question about rowing

Rowing is good for you, but not as good as running on concrete. Depending if you are male or female, big or little, muscular or not has a lot to do with your rowing time. If you are a medium sized male on the Concept2 1:30 would be a very good time. I think the world record is around 1:15. I am small and not too muscular. I can do 1:40 which isn't that great.

1. I don't think so but it feels good for the arms and back. I feel a lot stronger when rowing. It seems like it would be good if you raced something with power endurance like 400m or 800m.

2. My best 500m was 1:32 after a couple months of practicing three or four times a week. My best 2000m was 7:0x. Since graduating I haven't had regular access to a Concept2 but I could do a 1:40 easily. 1:40 is decent. 1:45 is okay for a first-timer. I am 5'11" and have lifted weights for a long time so that probably helped.

The taller you are, the better you'll be. 1:30 and under would be very good. 6:50 would be a solid 2000m. I never took up rowing with my school because I was too short for the regular crew and too heavy for the lightweight. I'd like to buy a Concept2 someday.

It should not take the place of any of your running training.

1:40 is OK. But if you are a college 400m runner then you are probably very good and you should be able to pull a 1:30-1:35 unless you are a huge spazz. If you are in HS then why look at letsrun? Either move up in distance or stop wasting your time here.

Concentrating on 500m TT's is not useful either. What you need to be doing are hard pieces of 2:00, 4:00, 6:00 and 8:00 with 1:00-2:00 min easy. My favorite workout last year was 60:00 this way -- 8:00 hard / 2:00 easy, start at 2:00 pace for the first and then 1:59, 1:58, 1:57, 1:56, then all-out at 1:50-1:52.

It works your quads most and therefore is not the greatest training for running.

skulls and daggers wrote:

I feel a lot stronger when rowing.

I mean this in a muscular kind of strength, not as much a running strength. Weights and rowing are bonuses. Running is first.

Did a lot of work on the erg during a long term injury spell 4-5 years ago.

Agree with most of the previous respondents in that it shouldn't really be looked at as a replacement for quality running workouts. It could possibly be used instead of a traditional weightlifting session or as additional aerobic work on top of a specific running program. A 500m time trial done properly with leave your whole body absolutely jelly for a while, and you'll possibly be in need of a bucket if you've eaten recently.

Looking back at old training diaries, when I was doing it I got to 1:28.2 for 500m, 6:46.5 for 2000m, 17:48.9 for 5000m, 37:30.6 for 10,000m, 1:21.24.8 for 21,097m, and 15,960m in a 60 min session. Hit a top speed of 1:17/500m during a 30sec all-out sprint. Very sore sgoulders, arms, and gluteus maximus muscles after long sessions on it, so they weren't very frequent! Combined it with stationary bike, stairmaster, and pool running workouts for variety during that time. Haven't used it for a long time now though.