 2? I've watched a couple, but like you, I'm trying to hit some milestones and goals and it makes sense to me to first make sure I have good form. I've watched a couple, but not sure if they were good instructions or not.
Honestly i watched the video on the Concept 2 site and that's it. I've watched some of the Olympic dudes but they're all like 6'7" and it looks very effortless.
I just try to focus on not pulling with my arms too early in the takeaway and consciously using my legs to push (that foot position thing again helps out).
FWIW, Hugh Jackman was on the Tim Ferriss podcast a year or so ago and he said that if were going to be marooned on a desert island with one piece of workout equipment, he'd take his rowing machine. Then he and Ferriss went on a long talk about how great of a workout rowing machines give you.
i've been looking into one of these
how is it for someone with bad hips? i'm wondering about the pulling the knees to the chest part
(my knees and back aren't great either)
I've got a bum left knee and a prior L 4/5 herniation and as long as you warm up a little before you really get into it I haven't had any problems. Can't speak to the hips though.
I believe all 3 of us have Concept2 rowers by ERG, which I recommend. I don't know if it's still the case but when I was buying 2 years ago, they supplied all the YMCAs with rowers and had a deal with the Y that they would let you in for free 1 time to test a rower, so you might try that. It really is pretty low impact, but you can also get on there and start ripping and really exert yourself. But as for stress on body parts, it's really well-balanced because you are moving so many muscle groups together (ie if your left knee hurts your other knee/leg offsets some of that as do your arms). I think as Lars said, just start easy with a comfortable range of motion and build from there. The only things that normally hurt on me are my keester and sometimes I feel like my lower back tightens a bit on longer rows. It's very good on other body parts and I have some f'd joints. I don't think it would have bothered my knee this last time if I'd not over done it on a bike the day before.
Also, don't forget a small cushion! Forgot about the ass hurting after about 30 mins
Looks like the Concept 2 is now in stock on the Rogue Fitness site for $900...I think mine was another $100 or so for delivery. It has been out of stock a lot over the past couple of years...
I got the seat cushion from Rogue for $3.50 which helped with the keester pain. The seat is pretty hard without it.
VanPastorMan
Hall of Famer
I hope you can get some help with your knee. When people in the church have knee trouble I tell them we should sing, "I need thee every hour". I do it to cheer them up. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't.
Haha, I have been having similar issues -- I did gym a couple of times last week. Plus biked three times for a total of like 210km. Then my right knee swelled up.
I had gone to a Chinese traditional medicine doctor before. I was thinking of acupuncture as a treatment initially.
But in the previous visit, he said it was due to my popliteus muscle. He needed to massage/manipulate it back into place. Hurts like feck though massaging it back into place.
But it worked. Apparently, it was out of sorts and it then would pull the knee cap and the lower leg/below the knee out of joint. So the more exercise I did, the more inflamed it got to the degree that my right knee would barely bend for like 3 days.
I didn't see him this time as I just popped 'em 'roids -- too lazy to drive over and also the pain was horrendous. So steroid for me. It worked as well though I am running out of those pills.
Am off biking again later tonight. Try looking at your popliteus muscle as a possible cause.
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I'd never heard of that muscle but the symptoms sound similar. I made an appt w my massage gal and asked if she was familiar with that muscle and might check it. She's really good and intuitive with injuries, so I'm hoping for some relief regardless. My knee does feel better this morning than it has for almost 3 weeks.
And you thought that would shut me down, but no, Kkott delivers! The red head is my therapist. Pretty funny stuff:
I had my massage on Friday and she tried working on this, and it helped for sure, but not enough. I went back to the knee specialist and he's drained my knee twice over the last week (40cc and 30cc) and then gave me the first gel injection, which is a series of 3 1 week apart. That was yesterday and it's definitely moving easier, but still not the range of motion I need to row which is what I'm hoping to get back to.
The way I avoid this/manage this is to pop two ibuprofens before I sleep after a strenuous workout since I usually bike at night.
The other thing is that when you do repetitive/steady-state exercises is that you need to make sure the fitting is correct.
Like in biking, the fit of the saddle is critical, especially for long rides. The same mechanical movements will eventually grind down on your muscles if the saddle is too high or too low. But my concern would be for my right knee and my popliteus flaring up and pulling things out of alignment -- and thus causing the inflammation.
Even in biking, I avoided using the clip-in (clipless) shoes as they would lock my leg movement/position -- so, if wrong from the start would eventually work its way up into my knee. (I use a pair of Five-tens which are grippy mountain bike shoes instead.)
Is there some perfect/correct/form or 'fit'(like in bike saddle) for rowing? Is the form the same for everyone or is it personalisable based on your height, torso, arm lengths etc?
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My problem right now I believe is strictly range of motion. I've had so much inflammation and swelling in that knee for 3 weeks now, that I think I've lost that full range of motion. The gel injection is working, so I'm going to slowly try and regain some of that range of motion. As I said, I don't believe the rowing is what caused these problems, I really think it was the biking but then the hard row the next day only made it worse. Hoping I'll be able to try rowing this weekend.
Ironically my knee is acting up today. I biked three times the last 5 days (210km) and then gym (elliptical warm-up and then weights) and today...my knee's a bit tight.
I might have to gather up the courage and pop down to the Chinese doctor guy --- the manipulation of the popliteus.
Relax it and get it back to its normal position so then it doesn't pull the calf, kneecap out of joint.
It hurts like a mother*+^ when he is doing it. It's like the dentist drilling on your nerve ending, all without novocaine. But it works... for another 6 months. 😬😬
Yeah, I've always been told that biking is good for my knee due to the repeating and not overly aggressive range of motion, but as I think back over these last few years, most of my "trouble periods" have come after biking generally and not as much other stuff, so I think that's definitely a trigger for me. No idea if it's the Popliteus or not, but maybe biking does irritate that?
I think any steady-state exercise that has the same perpetual motion and rigid/limited (body) joint movement will be detrimental to one body joint or another and in this case the knee. (I imagine long-distance running would by far be the worst.)
If you think of the mechanics of both biking and rowing -- the feet's strapped/clipped into the machine and our thigh is a pretty big joint attached to the hip.
The only area of 'play' and pivot-point would be the knee under all that energy/pressure exerted.
I remember some football coach said; you would be a 380lbs offensive tackle or a normal 180lb man, they'll both have almost the same size knee -- when explaining some player's perpetual knee injury.
That's why my logic (flawed or otherwise) was not to lock in the feet when biking so there the pressure is slightly less on the knee.
SD, man, I've been lost for the last month. My knee swelled up badly and haven't been able to do much of anything. I started gel injections for it and they've completed the first round of 3 weekly shots and it feels a lot better, but still working on getting back a reasonable range of motion. I finally got on the rower this morning and did 13 minutes/3000 meters and it felt pretty good. The real test will be does it swell up over the next 24 hours or not, but so far so good. Man, have I missed rowing!
Could this be gout? A while back my ankles started to swell and ache, with some redness of the skin.
The nurse/pa asked me if I ever had gout, and I said no. But it got me thinking what was I eating that might have caused gout if I did have it.
It was raisins. I was eating too many raisins. Stopped eating them (Raisin Bran, raisins in general) pain swelling and all symptoms disappeared.
The nurse/pa asked me if I ever had gout, and I said no. But it got me thinking what was I eating that might have caused gout if I did have it.
It was raisins. I was eating too many raisins. Stopped eating them (Raisin Bran, raisins in general) pain swelling and all symptoms disappeared.
are you asking my knee swelling? I don't really know much about gout, but I don't think so. I'd been planning a bike ride with a buddy for awhile and on the actual date, my knee didn't feel good just getting on the bike and it didn't want to go all the way around. I toughed it out since this had been planned for so long and we rode harder and farther than I normally would have. Then the next day I did a really hard row and again, my knee didn't feel great and I was favoring it. The next day it really swelled up and a similar scenario had played out a few years before with 2 consecutive days where I did a lot more activity than normal, so I'm pretty confident of what it is.
I do know lots of people feel like diet has a huge impact on inflammation and I'd be curious to hear of anyone on here's experience with reducing inflammation in joints through managing diet and what specifically they did to help.
Damn, sorry to hear that man. Hopefully the gel injections will do the trick. Are they supposed to add cushioning to the knee joints? Years ago I had what I think they called a microfracture surgery....multiple holes drilled in the knee which bleed and create a new cartilage surface. Seems like it worked for a while...
Just back off the exercise when necessary like you are doing.
Wish I could tell you the aches and pains get better as you continue to age but I'd be a freaking liar. Just keep up the good fight doing what you can do...
I've heard of microfracture, but they've never discussed it and he said the stem cell stuff you hear all the ads for is snake oil. This guy is pretty renowned locally, but according to him the next step is probably knee replacement, so i've scheduled an appt for a 2nd opinion with another clinic/doc. Yes, it's supposed to be a temporary fix to help with what the cartilege should do naturally. You can only get them every 6 months, so that's my concern: It'll start hurting again before then. They also said I might not feel it's full effects for up to 6 weeks and it's helped immensely, so that would be the optimistic view. I've given up a ton and just not willing to not be active and do some type of cardio. Planning to buy a heavy/speed bag for the garage so I have another form of cardio that shouldn't stress the knee and may go back by the Y and see if they'll let me try my good ol' Jacobs Ladder and see how that feels because I feel like I could do that too without making it worse.
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