OT: More questions about indoor rowing machines

[SoCalSteve]

Hi all,

After reading the previous thread regarding Concept 2 rowers, I got to wondering what muscle groups they actually work on.

I mean, I can see arms and legs and possibly shoulders, but what other muscle groups does it help to improve?

I guess my real question is does it work on core? Meaning, lower back and stomach...

Thank you in advance,

Steve

PS: Hope this isnt a too simple and obvious question. Thanks!

[thegunner]

Hi all,

After reading the previous thread regarding Concept 2 rowers, I got to wondering what muscle groups they actually work on.

I mean, I can see arms and legs and possibly shoulders, but what other muscle groups does it help to improve?

I guess my real question is does it work on core? Meaning, lower back and stomach...

Thank you in advance,

Steve

PS: Hope this isnt a too simple and obvious question. Thanks!

your arms and shoulders shouldn't be working too hard if you're square on the form. most of the power is supposed to come from the beginning of the drive (hitting mainly the quads and lower back). the motion does force you into stabilizing both lateral and vertical pull, so there is a significant core portion involved too though.

[PacNW2Ford]

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

[thegunner]

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

is the guy/girl in that diorama wearing a headband?

[happycampyer]

Oops. PacNW2Ford beat me to it...

Steve,

Here is a better general description than anyone is likely to be able to give in a post:

Rowing—Muscles Used (http://www.concept2.com/us/training/muscles_used.asp)

Regarding your specific question about lower back and abs, the rowing motion definitely engages these muscle groups.

If you watch a rowing video like the clip on the above webpage, you will see that the trick is connecting the feet to the oar handle—if the legs drive but the body pivots from the hips, the slide moves but the handle doesn't (called "shooting the slide"). This is a bad thing for a number of reasons—if the oar isn't moving, the boat isn't being propelled, and when the muscles finally engage, the back is hyperextended.

So the key is making a strong connection throughout the chain. To do this, the shoulders need to be relaxed, so that the lats can connect the shoulders to the hips powerfully (try shrugging your shoulders and flexing your lats—you can't do it). Your core and lower back need to be engaged as well.

So now, as your legs start to drive, the upper body moves in sync. As the leg drive approaches its maximum acceleration, the upper body needs to start to take over to continue the acceleration—again, the core, lower back and abs are all engaged, etc.

[happycampyer]

Here's a great video showing the proper technique:

Rowing Technique (http://www.concept2.com/us/training/technique.asp)

Notice how relaxed her shoulders are (the narrator notes the importance of this in the review at 4:00).

Also, here is a great video of common errors:

Common Errors (http://www.concept2.com/us/training/technique.asp#errors)

I'm pretty sure that the guy in the arms & hands section of the video is Dick Dreissigacker, one of the founders of the company. Pretty fit for a guy in his '60's (although he was a former Olympic rower...).

[thegunner]

Pretty fit for a guy in his '60's (although he was a former Olympic rower...).

pretty fit? i'd say he's pretty jacked :p

[SoCalSteve]

Thank you all!

I guess I should have looked deeper on their website. Great info there!

I am looking for a used one now through Craigslist. If not, I'll order one.

Seems like a great way to get a terrific workout before going to work in the morning.

Again, thanks!

Steve

PS: Too bad they aren't sold in retail stores.

[Louis]

I'm pretty sure that the guy in the arms & hands section of the video is Dick Dreissigacker, one of the founders of the company. Pretty fit for a guy in his '60's (although he was a former Olympic rower...).

OK, now you guys are making me feel old. Back in my college days I remember seeing Judy Geer, who is now Dick's wife, around the engineering school. Back then she was a collegiate (and US Olympic team) rower and they were running tests on a Model A (or maybe it was a prototype) down in the basement.

[CaptStash]

One of the reasons they are so cheap (way cheap for a fitness gym level piece of equipment) is that there is no middle man.

If you don't mind waiting a month and a half, they sell some of the machines after the Beach Sprints (an erg regatta held at the Long Beach Rowing Association) at a good discount. Beach Sprints (http://www.longbeachrowing.org/beach-sprints-january-29-2011)

CaptStash....

[thegunner]

OK, now you guys are making me feel old. Back in my college days I remember seeing Judy Geer, who is now Dick's wife, around the engineering school. Back then she was a collegiate (and US Olympic team) rower and they were running tests on a Model A (or maybe it was a prototype) down in the basement.

completely OT, but caryn davies is an asst. coach at my alma mater, and let me tell you something, it is definitely 1. a pleasure rowing with an olympic gold medalist, and 2. humbling as hell when she is much faster than you are.

[Louis]

humbling as hell when she is much faster than you are.

After I bought my Model C I realized that it would be a good idea to get some advice on technique in person so I went down to a St Louis Rowing Club workout to chat, watch and learn. Back then I was even slower than I am now, but still, I was amazed at the splits those guys were pulling. And they were just club-types, not even Olympic rowers. Anything below 2:00 for any extended period of time is very impressive IMO.

[happycampyer]

pretty fit? i'd say he's pretty jacked :pI was joking, of course.

Also OT, I recounted a story a couple of years ago across the hall about an experience I had as undergrad that was a very close encounter with guys the likes of Pete and Dick Dreissigacker. Since many here don't log in over there, here is the story...

* * *

I think if I did the CRASH-B Sprints I'd have a heart attack. I actually got to row with the Philly equivalent of the original CRASH-B's (i.e., the team) one morning at Vesper. I nearly died—never moved so fast in a boat in my life.

The story is kind of funny, although at the time it felt like a near-death-experience.

The CRASH-B’s were originally a bunch of ’96 and ’80 Olympians and World Champions that rowed together in Boston—the Charles River All-Star Has-Beens. Not sure if the team still exists, but they were FAST, to say the least. There was an equivalent group of Olympians and World Champions that rowed out of Vesper in Philly.

In the summer of ’83, I rowed on the lightweight crew at Vesper. One Saturday I got to the boathouse early, probably 6-ish, and it turned out I was way early for the lightweight practice. The only guys there were these heavyweights, stretching, farting, the usual. There were seven of them, and as time passed I noticed that they were getting agitated. After a while, they came up to me—towering over me, really—and explained that they were missing a man and asked me what side I rowed. So they lined up two straight fours with me in the two seat of one of them and, to even things out, they made two guys in the other boat switch sides(!).

Now, a straight four is a fast boat since you aren’t lugging a coxswain around. But a straight four with a bunch of Olympians is a FAST boat. Once we started doing pieces, I literally thought I was going to die. I was pulling harder than I had ever pulled, or even could have pulled, in a lightweight boat, and the boat was set like a rock. The guy in front of me must’ve been 6’5”, and with every stroke his back came at me like a total eclipse. I just prayed that I didn’t take his kidney out with my oar.

When we got back to the boathouse, the lightweight crew was just getting ready to head out, and the coach took one look at me, laughed, and told me to go home to sleep.

[thegunner]

@happycamper - you have my deepest sympathies. i thought rowing in an 8 with collegiate heavyweights every once in a while was bad. i would not want to be in a four with 3 olympians. disaster waiting to happen.

[CaptStash]

I was joking, of course.

The CRASH-B’s were originally a bunch of ’96 and ’80 Olympians and World Champions that rowed together in Boston—the Charles River All-Star Has-Beens. Not sure if the team still exists, but they were FAST, to say the least. There was an equivalent group of Olympians and World Champions that rowed out of Vesper in Philly.



Actually, that's sort of the sanitized version. The original name was the Charles River Assoc. of Sculling Has Beens, but that's another story. To wrap this back towards cycling though, one of the guys floating around the lightweight rowing world at that time was an old buddy of mine named Don Scales. Don was on the U.S. National Rowing Team for several years. I got to know him when we were both sculling out of the Long Beach rowing association. Don totally and completely blew out his back at the Long Beach Christmas regatta in the late 80's. He therefore quit rowing and took up...cycling.

Don wound-up working for Specialized for many years and owns the track world record for 40+ men in the standing start 500m.

And that's...the rest of the story!

CaptStash....