Concept II Rower
   

Learning to Row:

General Notes

• Use a damper setting of 3 for starters. This may feel light at first, but once you get used to the motion and get the wheel Indoor Cycling faster, the resistance will rise.
• Start a training log: use a calendar or scrap paper or your computer or a log page supplied by CII - it will be rewarding to monitor your progress. Be sure to record every meter so you can join the CII Million Meter Club when you get that far!
• Look for a workout partner or ask about rowing classes at a local health club: it will probably make your workouts more fun and will help you stick to your new routine.
• Stretch before and after your workouts. Warm up for 5 minutes by rowing easily, with a few 10-15 stroke spurts of harder rowing.

Your First Few Workouts:

1. Your first row: Resist the temptation to row for 30 minutes the first time on the machine. We recommend starting with no more than 5 minutes at a time. Then take a break to stretch and walk around. If you feel good - do up to 4 of these short intervals of rowing.
2. Next row: begin experimenting with stroke rate and power. Stroke rate is your cadence in strokes per minute. It is displayed in the upper right corner of the Performance Monitor. Power is how hard you are pulling. It is displayed in a choice of units in the central display area : watts, calories, pace. Try some 3 minute intervals, varying stroke rate and pace, with one minute of very easy rowing in between for rest. Workout: 3 min at 24 spm, comfortable effort; 1 min rest: 3 min at 24 spm, harder effort; 1 min rest; 3 min at 28 spm comfortable; 1 min rest; 3 min at 28 spm, harder, 3 min rest. End with 10 minutes of steady state rowing at whatever spm and power are comfortable. Be sure to note the power and spm you settle on - you will use it next workout.
3. Introduce longer rowing with stroke rate variation. Workout: Do four 5 minutes pieces, varying the stroke rate as follows: spm 24 for first 2 minutes; spm 28 for next 2 minutes; and 30 spm for last minute. Then rest by rowing very easily for 2 minutes, before starting the next 5 minute piece. Your work pace should be faster than your 10 minute pace from last workout.
4. Longer steady rowing. Workout: Two 10 minute pieces with 3 minutes rest in between. Try to go a little faster than you did for the 10 minute piece in workout 2.
5. Short intervals for variety and for a chance to see how fast a pace you can achieve. Workout: Row 1 minute hard, 1 minute easy for a total of 20 minutes. Watch the central display for your pace. Record your paces after the workout using the RECALL function on the PM2
6. Benchmark Piece: 30 minutes, non-stop. Definitely record your total meters rowed for this piece. You should repeat this workout periodically, every few weeks, to see how you are progressing. You can also send it in to the Concept II Annual World Ranking.

The Rest of Your Workouts

• to get in shape: maintain a variety of workouts that you enjoy. Definitely keep track of your progress by keeping a log.
  
• to lose weight: the harder and longer you row, the more calories you burn. However, if you row too hard, you won’t be able to row very long. So for calorie burn, focus on longer workouts, pacing yourself so that you can get through them. Use the approximate calorie display on the PM2 to track your calories burned.
  
• to improve your scores: Use a variety of workouts to keep pushing your limits both in terms of maximum pace you can maintain and overall endurance. For example, if you want to improve your 30 minute score, do some interval workouts where you row faster than your 30-minute pace; but also do some 40 minute rows at slower than 30 minute pace. Then come back to the 30 minute piece every couple weeks