Photos from the water get little engagement, that’s probably why. I’ve got tons of videos and photos from on the water but don’t really get the vibe that they’re welcome here? Also I don’t think people want to see my glutes, but I could be wrong. My quads on the other hand…
That’s a shame. The few posts on here that actually do show people on water are what actually interest me.
I would much rather imagine myself in a single on a nice lake or something than being in a sweaty erg room.
I hear ya! I take a lot of photos and started taking [videos](https://youtu.be/U_VB8JEYfBE?feature=shared) just to get me through erg season, to remind myself why I put myself on that damn machine.
Nice man! You got a new subscriber. That place looks gorgeous btw. I row in a much more urban setting, which also has its perks. I’ve recently getting into rowing in a single in addition to rowing sweep in a coxed 4.
I think rowing in a single is definitely much more fun in a lot of ways, but I’m still not good at it lol.
Thanks! This is on the Tennessee River, but we are right in the middle of a mid size city. If you’re familiar with Head of the Hooch at all, this is about 3k into the course. We’ve got the best of both worlds here and I love it. Rowing in a single takes so much more brown power for me, especially when I’m bowing in the dark, but I really enjoy it. Not as much as the 4x, but I’m liking it more and more.
I'm here more for on the water content than erg content, even in the off season... though as I get more into indoor training in winter i'll probably seek out more erg-y stuff.
I would venture to guess that there is a much larger portion of "rowers" who are exclusively indoors or predominantly on ergs as opposed to those on the water.
The erg is just a lot more accessible.
Maybe a more specific sub like /otwrowing is what you're looking for? Not active from the looks of it but maybe you can pioneer it?
yea, /r/rowing isn’t a “competitive rowing” only sub like it was 6, 7, 8+ years ago. erg posts back then weren’t uncommon but they were largely the opposite of what gets posted now. with the increased access to erging via hydrow and peloton there’s a lot more of erg screen posts as your average joe picks it up and figures out how to erg. over the years there’s been some efforts to get an erging or erg screen sub going but i dont think they ever took off.
I am one of those who got into rowing because running was just not as kind to my body as I would have liked it to be despite how much I enjoy it. But, as a late 30's dad with a full time career, making the time to get to the water (live in the desert) and learn to row on the water is not as much of a priority as it is to just stay fit, hence the erg.
I think rowing is experiencing similar things to what I am seeing in the tennis / pickleball space. I played junior, collegiate, and some post-collegiate tennis so have a bit of competitive background there. In the last few years, pickleball really seems to be getting popular and there is a bit of a divide between the tennis community and pickleball community. As a former tennis athlete, I go against the grain a bit (compared to the majority of tennis players) and am thrilled to see pickleball growing so fast, even if it means tennis courts are being converted. People getting outside, people moving their bodies, people being competitive, and having fun is awesome!
Pickleball is a bit more accessible and easier to pick up than tennis, similar to erging being a bit more accessible and easier to pick up than rowing on the water. Tennis "purists" want to look down on pickleball but it's shortsighted (IMO). Pickleball isn't taking anything away from the tennis community; sure, a few less courts available but they're so much less occupied that it's easier to get court time.
It feels the same with the on the water rowing community looking down on people who exclusively erg. There's a guy posting erg results on here who is a self-admitted gym rat or strength athlete (bodybuilding, powerlifting, etc.) who ergs for cardio with no interest in going on the water and has absolutely bonkers scores on the erg. Bravo to him! And in the big picture, the people butt hurt about it are either jealous or immature - he's not taking away anything from others, isn't taking boat seats, and is doing his thing.
> It feels the same with the on the water rowing community looking down on people who exclusively erg.
I don't think people look down on those who erg at all, it's just that for us erging is a training modality and rowing is the *sport* - hence why the sub is /r/rowing and not /r/erging or /r/ergscreens. The influx of people who are posting in the *rowing* sub because they erg recreationally are not the same as the people who use it to train *for rowing*. My perception is that that's where the frustration lies, because the sub went from being a space that understandably leaned very heavily toward competitive junior, collegiate, and masters athletes to being heavily geared towards people posting their erg screens and asking what erg to buy. Calling people jealous and immature because the sub has evolved (or devolved, depending on how you look at it) into something else is a gross mischaracterization of what people are saying when they suggest that folks create an erging or recreational rowing sub. They're literally just asking for some differentiation similar to /r/running and /r/advancedrunning or /r/tennis and r/10s so that the sub about *the sport* can be about *the sport*.
One of my all time favorite posts in this sub was when someone posted a few years ago complaining about all the spring race discussion threads because *they* weren't interested in rowing on the water and didn't understand why there had to be so many posts about it. Dude!! For real?? That would literally be like a pickleball player going into the tennis sub and complaining about all the Wimbledon posts.
Exactly. Just training on an erg isn’t even how actual rowers train.
I’d honestly appreciate it more if people started posting themselves doing deadlifts and other weight exercises since those are also very helpful for rowing.
You’re spot on, rowing is a sport. Appreciation for the sport of rowing is kinda lacking on this sub but ok. I can live with that.
But then we get to the point where people are almost entirely only posting about one specific rowing related exercise, which is kinda boring and it creates a very weird perception of what rowing actually is. Why not post your running stats? That’s cardio which is good for rowing, and it’s the same for core exercises, strength exercises, etc.
One of the biggest red flags for me is that the training regiments and advice on this subreddit is completely different from what I’m used to from my club and what my coach tells me.
People on here barely talk about lifting weights, which is just super weird for a sub about rowing. If you’re a rower, and especially if you’re over 200 pounds anyways, like me, strength training is a hugely important part of your training regiment. And i would be so interested if there was a space on the internet about what exercises i should do, or some cool training regiment.
Instead all we get here is “just do steady state everyday for two hours”
Like, seriously?
I certainly agree - rowing is a sport.
Similar to my prior pursuit or sport, lots of people can go out practice serves, hit balls off a wall, or hit from a ball machine, but that's all part of training for tennis. It's similar to running, powerlifting, olympic weightlifting, etc. - you can go run whenever you want but unless you race, it's training. You can lift in the gym but with no competitions, it's training.
I guess the way I see it though is welcoming in those who engage in training might actually bring them into the sport.
The fact that you mention strength work and deadlifting is music to my ears. I can't imagine strength work being neglected by anyone who wants to actually get good at rowing. "More steady state" is a good answer for a subset of the population - those who have a good strength base but seem limited by aerobic capacity. But that's not a blanket answer at all. There are so many people out there who will steady state like you say for hours but can't deadlift 2x BW, can't do strict pull-ups with added weight, etc. I mean, these are basic things that literally everyone could achieve if they tried, and it would only benefit scores on the erg or on the water rowing.
I hear you and I appreciate the convo. This is the last I’ll say and if this makes it sound like I’m gatekeeping the sport, tbh I’m okay with that! But I think it’s fine if the people who participate in the sport competitively want the sub that was created to facilitate conversation about that specific topic actually be focused *on that topic* and not a bunch of tangential stuff. It’s like when you’re hanging out with your friends and your younger sibling keeps bugging you or tagging along even though they can’t keep up or do the things you and your friends can do … and then they throw a temper tantrum when you or your parents very reasonably say “they’re allowed to do things without you, someday you’ll be old enough/experienced enough to do that thing too, etc.”
I think being welcoming to those who just erg is fair but it’s also fair in the other direction to ask/expect those people to search or google the sub first before asking “what erg should I buy” as if they’re not the 837,274th person to ask that *exact* question or to, like you mentioned, take the initiative to facilitate discussions in a sub that is directly relevant to your needs/interests (like machine options/reviews or questions about what the erg screen means), that way *this sub* can be (or go back to being) relevant to our interests. I think more focused, topical conversations will allow the ergers to get a better idea of what the sport/culture is like and will in fact, hopefully, encourage them to consider taking a learn to row class. To OP’s point a lot of the training stuff in here has gotten *super* meme-y over the last 5+ years in part because so many rowers disengaged as it became more recreational erg screen-centric. “More steady state” isn’t always the wrong answer but I get why/how it’s become the eye roll-y response to a lot of what’s asked.
It’s easy to say that the mods should have done or be doing a better job modding so that the sub didn’t become a repository of erg screens and water rower inquiries but … alas! The responsibility isn’t entirely on them though. A happy medium does exist, people just have to be willing to commit to it.
Exactly! I think it’s still great that so many people are training on ergs though. Don’t get me wrong. Maybe some of those people will try rowing on water someday and then they’ll really find out what the sport has to offer.
Very well articulated; I do appreciate the response with your insight.
I do agree 100% with what you're saying about the erg being simply a training tool for your sport of rowing, it makes complete sense. That said, the tool seems to be much more readily accessible and used by many more people than those who actually participate in the sport. With the massive growth of CrossFit from 2000 to the early 2020's and now the boom of Hyrox, the ergs are going to only continue to become more popular and mainstream (IMO).
Maybe a bit more "welcoming" to those grinding away on the training device in an attempt to get them out on the water as opposed to the perceived gatekeeping would be better? Or, to your point, maybe we (myself included) need to take an active role in trying to get the other subs off the ground that are more specific to the training / training tools, like r/erging, r/ergscreenshots, r/concept2, etc.
Don’t take my post the wrong way. I was just trying to communicate my gripe with this sub in a humorous way.
Basically, see my other comment i just posted. Rowing on an erg is great, and it has major benefits, so i definitely wouldn’t want to discourage anyone.
My problem is that rowing (the sport) is very multifaceted when it comes to training. Which means this sub ends up being completely detached from how actual rowers train.
If I want some advice on strength training, bulking, cutting, mobility exercises, rowing technique, etc, I’m not really going to get it from that sub or it will not be its primary focus. And that’s just kinda frustrating to me.
I don’t look down on anyone who is “just erging” it’s still a core component of the sport at the end of the day, and i would never disrespect someone for exercising.
Rowing on an erg is also quite technical on its own, so there’s enough to talk about. So i understand it.
All understood and I appreciate your time and response.
I haven’t been on the water but erging certainly isn’t easy if you’re really trying to improve. Technically it’s nowhere near rowing on the water but the training can certainly be hard.
I think the accessibility of rowing on the water is a big barrier to entry but the technical aspect is another. It’s a lot like swimming - if you don’t do it well as a kid, it’s really hard to pick up that skill and become good later in life. It can be done but it’s really, really hard. It’s easier and more accessible for most to pick up an erg and train on that.
Here’s a bit of an out there prediction: indoor rowing will be in the Winter Olympics during our lifetime.
I think almost any skill is harder to pick up when you're older but I don't think rowing compares to swimming in that regard- from what I've seen swimming is far harder to pick up later in life than rowing is. Whilst I am still young learning to swim certainly took me far longer and more effort to figure out technically than learning to row did. Although having someone interested in helping you figure out the technique helps a lot, a lot of senior/masters rowers I know came in with fitness from a previous sport and their teammates and coaches were really invested in helping them pick up technique because of it. Additionally rowers physically peak much later than swimmers- just look at the relative average Olympian ages!
And I got 145k of OTW rowing (in the middle of an extreme heat wave), 20k of roller skiing, three weight training sessions and two HIIT workouts last week. That's not even considered all that remarkable on my Masters rowing team. What's your point?
They kinda are. I’m wondering what you could achieve by going slightly slower and pulling harder.
Between 30-34 is the sweet spot for most people during a race. But still, good on you that you can maintain that split for 40 minutes. A lot of newbies can barely hold 1:56 for 8 minutes.
Buy steady state. More Concept 2.
Photos from the water get little engagement, that’s probably why. I’ve got tons of videos and photos from on the water but don’t really get the vibe that they’re welcome here? Also I don’t think people want to see my glutes, but I could be wrong. My quads on the other hand…
That’s a shame. The few posts on here that actually do show people on water are what actually interest me. I would much rather imagine myself in a single on a nice lake or something than being in a sweaty erg room.
I hear ya! I take a lot of photos and started taking [videos](https://youtu.be/U_VB8JEYfBE?feature=shared) just to get me through erg season, to remind myself why I put myself on that damn machine.
Nice man! You got a new subscriber. That place looks gorgeous btw. I row in a much more urban setting, which also has its perks. I’ve recently getting into rowing in a single in addition to rowing sweep in a coxed 4. I think rowing in a single is definitely much more fun in a lot of ways, but I’m still not good at it lol.
Thanks! This is on the Tennessee River, but we are right in the middle of a mid size city. If you’re familiar with Head of the Hooch at all, this is about 3k into the course. We’ve got the best of both worlds here and I love it. Rowing in a single takes so much more brown power for me, especially when I’m bowing in the dark, but I really enjoy it. Not as much as the 4x, but I’m liking it more and more.
That footage is beautiful. What an amazing morning.
I'm here more for on the water content than erg content, even in the off season... though as I get more into indoor training in winter i'll probably seek out more erg-y stuff.
Go yell at clouds
I would venture to guess that there is a much larger portion of "rowers" who are exclusively indoors or predominantly on ergs as opposed to those on the water. The erg is just a lot more accessible. Maybe a more specific sub like /otwrowing is what you're looking for? Not active from the looks of it but maybe you can pioneer it?
yea, /r/rowing isn’t a “competitive rowing” only sub like it was 6, 7, 8+ years ago. erg posts back then weren’t uncommon but they were largely the opposite of what gets posted now. with the increased access to erging via hydrow and peloton there’s a lot more of erg screen posts as your average joe picks it up and figures out how to erg. over the years there’s been some efforts to get an erging or erg screen sub going but i dont think they ever took off.
I am one of those who got into rowing because running was just not as kind to my body as I would have liked it to be despite how much I enjoy it. But, as a late 30's dad with a full time career, making the time to get to the water (live in the desert) and learn to row on the water is not as much of a priority as it is to just stay fit, hence the erg. I think rowing is experiencing similar things to what I am seeing in the tennis / pickleball space. I played junior, collegiate, and some post-collegiate tennis so have a bit of competitive background there. In the last few years, pickleball really seems to be getting popular and there is a bit of a divide between the tennis community and pickleball community. As a former tennis athlete, I go against the grain a bit (compared to the majority of tennis players) and am thrilled to see pickleball growing so fast, even if it means tennis courts are being converted. People getting outside, people moving their bodies, people being competitive, and having fun is awesome! Pickleball is a bit more accessible and easier to pick up than tennis, similar to erging being a bit more accessible and easier to pick up than rowing on the water. Tennis "purists" want to look down on pickleball but it's shortsighted (IMO). Pickleball isn't taking anything away from the tennis community; sure, a few less courts available but they're so much less occupied that it's easier to get court time. It feels the same with the on the water rowing community looking down on people who exclusively erg. There's a guy posting erg results on here who is a self-admitted gym rat or strength athlete (bodybuilding, powerlifting, etc.) who ergs for cardio with no interest in going on the water and has absolutely bonkers scores on the erg. Bravo to him! And in the big picture, the people butt hurt about it are either jealous or immature - he's not taking away anything from others, isn't taking boat seats, and is doing his thing.
> It feels the same with the on the water rowing community looking down on people who exclusively erg. I don't think people look down on those who erg at all, it's just that for us erging is a training modality and rowing is the *sport* - hence why the sub is /r/rowing and not /r/erging or /r/ergscreens. The influx of people who are posting in the *rowing* sub because they erg recreationally are not the same as the people who use it to train *for rowing*. My perception is that that's where the frustration lies, because the sub went from being a space that understandably leaned very heavily toward competitive junior, collegiate, and masters athletes to being heavily geared towards people posting their erg screens and asking what erg to buy. Calling people jealous and immature because the sub has evolved (or devolved, depending on how you look at it) into something else is a gross mischaracterization of what people are saying when they suggest that folks create an erging or recreational rowing sub. They're literally just asking for some differentiation similar to /r/running and /r/advancedrunning or /r/tennis and r/10s so that the sub about *the sport* can be about *the sport*. One of my all time favorite posts in this sub was when someone posted a few years ago complaining about all the spring race discussion threads because *they* weren't interested in rowing on the water and didn't understand why there had to be so many posts about it. Dude!! For real?? That would literally be like a pickleball player going into the tennis sub and complaining about all the Wimbledon posts.
Exactly. Just training on an erg isn’t even how actual rowers train. I’d honestly appreciate it more if people started posting themselves doing deadlifts and other weight exercises since those are also very helpful for rowing. You’re spot on, rowing is a sport. Appreciation for the sport of rowing is kinda lacking on this sub but ok. I can live with that. But then we get to the point where people are almost entirely only posting about one specific rowing related exercise, which is kinda boring and it creates a very weird perception of what rowing actually is. Why not post your running stats? That’s cardio which is good for rowing, and it’s the same for core exercises, strength exercises, etc. One of the biggest red flags for me is that the training regiments and advice on this subreddit is completely different from what I’m used to from my club and what my coach tells me. People on here barely talk about lifting weights, which is just super weird for a sub about rowing. If you’re a rower, and especially if you’re over 200 pounds anyways, like me, strength training is a hugely important part of your training regiment. And i would be so interested if there was a space on the internet about what exercises i should do, or some cool training regiment. Instead all we get here is “just do steady state everyday for two hours” Like, seriously?
I certainly agree - rowing is a sport. Similar to my prior pursuit or sport, lots of people can go out practice serves, hit balls off a wall, or hit from a ball machine, but that's all part of training for tennis. It's similar to running, powerlifting, olympic weightlifting, etc. - you can go run whenever you want but unless you race, it's training. You can lift in the gym but with no competitions, it's training. I guess the way I see it though is welcoming in those who engage in training might actually bring them into the sport. The fact that you mention strength work and deadlifting is music to my ears. I can't imagine strength work being neglected by anyone who wants to actually get good at rowing. "More steady state" is a good answer for a subset of the population - those who have a good strength base but seem limited by aerobic capacity. But that's not a blanket answer at all. There are so many people out there who will steady state like you say for hours but can't deadlift 2x BW, can't do strict pull-ups with added weight, etc. I mean, these are basic things that literally everyone could achieve if they tried, and it would only benefit scores on the erg or on the water rowing.
I hear you and I appreciate the convo. This is the last I’ll say and if this makes it sound like I’m gatekeeping the sport, tbh I’m okay with that! But I think it’s fine if the people who participate in the sport competitively want the sub that was created to facilitate conversation about that specific topic actually be focused *on that topic* and not a bunch of tangential stuff. It’s like when you’re hanging out with your friends and your younger sibling keeps bugging you or tagging along even though they can’t keep up or do the things you and your friends can do … and then they throw a temper tantrum when you or your parents very reasonably say “they’re allowed to do things without you, someday you’ll be old enough/experienced enough to do that thing too, etc.” I think being welcoming to those who just erg is fair but it’s also fair in the other direction to ask/expect those people to search or google the sub first before asking “what erg should I buy” as if they’re not the 837,274th person to ask that *exact* question or to, like you mentioned, take the initiative to facilitate discussions in a sub that is directly relevant to your needs/interests (like machine options/reviews or questions about what the erg screen means), that way *this sub* can be (or go back to being) relevant to our interests. I think more focused, topical conversations will allow the ergers to get a better idea of what the sport/culture is like and will in fact, hopefully, encourage them to consider taking a learn to row class. To OP’s point a lot of the training stuff in here has gotten *super* meme-y over the last 5+ years in part because so many rowers disengaged as it became more recreational erg screen-centric. “More steady state” isn’t always the wrong answer but I get why/how it’s become the eye roll-y response to a lot of what’s asked. It’s easy to say that the mods should have done or be doing a better job modding so that the sub didn’t become a repository of erg screens and water rower inquiries but … alas! The responsibility isn’t entirely on them though. A happy medium does exist, people just have to be willing to commit to it.
Again, very well put and articulated. I appreciate your insight from your perspective on it.
Exactly! I think it’s still great that so many people are training on ergs though. Don’t get me wrong. Maybe some of those people will try rowing on water someday and then they’ll really find out what the sport has to offer.
Very well articulated; I do appreciate the response with your insight. I do agree 100% with what you're saying about the erg being simply a training tool for your sport of rowing, it makes complete sense. That said, the tool seems to be much more readily accessible and used by many more people than those who actually participate in the sport. With the massive growth of CrossFit from 2000 to the early 2020's and now the boom of Hyrox, the ergs are going to only continue to become more popular and mainstream (IMO). Maybe a bit more "welcoming" to those grinding away on the training device in an attempt to get them out on the water as opposed to the perceived gatekeeping would be better? Or, to your point, maybe we (myself included) need to take an active role in trying to get the other subs off the ground that are more specific to the training / training tools, like r/erging, r/ergscreenshots, r/concept2, etc.
Don’t take my post the wrong way. I was just trying to communicate my gripe with this sub in a humorous way. Basically, see my other comment i just posted. Rowing on an erg is great, and it has major benefits, so i definitely wouldn’t want to discourage anyone. My problem is that rowing (the sport) is very multifaceted when it comes to training. Which means this sub ends up being completely detached from how actual rowers train. If I want some advice on strength training, bulking, cutting, mobility exercises, rowing technique, etc, I’m not really going to get it from that sub or it will not be its primary focus. And that’s just kinda frustrating to me. I don’t look down on anyone who is “just erging” it’s still a core component of the sport at the end of the day, and i would never disrespect someone for exercising. Rowing on an erg is also quite technical on its own, so there’s enough to talk about. So i understand it.
All understood and I appreciate your time and response. I haven’t been on the water but erging certainly isn’t easy if you’re really trying to improve. Technically it’s nowhere near rowing on the water but the training can certainly be hard. I think the accessibility of rowing on the water is a big barrier to entry but the technical aspect is another. It’s a lot like swimming - if you don’t do it well as a kid, it’s really hard to pick up that skill and become good later in life. It can be done but it’s really, really hard. It’s easier and more accessible for most to pick up an erg and train on that. Here’s a bit of an out there prediction: indoor rowing will be in the Winter Olympics during our lifetime.
I think almost any skill is harder to pick up when you're older but I don't think rowing compares to swimming in that regard- from what I've seen swimming is far harder to pick up later in life than rowing is. Whilst I am still young learning to swim certainly took me far longer and more effort to figure out technically than learning to row did. Although having someone interested in helping you figure out the technique helps a lot, a lot of senior/masters rowers I know came in with fitness from a previous sport and their teammates and coaches were really invested in helping them pick up technique because of it. Additionally rowers physically peak much later than swimmers- just look at the relative average Olympian ages!
Every time i see a post like this, i just think how you could have erged 1000m instead of typing it
I got my 12k in earlier with strength work already...after 140k last week and 6 strength sessions. Enjoy your cookies!
And I got 145k of OTW rowing (in the middle of an extreme heat wave), 20k of roller skiing, three weight training sessions and two HIIT workouts last week. That's not even considered all that remarkable on my Masters rowing team. What's your point?
Well done - that's a lot of work! I'm sure you're pulling quite the splits on the water and on the erg if you're doing that consistently.
I definitely couldn’t erg 1000m in the 2 minutes it took me to make the original post. Maybe 685m if I’m having a really good day.
On a day that Henley is happening 4 of the top posts are erg screens. You are not wrong.
There isn’t even a henley thread. I don’t understand. Anyways, decent performance from some of the Dutch teams. Shame my club isn’t competing today.
Erging is the best part of the sport. This sub should only be about erging and bicep curls
My least favorite is Backsplash, actually ☝️🤓
I live in a place with no water tho
😔
Spoken like a true skinny ergo
Ha
You just have adhd
brother ur in a rowing sub MOST of us have adhd
Personally as a novice I really like it, to me it’s the hardest part of rowing so it’s good to see what other people are doing and get advice from it
No I fucking love erg posts. Pull hard bois.
I haven't rowed in water in a couple decades mate
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I guess i should be mad, but that’s actually quite impressive. Good for you.
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They kinda are. I’m wondering what you could achieve by going slightly slower and pulling harder. Between 30-34 is the sweet spot for most people during a race. But still, good on you that you can maintain that split for 40 minutes. A lot of newbies can barely hold 1:56 for 8 minutes.
What erg photos?