Daily rowing...help!
Jenny in Atlanta
You know who you are.
You. Row. Every. Day.
I'm a healthy person who loves to be fit. Given the ideal situation, I
spend an hour a day on fitness to row, stretch and do some strength
training. My challenge is establishing and keeping that daily routine.
When I have a change in routine due to work commitments, my fitness
regimen is the first thing to go and I have a terrible time getting it
re-established.
What's your best tip to get (and keep) me on track?
Jenny in Atlanta
Peter Kim
If you're training to keep wolves at bay, you'll make the time. My own quest for BP and weight reduction got serious when I got freaked out after an ER visit, replete with night sweats from stress, etc. Daily exercise (ideally twice daily) was key for me to get those under control -- in addition to altered nutrition, sleep habits, cutting back on stressors, etc.
The first few weeks most anyone can do on their own. But sooner or later, we all benefit from external encouragement, either seeing your numbers improve, or from others, like Xeno or fellow students/rowers. It helps to follow through on desires to explore at this point, instead of constantly turning aside. Too much curbing your own interest here can end up really putting a damper on things (though you have to be sensible and not go hog wild). Subscribing to rowing blogs and sites, getting books on rowing, checking out CrossFit, the Concept2 and WaterRower sites, etc. keep the fire alive.
These should supplement, not supplant, your rowing.
Do you have a rowing machine at home, already? Rowing daily really benefits from having one, so you can row without having to overcome the inertia of getting to a club or gym.
The Row Daily book by Dustin Ordway is a nice dense little thing, which emphasizes an approach of rowing for fitness, and rowing every day being more important than anything else -- even technique, to start with. He addresses heart rate monitoring, but points out that for fitness purposes, you can row simply to the point of noting that you have to breathe harder, without a HR monitor. His emphasis is on having as few impediments between you and daily rowing as possible.
But lots of folks like to row with some degree of comparison mixed in -- how your numbers compare to your own, and to others. It's hard to do that if you don't keep track of numbers, whether distance, heart rate, duration, or split times/intensity -- the main disadvantage to rowing just by feel. Concept2 has an online logbook where you can track your own #s, and there are iPhone apps that sync to it (and Facebook can put it on your FB home page). Plus you can highlight your #s from here and Tweet them for yourself and your fellow rowers.
Hope this helps!
--
Best,
Peter "Beck" Kim
http://www.peterbeckkim.com
on Twitter at http://twitter.com/doccottle
--
To unsubscribe, reply using "remove me" as the subject.
Iron Oarsman
Jenny in Atlanta
helpful.
I have a waterrower at home which takes away the easy excuse for
neglecting my daily fitness regimen. I also have a few wolves - a
family history of osteoporosis and a few weak muscle groups that
affect my posture and mobility without regular strength training.
That's why I love rowing - it builds up my legs and the muscles
beneath my shoulder blades helping to give me the knee stablity and
posture correction I need. Plus it's never boring to row with Xeno.
Upon reading your post, I think having no live competition or
camaraderie is the issue for me. I used to teach fitness classes and
was always on top of my game when a group of people worked out with
me. Love, love, love your idea of tweeting out my stats and using a
widget to reach the Concept2 site. That's a great way to connect to
some rowing devotees. I also love to learn so I'll pick up Dustin
Orway's book and scout out the sites you mentioned for more info.
Thanks so much for the detailed answer to my post. It was just the
motivation I needed.
With kind regards,
Jenny in Atlanta
On Apr 10, 11:14 pm, Peter Kim <doccott...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Partly it depends on inertia, partly on motivation.
>
> If you're training to keep wolves at bay, you'll make the time. My own quest
> for BP and weight reduction got serious when I got freaked out after an ER
> visit, replete with night sweats from stress, etc. Daily exercise (ideally
> twice daily) was key for me to get those under control -- in addition to
> altered nutrition, sleep habits, cutting back on stressors, etc.
>
> The first few weeks most anyone can do on their own. But sooner or later, we
> all benefit from external encouragement, either seeing your numbers improve,
> or from others, like Xeno or fellow students/rowers. It helps to follow
> through on desires to explore at this point, instead of constantly turning
> aside. Too much curbing your own interest here can end up really putting a
> damper on things (though you have to be sensible and not go hog wild).
> Subscribing to rowing blogs and sites, getting books on rowing, checking out
> CrossFit, the Concept2 and WaterRower sites, etc. keep the fire alive.
>
> These should supplement, not supplant, your rowing.
>
> Do you have a rowing machine at home, already? Rowing daily really benefits
> from having one, so you can row without having to overcome the inertia of
> getting to a club or gym.
>
> The Row Daily<http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0595434371/ref=kinw_rke_rti_1>book
> by Dustin Ordway is a nice dense little thing, which emphasizes an
> approach of rowing for fitness, and rowing every day being more important
> than anything else -- even technique, to start with. He addresses heart rate
> monitoring, but points out that for fitness purposes, you can row simply to
> the point of noting that you have to breathe harder, without a HR monitor.
> His emphasis is on having as few impediments between you and daily rowing as
> possible.
>
> But lots of folks like to row with *some* degree of comparison mixed in --
> how your numbers compare to your own, and to others. It's hard to do that if
> you don't keep track of numbers, whether distance, heart rate, duration, or
> split times/intensity -- the main disadvantage to rowing just by feel.
> Concept2 has an online
> logbook<http://www.concept2.com/sranking03/log_start.asp>where you can
> track your own #s, and there are iPhone apps that sync to it
> (and Facebook can put it on your FB home page). Plus you can highlight your
> #s from here and Tweet them for yourself and your fellow rowers.
>
> Hope this helps!
>
> --
> Best,
> Peter "Beck" Kimhttp://www.peterbeckkim.com
> on Twitter athttp://twitter.com/doccottle
>
> On Sat, Apr 10, 2010 at 3:57 PM, Jenny in Atlanta
> <jenny.traut...@gmail.com>wrote: