New Week New Start

What with a new week nearly upon me I intend to start putting in the hours on the rowing machine next week. Last week was difficult what with Christmas parties and events happening most evenings....I did however get some exercise - rowing and badminton.

Focus this week is going to be on rowing - outlook is....

• Rowing Monday
• Squash Tuesday
• Badminton Wednesday
• Rowing Thursday?
• Rest Day Friday
• Rowing - Weekend
  

That's my plan - hopefully I will report on progress later in the week.

Christmas List does now include RowPro !!

Hmmm I need a routine....

So no sooner do I get back from Holiday I'm going away again with work....to the worst place I can imagine - my idea of food hell - America.

Anyway enough with the excuses - back now and yes even in more need of the rowing machine.

Plan on getting my routine back together again from this point - will start blogging more frequently I hope.

I did have a row last week and to no surprise found it difficult - what did I expect :-)

What with Christmas around the corner I think I need to get busy !!!

I'm back....but for how long?

OK....so I have been away - just back from my holiday in Sri Lanka. Hence the lack of blogging activity and rowing. Before going away I was going pretty good on the rower - completed my first 30 minute session which was hard work - but I did it.

Have yet to jump back on after the holiday. Whilst I participated in a fair amount of eating and drinking (I was on holiday) I did remain very active. Played loads of sport including squash and beach volley ball. So I'm not expected that much of a decrease in fitness.

Well I guess watch this space - I have every intension to get up early and row in the morning however as I'm writing this I'm feeling somewhat tired.

Lots more rowing coming soon !

A less manic week for the rower !

This week has been a little less intensive on the rowing machine, in fact I have only rowed just the once. Thats not to say that I have been lazy. Rowed on Monday, played squash on Tuesday evening, Badminton on Wednesday evening then Squash again on Thursday. Had a days rest today (Friday) and plan on rowing both Saturday and Sunday. So still a busy week.

Have also come down with a cold which has not helped me to much.

I'm still seeing the benefits of rowing - my fitness has improved so much and this has helped my other sports. Others I'm playing with are also commenting on improved fitness.

So will row over the weekend and report my findings. May go a little easy what with this cold I have.

Final word goes to the England Rugby team who beat Tonga this evening - well done boys !

Not a bad session tonight

OK so had another 20 minute session tonight on the rower - pretty good. Once again improvement in my distance and time. Since starting two weeks ago I have improved by two seconds on my 500 meter pace. I'm pretty happy with that.

Tomorrow is another squash game - I expect it to be difficult - I will warm down this time !!

Over the weekend I will post my times which are in my Concept 2 log file. Will make for interesting reading in the weeks/months to follow. May the improvement keep on coming.

Physically I am feeling different - I have certainly started to tone up and feel the benefits. Still need to be careful with my back......technique technique technique!

Some Improvement - I think so.....

Ended the week with a good squash result winning 3-2 in what has to be one of my hardest fought games this year. Whilst the game was physically challenging, I'm pleased to say that I felt a distinct improvement in my fitness - as was also noticed by my opponent. Stupid me failed to warm down properly resulting in some prolonged pain over the weekend - never again !

So weigh in day on Sunday, I had lost approx 3 pounds which I am happy about. Nothing changed with by diet - just healthy amounts of exercise.

Decided to take a small break from the rowing as I have had a few back niggles which have caused me a little concern. Not sure if this is a result of the squash or the rowing. Probably a combination of both.

Another squash match on Monday lunch time - easy win - 6-0 or something like that. Not much of a game however another indication that fitness is on the up.

Decided to get back on the rower tonight with my back feeling somewhat better. 20 minute session using my previous best as a pace boat. For the 20 minute session I clocked up 4,662 meters. Averages include: -

• Average of 208.7 for 500 meters
• Average of 25 Strokes Per Minute (SPM)

At the end of the session I felt very good, finished strong. Was tempted to continue but did not want to over do it. Tomorrow I have badminton in the evening - aim to row again on Thursday.

Will report back on my technique in my next blog posting.

A well deserved rest day

So today ended up being a rest day for me after what turned out to be a very eventful Wednesday. I managed to get up early enough on Wednesday to complete a good 15 minute rowing session where I comfortably was able to maintain and beat my previous 15 minute outing.

Whilst the rowing was good the same cannot be said for the squash game I had later that day. I felt heavy on my feet and sluggish around the court. I think I probably underestimated the amount of effort the rowing in the morning had taken out of me. The good news however was that my fitness on court felt much better. Never mind, a 3-1 loss to a player who told me that he had his best ever game - could be worse. I was due to play today but was let off by a double booking on the court - so I'm pleased of the days rest. Tomorrows another day and another squash game.

I continue to read up on the rowing technique - I think I need to work on the beginning of my Drive - my shins are a little way past vertical so will work on that next session. Also need to work on keeping my arms straighter. Found this out in the Indoor Rowing Training Guide - Version 2 on the Concept 2 website. More detail on that another time ! For now goodnight.

A good steady session tonight.....

OK so I failed to wake up early enough to make it onto my rower this morning but I made up by having a good steady session this evening. Ended up completing the following: -

1. 1 minute warm Up (after a 7 minute walk home from the train station)
   
2. 20 minute row
   
3. 1 minute warm down
   
4. 250 meter warm up
   
5. 1000 meter sprint
6. 250 meter warm down

I was actually very pleased with the 20 minutes row - felt OK - tiring at the very end. Considering how early on in the day it is not bad - covered 4,585 meters averaging 2:10 for 500 meters. Slow and steady but something to work with. Will use this as the pace boat for tomorrows session. The 1000 meter sprint was interesting - averaged 1:54 for 500 meters - not as quick as my first attempt at the weekend - good news is that I finished stronger than my previous 1000 meter effort.

Another day tomorrow - hopefully will be playing squash at lunch and a repeat of this evening on the rowing machine.

RowPro - early impressions are good!

OK so it has only been one session with RowPro but my first impressions are very good. It added to the session and provided me with some really useful information not to mention made me look like a real pro (graphically that is...). More to follow on RowPro when I can make a better judgment!

Anyway, to continue with my quick posting - I may have previously mentioned that another reason for buying an indoor rower was for help me loose a little weight. So I decided to weigh myself tonight and the damage is 93.2kg or 14.7 stone. Now I'm 6 feet 3" or 191cm tall and web research tells me that my ideal weight should be around the 90kg or 14.2 stone. This just so happens to be the weight I was when I felt my best - so will be my target. Reports to follow.

Tomorrow the first morning session will happen. Can't say I'm looking forward to it as I like my bed !

It has arrived......no going back now !

So I decided to do it - purchase a new Concept 2 indoor rowing machine.....and it arrived yesterday. After days and days or should I say months and months of deliberation I decided to go all out. In my mind I needed to justify spending the £900+ on a piece of equipment that could become the most expensive clothes hanger in my house....which I'm determined will not happen.

So why this decision? Well I have been finding it difficult to get to the gym as a result of work and other interests. So time has been a big factor. When I was visiting the gym frequently I spent most of my cardio time on a rowing machine as I found that this gave me the complete workout that I needed. Now when I go to the gym its to play squash - another interest requiring time !!

So why create this blog? For me, I want something to look back on and hopefully see progress. A DVD that came with the rower (yes sadly I did watch it) encouraged exactly this sort of activity to help maintain usage and enthusiasm.

So week one is going to be about self discovery and asking lots of training and technique questions. Its also going to be about playing with the 20 day RowPro license that came with the rower. To start with I'm also going to begin by rowing 3000 meters twice a day (am/pm). And finally I'm going to be studying the Concept 2 training guide for recommended workouts !

I'm looking forward to reading the many other rowing blogs out there and I hope to learn something new from them ! In time maybe this blog will also become a useful source for others with a similar interest.

Any recommendations/guidance for a new indoor rower welcome !