I am supposed to start sshv, but I can’t sit on the seat for another month. I will try to keep the losses of ftp at bay with my concept2 rower.
Here goes nothing.
I bought a Waterrower right before the lockdowns came to Europe. Love the design and sound - very relaxing. Feels like being on the water!
Havent yet figured out a way how to implement rowing into my training plan on a regular basis.
Rowing is to much effort for a recovery day, but not enough structure to supplement a TR workout with a rowing session.
Concept rower has workouts on there site. Issue is how do you make a rower into a sweet spot work out?
Vo2 seems very easy to do
Personally I found sweet spot to be about 20% lower in terms of power in Rowing. So for reference 360w on the bike equates to roughly 300 watts or 1:45-46 split on the c2. Issue is that this is wildly different based on your actual Rowing technique which plays a huge role in your efficiency on the machine. Best would be to test your threshold on the c2 and use those numbers.
I can’t hold my sweet spot bike numbers on the rower it would be a 150 pace. I can do that for 30min and it would prob break me on the rower but on the bike I can do that for a very long time
Guess all I can do a 20min rower ftp test, it’s appears you take 80-85% to set ftp and then set my zones
1 Like
Following.
I’m interested in doing the same; supplementing my cycling.
At the moment I do use it for mostly recovery at an ‘easy’ or RPE of 3-4 for 15-25 minutes.
Would like to actually implement some kind of structured workouts.
1 Like
Back in my rowing days, the “Pete Plan” was a thing: Beginner Training « Lunch hour
Anyone else signed up for the Concept 2 January challenges?
2 Likes
I really wanted to do the 100k challenge after Thanksgiving but was off to a bad start… one too many drinks the day before and was out the first two days of the challenge. I was set back on cycling and never bothered to start the challenge.
Was thinking of setting a personal challenge for the year. I’m still new to rowing so not sure what should is realistic without compromising other athletic endeavors.
I’ve gone for the lowest level, which is at least 500m for at least 20 days. It’s more to get me doing something instead of swimming which I can’t do right now as our pools are shut down than to establish any serious rowing base.
1 Like
I think the erg is a great complement to cycling. I bought a Concept 2 in September and have found rowing to be a nice change of pace from the bike, especially when you are stuck inside all the time. I took a month off the bike in October and followed the Pete Plan for a while until I ramped up bike training again.
Still doing 2-3 ergs a week, which I have found to be a nice addition to my training, and you get a lot of “bang for your buck”. Didn’t seem to have a negative impact to my fitness… my peak FTP per the ramp test was 350 last year, and I just tested at 340 on 4 bike workouts a week and two months into base. Can’t say to what extent the rower helped, but it definitely hasn’t hurt.
3 Likes
Have any rowing MTBers noticed improvements in their jumping? Or CXers in their bunny hopping?
If I can have no drop in ftp from 2 months off due to the rower, I’ll be happy
1 Like
I have moved my training program from 100% indoor cycling with TR workouts (3-6 sessions per week) during winter days to now 4 rowing session during weekdays and 3 consecutive longer outside rides Friday to Sunday (i am still not sure if to keep it unstructered or do some outdoor workouts).
In between I am doing some stretching/weight training.
So far I enjoy it a lot, loads of different ways of exercise, more balanced workout for my body, enough of recovery.
I have to explain: i dont do TR workouts to become a faster cyclist but to stay sporty and fit. Rowing is quite a nice way to exercise the whole body. I like it.
2 Likes
Although it’s a low-impact sport, rowing seems to be better for bone health than cycling, since it’s a weight-bearing exercise. Pure cycling training probably isn’t the best for general fitness, but cycling and rowing together seems to me to be a good combination. Microsoft Word - indoor_rowing_and_osteoporosis.doc (concept2.com)
1 Like
Bremen, isnt it?
Anyway, I am just not sure about rowing and knee pain, seems that the stress on the knees by bending them extremely and stretching them extremely is quite intense. Not sure about the longterm effect
@rentagreement I’ve been rowing for 20 years and have never experienced knee pain, nor have my colleagues. If rowing with improper form and not keeping the legs straight then increased pressure on the outside of the knee could surely cause pain, or over-extending the knee.
Force is of course transmitted through the knee, but the knee shouldn’t take all the force. By engaging the muscles in a natural sequence and never locking the knee, the muscular leg force “flows” without hitting the knee too hard, if that makes sense. Correct form ensures a progression of the body’s muscles and core.
To me rowing is an excellent training form and complements cycling well. I’m often on the erg but conscious of not overtraining in combination with TR. if substituting anything on the bike I see rowing as a far more enjoyable endurance session than on the bike, doing a few hours on the erg is bliss 
2 Likes
Thanks
What if knee pain (patella) is precondition before starting with rowing?
So far I have not been able to do more than 20min of rowing. It just starts to be boring a bit. Also I did not yet go beyond Zone2 pulse, no real effort of higher pulse etc.
As I mentioned I have mainly done it as recovery to intense cycling.
What would be a good rowing schedule to supplement my more intense cycling workouts?
Any website recommendations? Training plans? Apps?
I have a Waterrower.
Thank you, looks interesting and quite easy to follow, not saying it is actually easy
1 Like
The Concept2 site also has some good info on plans and other resources:
I use RowPro to augment what I get with the Concept2 display and RowPro has some decent training plans, but it’s specific to Concept2 erg.
1 Like