Erging: the ideal exercise for tech bros and VCs

This monster of a post was started when my friend, tech journalist Mike Butcher, asked me for a few tips on how to start using a rowing machine at home during the Corona virus lockdown. I kinda got carried away…

I discovered my sporting passion sadly too late in life, at the age of 30, when I took up rowing with my college whilst doing my MBA at Oxford. 10 years later, sadly I have barely been on a river since, but an addiction to the rowing machine, or “erg” as rowers normally refer to it, has stuck with me. Now, at the age of 40, I’m probably the fittest I have ever been.

I want to tell you why I think the “erg” (short for “ergometer” — a meter that measures movement) is the perfect exercise machine for tech bros, VCs and journalists. I’ll also share a few basic tips on how to use it.

Disclaimer: I am neither a medical doctor, nor a fitness trainer. Get professional advice if you think you need it. Don’t take medical advice from someone with a PhD in Yeast Genetics, no matter how interesting you may find mitosis and cell cycle checkpoints.

The erg as a fitness machine is probably the best all round fitness machine you can use. It utilises pretty much every muscle in your body (except the ones in your face that make you smile), but more importantly it gives you a great cardiovascular workout.

It is also as challenging as you want it to be. Really the rowing machine is a sadistic beast. The harder you pull it, the higher the resistance. That means half the battle with the erg is psychological, but that’s where the analytical side of things gets interesting. The trick is to be consistent throughout an exercise piece.

Every bored tech bro thinks they are a data scientist these days, so for them, the erg is ideal. Unlike with most other forms of exercise, on the erg you get feedback on how much effort you are putting in on literally every, single, stroke, on the computer in front of you. Your aim for a piece is to find the pace that you can maintain (aka “split” — measured in minutes:seconds per 500m) and sticking to it for the whole piece.

What I love about the erg is seeing progress. As long as you are erging regularly, you will see progress. If you erg 5000m today, consistently train, then do another 5000m in 2 weeks time — even if you do it only 1s faster — you know you are fitter and have made progress.

How often should you train?

The training programme I follow aims for 6 times a week. I can’t meet that. I usually manage 4 or 5 sessions a week. If you are just starting out even that will be too much, but I think you need to aim for minimum 3 sessions a week.

Why 3? To me what is most important is the time between sessions. Any more than two days between erg sessions and I start to feel like I don’t make progress. If the gap between sessions becomes 3–4 days, I feel like my fitness starts to go backwards, and that is the last thing you want. I start to get pretty anxious if I don’t erg for a couple of days as I imagine those hard-earned fitness gains wasting away…

How should you train?

If you have ever been in a gym, the rowing machine is probably the most abused piece of equipment there. Basically people jump on there for a 5–10min quick session as their warm-up, and maybe throw in a few arm curls. Please don’t do arm curls on the erg. We’ll talk about technique later, but for now lets talk about session quality. No. Arm. Curls.

The erg is meant to be used for long cardio sessions. In my opinion 30 minutes is the minimum time you should be using the erg most of the time. That means most of your sessions should be longer sessions at a reasonably comfortable pace. At the beginning of a session it might feel easy, but it won’t by the end.

If you are just starting with the rowing machine you maybe won’t manage 30min in one go. You need to ease your body into it. Aim for 20min in two 10min slots with a 3–5min gap between to drink water and wipe sweat down. Just make sure you finish.

Pick a pace that is slow enough that you can easily finish these early sessions. Try to have a consistent pace throughout. The “fitness gains” will come later — at first you are mostly battling you mind which is trying to tell you to stop.

Isn’t it kinda boring?

I can’t deny that compared to being out on the river in a boat, or on the open road on a bike, erging can be comparatively a bit… well, boring at times. Even indoor cycling has got Zwift now. When I erg at home I can’t do longer sessions unless I am listening to audio books or podcasts using bluetooth headphones. For shorter more intense pieces I have a specific high-tempo Spotify playlist I listen to.

If you fancy splashing out a bit, you could probably setup a iPad or laptop to watch TV or movies. Just beware that, depending on the type of erg you get, it can be quite noisy, so again you will need decent bluetooth headphones.

What kind of rowing machine should I get?

Ideally, get a Concept2. Why? It’s the gold standard of rowing machines - used by Olympic teams, local gyms, and everyone in-between. There are two main reasons it is so good: First, it is bullet proof — as in it is built to last. With only a wee bit of maintenance, it will last forever. That’s why the gyms buy them — they know they won’t break down, even with abuse.

Second, standardisation. This means that if you row 5000m on your 10 year old Concept2 in New Zealand, and I row 5000m on my brand new Concept2 in Germany, our times can be directly compared thanks to the accuracy of the device’s computer in measuring the resistance. If you row on any other type of rowing machine, your times will not be comparable to mine, nor anyone else’s on a Concept2.

If you are just getting started with rowing, you might be using the Concept2 machines in the local gym. Please bear in mind, that because they are so reliable, that often means that in a gym they are poorly maintained. In fact, the reason I bought my own Concept2 was because the ergs in my local John Reed gym in Berlin were so bad that at times they were more or less unusable.

If you want to check how well maintained the Concept2 ergs in your gym are, on the erg computer switch to Utilities and look for Drag Factor. Pull the handle a few times until the number on the screen stabilises — you are looking for a reading of about 120–130. On the side of the machine there is a lever which goes from 1–10, and which is probably the most misused part of a Concept2 erg. Often in the gym you will see guys sit down on the erg and immediately throw the resistance lever up to 10 because they think that is the “maximum difficulty”. Muppets.

Since we are wiser, we know that a Drag Factor is 120 is best. The lever is only there to set the drag factor. If the erg is well maintained it should reach 120with the lever set to approx 5. If you have to move the resistance lever to 10 to get a drag factor of 120, that means the erg is full of dust and not being cleaned often enough. Many times at the John Reed gym, I would sit down to an erg and even with resistance at 10, I would get a drag factor of 60-80, which is practically unusable.

So I really need to get a Concept2?

Nah, not really, but if you don’t go for Concept2, don’t just go for the cheapest alternative. A friend of mine, who I introduced to erging, did just that. It fell apart, he sent it back, and now has a Concept2.

Something to note with the Concept2 is the noise — it works by air resistance, which can make it seem kinda loud. I was at first quite worried that I would disturb the neighbours when I bought my own erg. To help dampen the noise I bought a foam mat from Concept2.

I don’t actually think the erg is that loud, or rather at least no louder than a regular vacuum cleaner. It gives a “whoosh” every time you pull the handle, and the harder you pull, the louder it sounds. I think it’s the sort of sound that kinda sounds louder than it actually is (if that makes sense) and doesn’t travel through walls easily. So far, at least, we have not had any complaints from the neighbours in a year.

So in conclusion, no, you don’t need a Concept2 — you will get fit just fine with any other rowing machine and that is what is important — just don’t buy the cheapest machine out there. Note — the Concept2 isn’t that expensive — maybe €1100 for the Model D with PM5 computer, which is the standard setup in a gym. Not expensive compared to one of those Peleton bike thingies at least, eh?! Oh you already got a Peleton my VC friend? Lucky you are so rich — get a Concept2 as well then, money-bags.

Note: at the time of writing, Concept2 are sold out of pretty much everything due to Corona virus-related working restrictions.

Got any technique tips?

Sure! Remember those guys who do the 5–10min power warm-ups in the gym? Go watch them. Check their technique. Then store that in your mind as absolutely shit technique. I have pretty much never seen anyone in a gym erg properly. That includes the gym staff showing people how to use the machine. It’s painful to watch, but unfortunately it’s not easy to get decent technique on an erg unless you have been coached by a rowing club coach.

I’m no expert, but I was lucky enough to get some proper coaching when in Oxford. First thing you should do is watch the Concept2 technique video on YouTube. Personally, I find it pretty difficult to apply technique videos to myself, so here are the main errors I see people making in the gym:

1. Erging is a sequence of drive and recovery. You drive with the legs, then you rock back with the back, then you pull with the arms. Then you do the reverse. Arms, back, legs as you return up the slide during the recovery. When you are starting, do this very, very slowly. In fact, get started by breaking the action down — row legs only — keep back fixed and arms extended — then add back… then add arms. Then do the reverse.
2. The BIGGEST giveaway you are doing the above incorrectly, and the most obvious gym-bunny mistake, is when you see them lifting the handle to go over their knees on the recovery. That means they have started to recover their legs and bent the knees before the arms are recovered. If your technique is half-decent you should never need to lift the handle to get it over your knees during the recovery.
3. When the arms pull the handle to the chest at the end of the drive, the next in the sequence is to fairly quickly push the hands away, followed by rocking the back. Your knees should break/bend when the handle is just past them, such that the handle is moving in a straight line back to the fan cage. None of this lifting over your knees crap. If, after reading this, you still end up lifting the handle over your knees I will happily accept payment to come and slap your face every time you do so (if you pay for transportation costs and a reasonable coaching fee).
4. When you pull the handle to your chest, you are aiming for just below your nipples or bra line (I always wear a bra when rowing just to be safe…).
5. Slow. Down. During the recovery, you get to…. recover. Your recovery should take about twice as long as the drive. Try to relax and breathe during it. Look at the stroke rate — in the gym, your gym bunnies will be hitting far too high a stroke rate. Most of the time, for most exercises I talk about, you should be aiming for a stroke rate of maybe 22–26. For longer “steady state” pieces it could be even slower — 18–20 (tbh I find it very difficult to erg at rate 18).
6. Keep your back straight and rock from the hips. Don’t hurt your back!
7. Don’t come too far forward on the recovery — your shins should not go beyond vertical.
8. The amount of back swing (how much you use your back in the sequence in 1) is a kind personal choice — some people seem to go to 45 degrees. I tend not to have so much backswing. Up to you.

I am definitely not a rowing coach, so please bear that in mind when following the above. But also remember that if you ask someone working in a gym how to use a rowing machine they almost certainly won’t have a clue what they are talking about.

What training programme should I follow?

I strongly recommend you follow some kind of training programme to see progress. If you only do 5k pieces each time your body will adapt to it and you won’t make as much progress. If you are a beginner, then once you have managed to row 20min in one session (without a break) then I recommend you start with the Beginner Pete Plan. It’s a 16 week plan, and Pete gives a great explanation for what to expect each week.

The progress you will make in those 16 weeks will be amazing. At the end you will be able to sustain splits that at the beginning just seem plain impossible.

I now follow the regular Pete Plan, which is a plan that repeats on a 3-week cycle, so I can see progress each time I repeat a piece.

The beginner Pete Plan has what I call “stretch” pieces, and both plans have “intervals”. I call them stretch pieces because it feels like you are stretching out your fitness and it works well for beginners.

In week 1 you row 5000m at a challenging but achievable pace. The next week you take the same pace (also called split — the time it takes you to row 500m), but this time you row for 5500m. You managed it for 5000m last time, with the other pieces you have done in the last week you are a wee bit fitter, so you should manage another 500m at that pace, right? Before you know it you are rowing an entire 8000m at a pace that a couple of months ago you thought you could only sustain for 5000m. That is called PROGRESS!

Intervals I love and I hate. As an example, last night I rowed 4x1000m with a 5min gap between each one. When I do the intervals I set my split target, as the average split I achieved in the previous 3 week cycle. I hold this pace for the first 3 intervals — I know I can sustain this pace because I did it last time (on average) — but on the last interval I give it everything and try to get a much faster split. By doing so, my overall average split for the piece is now reduced. Next time I do this piece I have a new average split to aim for and I do the same thing. As long as I have been regularly training since the last cycle I know I can hit the new average pace and I almost always make progress by nailing the last interval.

Through these interval cycles you slowly make progress, but every time you know that you will at least be able to hit your average from last time.

Sorry, this isn’t techie enough for me.

Ah yes, I forgot about that. So, if you are using the Concept2 you can connect the machine’s computer via Bluetooth to your iPhone or Android device. Concept2 has apps for each. The app can be connected to the Concept2 online logbook, where your times are automatically logged. If you do a “standard” piece, then you can “rank” the piece to see where you fall in the world of people who submit their times online.

Compared to Strava, for example, it is a relatively small community in Concept2, and the logbook features are not fancy, but you can see all the important data. If you are not using Concept2 then you could either manually log your times in Strava, or I think you could submit sessions to Strava via Wahoo (see below).

In turn you can connect your Concept2 account to Strava so your erg workouts appear there too. This is especially cool, as if you are doing other forms of exercise you will see Strava’s measurement of your overall fitness improve (if you pay for Strava).

Want to tech things up a notch? Get a decent chest strap heart rate monitor, and it can connect via Bluetooth or ANT+ (ANT+ works better for me) to your erg. I use a Wahoo Tickr heart rate monitor. Why bother? Well, with a heart rate monitor you get much more interesting data about calories burned during each piece, and once you are used to it you really start to understand your fitness better and what “heart rate zone” you are working in.

The statistics that Strava provide about “fitness” are also kinda cool, but need some kind of heart rate input to work properly. I also wear a Withings watch which tracks heart rate, but for high intensity sporting pieces it is much less accurate than a chest strap monitor.

Ideally, almost all your training would be done according to heart rate zones. If you use the heart rate monitor with Strava, or just do a bit of reading (the Wahoo app covers heart rate zones too) you will start to learn that you should be training in different zones for different purposes. I’m not quite at the level of fully sticking to that, but I do know, for example, that if I am doing a long “steady state” piece, then I want my heart rate to be 130–150. I know that my max rate rate is about 185, and that towards the end of a very hard 5k I will be hitting about 180.

If nothing else, I like knowing that I am gathering data that I could better analyse in the future.

What has this got to do with tech bros and VCs?

Ach, nothing I suppose. Click-bait maybe?? But I work in tech and find similarities betwen the sort of KPI driven optimisation we all strive for in our products and marketing, and the analytical approach to fitness the erg affords. Maybe erging is like agile development — constant improvements rather than expecting some cheat big gains.

Well, I hope that was interesting and has inspired you to try out erging. If you want, feel free to connect with me on Strava or Concept2. Feel free to ask questions below in the comments. Clap clap!

Images totally lifted from the Concept2 website without a shred of permission. I’m gonna go ahead and assume they are cool with that seeing as I give a fairly positive recommendation for their products here. To be clear I was not paid for this post and have no association with Concept2.