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The Complete Guide to Indoor Rowing
Indoor rowing machines (or ergometers) were once used only by outdoor rowers during their winter training. Over the last twenty years however the benefits of indoor rowing have attracted more and more users, and now every gym comes with one as standard. It's also a sport in its own right, with competitions ranging from school leagues to the European and World Championships.
The Complete Guide to Indoor Rowing is the first comprehensive book to focus on this unique form of strength-endurance training. Clearly illustrated in full colour and packed with information, training plans, tips and techniques, it is suitable for serious athletes, outdoor rowers and regular gym users alike, and is a must for health professionals and coaches.
Whether you are attracted by the weight-loss benefits of the rowing machine or using it to coach cross-training athletes, this book will help you get the best from each session while, crucially, remaining injury-free.
The Complete Guide to Indoor Rowing is the first comprehensive book to focus on this unique form of strength-endurance training. Clearly illustrated in full colour and packed with information, training plans, tips and techniques, it is suitable for serious athletes, outdoor rowers and regular gym users alike, and is a must for health professionals and coaches.
Whether you are attracted by the weight-loss benefits of the rowing machine or using it to coach cross-training athletes, this book will help you get the best from each session while, crucially, remaining injury-free.
- GenresSportsNonfiction
192 pages, Paperback
First published May 10, 2012
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24 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 29, 2020
it seems to cover the subject. I'm far from an expert on rowing, but I feel I know a lot more than I did before I read it. I might need a coach to critique my attempt at stroking, but I suspect I'm avoiding the most tragic mistakes. I might also not be terrible for my age, but the world records appear safe for now.
For better or worse, the book is highly focused on one specific brand of rowing ergometer: the competitive standard Concept2. This is understandable because of the brand's long-held dominance among on-water rowing clubs. However, there are many other brands of rowing ergometer in gyms. As the Concept2 uses air drag for resistance, it is noisier than either magnetic or water rowers. Some gyms may prefer to have quieter machines, especially those with a general fitness orientation and no orientation toward competitive rowing.
As ergometers measure work rather than distance, the book's overemphasis on the inferred distance readouts from the Concept2, rather than on watts or calores (measuring the rower's power and work output, respectively) makes the book a bit less informative for rowers who are stuck using other brands of rower at their gym. However, all is not lost. The Concept2 site has a 500m split time to watts calculator, which one can use to determine what a particular 2000m time on the Concept2 rower might mean on whatever brand you have at your gym. That is, you can rely mainly on your watts and time or calories rather than your speed or distance. For example, a 2000m row in 6 minutes on the Concept2 requires an average power output of 480 watts, which is quite elite. If you manage the same power output for six minutes on any other rowing machine, or on any other kind of aerobic machine (bike, stair climber, etc.) you did very close to the same workout. (And if you can sustain 480 watts you should consider applying to row for your nation's Olympic team...) That is, assuming the various machines are calibrated correctly to display your watts accurately.
The book makes the interesting point that (on-water) rowing is the Olympic sport with the greatest dependence on one single item of exercise equipment - the Concept2. It's a widely available machine that provides useful training for rowers at far less cost and with far greater convenience than on-water rowing, and is available regardless of weather. As the relationship between Concept2 performance and on-water performance is well-established, rowing clubs can use the Concept2 to rapidly and cheaply screen aspiring rowers to identify prospects for further on-water training. Somehow this has become true despite the Concept2's widely acknowledged shortcomings at precisely duplicating the feel and technique of actual on-water sculling or sweep-rowing. I guess it's close enough.
One surprising omission from the book is any real mention of cooling. As my main activity is real bicycling, I'm used to a steady cooling breeze created by my own forward motion. Moving to indoor aerobic exercise during winter or bad weather comes as a bit of a shock. I need the direct blast of a fan of decent power, or else my head soon explodes in sweat which runs into my eyes and blinds me, and drips off my elbows onto the floor. Very unpleasant. The book only mentions sweat and overheating peripherally, when it seems to me the very first obstacle for the serious indoor aerobic exerciser to overcome. With a decent fan setup I can train at over 200W for extended periods (an hour or more) without too much of a sweat nuisance. As the Concept2 is an air machine, it blows a bit of a breeze back at the user. Not so with magnetic or water rowers.
For better or worse, the book is highly focused on one specific brand of rowing ergometer: the competitive standard Concept2. This is understandable because of the brand's long-held dominance among on-water rowing clubs. However, there are many other brands of rowing ergometer in gyms. As the Concept2 uses air drag for resistance, it is noisier than either magnetic or water rowers. Some gyms may prefer to have quieter machines, especially those with a general fitness orientation and no orientation toward competitive rowing.
As ergometers measure work rather than distance, the book's overemphasis on the inferred distance readouts from the Concept2, rather than on watts or calores (measuring the rower's power and work output, respectively) makes the book a bit less informative for rowers who are stuck using other brands of rower at their gym. However, all is not lost. The Concept2 site has a 500m split time to watts calculator, which one can use to determine what a particular 2000m time on the Concept2 rower might mean on whatever brand you have at your gym. That is, you can rely mainly on your watts and time or calories rather than your speed or distance. For example, a 2000m row in 6 minutes on the Concept2 requires an average power output of 480 watts, which is quite elite. If you manage the same power output for six minutes on any other rowing machine, or on any other kind of aerobic machine (bike, stair climber, etc.) you did very close to the same workout. (And if you can sustain 480 watts you should consider applying to row for your nation's Olympic team...) That is, assuming the various machines are calibrated correctly to display your watts accurately.
The book makes the interesting point that (on-water) rowing is the Olympic sport with the greatest dependence on one single item of exercise equipment - the Concept2. It's a widely available machine that provides useful training for rowers at far less cost and with far greater convenience than on-water rowing, and is available regardless of weather. As the relationship between Concept2 performance and on-water performance is well-established, rowing clubs can use the Concept2 to rapidly and cheaply screen aspiring rowers to identify prospects for further on-water training. Somehow this has become true despite the Concept2's widely acknowledged shortcomings at precisely duplicating the feel and technique of actual on-water sculling or sweep-rowing. I guess it's close enough.
One surprising omission from the book is any real mention of cooling. As my main activity is real bicycling, I'm used to a steady cooling breeze created by my own forward motion. Moving to indoor aerobic exercise during winter or bad weather comes as a bit of a shock. I need the direct blast of a fan of decent power, or else my head soon explodes in sweat which runs into my eyes and blinds me, and drips off my elbows onto the floor. Very unpleasant. The book only mentions sweat and overheating peripherally, when it seems to me the very first obstacle for the serious indoor aerobic exerciser to overcome. With a decent fan setup I can train at over 200W for extended periods (an hour or more) without too much of a sweat nuisance. As the Concept2 is an air machine, it blows a bit of a breeze back at the user. Not so with magnetic or water rowers.
April 20, 2017
First, anyone who thinks I am not an eclectic reader can now adjust their view.
Missing from this ebook that would have been of great value are video links to the technique. Reading even with with decent photos on this subject is a little like learning opera with the mute button on. Still, a good book for anyone with an indoor rower at hand, and a desire to incorporate it into workouts.
Missing from this ebook that would have been of great value are video links to the technique. Reading even with with decent photos on this subject is a little like learning opera with the mute button on. Still, a good book for anyone with an indoor rower at hand, and a desire to incorporate it into workouts.
April 3, 2025
Well written, with lots of facts and data. The info on coaching was interesting. I liked that it attempted to address training for competition indoors, training indoors to help with on-water performance, and training for general health and fitness. I do wish the last topic had been covered in more detail.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews