Posted: 1/23/2015 9:04:57 AM EDT
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Alright...I decided to incorporate some HIIT rowing to my program. Until about 20 minutes ago, I had never been on a rower before. I set it up with 30 second work/rest intervals, put the damper to 10, then started. The first pull had quite a lot of tension, but from the 2nd pull on, there was literally no tension in the chain. It was so little, I had nothing to pull against and was struggling to keep from falling off the seat. I could have rowed all day at that tension and not gotten my heart rate above 100. I tried multiple damper settings, all the same thing: tension first pull, little to none after that. What am I missing? Is there some super secret technique I'm not privy to? Did I miss a setting? The work required to move the machine would nowhere nearly suffice as a HIIT workout. I come to ARFCOM because the idiot working at the gym had no clue. Thanks in advance.
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| There is some issue with the rower. The tension should be relatively the same for each pull. The damper controls the amount of air allowed to contact the spinning fan. More air allowed in equals more tension and thus the fan spins more quickly and with less force required. That then allows for a higher rate of rows. And it usually isn't best to put the damper on 10. You can row faster and get a better workout on a lower damper. Do some research on drag factor. That is what is important, and should be based in part on your body weight. |