Got on the rowing machine for the first time last night. Good stuff.
It didn't beat me up like running does. That's probably good. I started off too fast. Sort of like running, you have to temper your enthusiasm for the first few minutes, because what seems like easy stuff gets a lot harder after you've been doing it for a while.
I adjusted the drag factor (resistance) with the little vent-adjustment device on the side. Once you do that, you can get the computer to tell you your exact resistance because the vent-adjustment is not that precise. My factor was 115. What, precisely, that means, I'm not too sure.
Seems to be good enough for what I want to do for now.
I didn't have any music down there. I'm fixing that by dragging down some speakers for my iPod.
I tried a few different 500 meter workouts, but so far the one I like best is the 2,000 meter workout. I was able to do it, completely, twice. The first time was just a tad under 10 minutes. The second time, I was at 9:10. I was trying to break 9:00, but I started my final sprint just a little too soon and gassed out.
I did a total of 6,000 yards, and the other 2,000 were either 500 meter repeats and/or just general goofing around.
It's sort of interesting that the machine remembers what you did. So, you can race against previous bests, etc. Next session, I'll probably try to establish a 10K PR.
They actually had a marathon as one of the possibilities. I can't imagine spending that kind of time rowing.
This is going to work out well. I obviously want to maintain my cardio-vascular health, and my heart doesn't care whether I get the exercise rowing, running or riding a bike. I need to be able to do at least a reasonable amount of running for the Navy, but meeting the minimums isn't usually that bad.
Having the rowing machine will let me cut down a bit on the running. At the current time, I am thinking of cutting down to 3 or 4 days a week, max. It's taking a toll on my knees for sure.
Having healthy heart and arteries is nice, but so is being able to walk when you're old.
The other nice thing about jumbling things up is that the more you do one exercise, the more your body adapts to it. So, you get better at it, but it doesn't stress your system as much. By doing mutiple forms of exercise, your body gets better benefit from each session, I think.
Checking the C2 web-site, rowing seems to be mostly interval work, like swimming. When I was in peak swimming shape, I almost never swam more than 500 yards during any one interval. Yet, it translated to optimal performance in the water.
I think the only reason you don't do all-interval workouts with running is because of the risk of injury. Interval workouts probably are optimal in terms of increasing performance.
Other than that, took my Arabic test and did pretty well. I need to put some more of my junk up for auction. The house is a money pit. Basically, nothing is new.
Logan has a football game tomorrow and a scrimmage on Sunday. As always, a great weekend if you're a Dad who likes watching sports.
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