Fathoms77

Well yeah, but they're just way too expensive from what I'm seeing...

Hey all, I'm considering a different home workout machine. I've used the rower (currently have the Concept2) for 15 years and I credit these workouts with giving me tremendous fitness and endurance. It's why I'm 42 years old and have a resting heart rate in the mid-40s, and a body-fat percentage that hovers between 6 and 7 percent. I play tennis, too, and frankly, it's pretty tough to get me tired. But I've gotten a little bored with the rower in recent years, and I have an issue with my left hand that's causing my grip to fail. I'm thinking about a new machine, but it seems difficult to find one that torches calories as well as the rower - I can burn through 850-900 calories in an hour on that thing - and I also want as much of a full-body workout as possible. I also want a low-impact workout, so the treadmill is out (and I've always hated running). What would you guys recommend? Stationary bikes would be fine for chewing up calories and all that, but they don't do anything for the upper body. The stair climbers look interesting but they're silly expensive... What about SkiErgs or Arc Trainers? Any other ideas? I want to maintain my fitness while still getting an all-over workout. Oh, and I do mix in regular free-weight training a few times as week as well. Thanks in advance!

This. 😎

What Elastigirl said above. Weight fluctuates normally, anyway; even doing very little you'll see the numbers change through the course of a day. When I was on my weight loss journey, I simply weighed myself once a week. It was at the same time and in the same circumstance: after the Wednesday workout before eating lunch. Then I could accurately see what a week had wrought. After a while, I got so I could pretty easily predict what the scale would say, and I think that's where you want to get to. It means you have a firm grasp of your diet and activity, and it'll serve you better when you reach the maintenance phase as well. 😃

Thanks all! Yeah, I've been maintaining for a few years now, so I'm locked into a pretty solid groove there. This is just the first time I've gotten hurt and been forced to miss workouts, so it's the first time I'm facing that fear of either gaining back some weight or losing the fitness I've worked so hard to achieve. But I took the last few days off, and I've reworked my lifting program to be more disciplined and probably better suited to my age. And as it turns out, rowing really helped that injury; getting a solid session in on Monday stretched it out and almost made it disappear. I'm continuing to be mindful of it, though...the injury is hardly gone, I know that. And until it's fully healed, I'll be sure to stretch very often and not go crazy all out until I'm sure I'm 100%. 😎

Great, thanks for the reply. Yeah, I'll definitely eat less, but I keep up with my protein and sleep. And I'm never completely inactive; I always want to stretch, walk around outside, etc. I'm pretty sure it's a muscle strain. I did it on Thanksgiving and it had been getting better and better, and I didn't need to miss any workouts. But I just re-strained it again, so I I think that means I just need to rest it. I pulled it lifting; it was just poor technique, plain and simple. It's just so hard to miss workouts...I feel so damn guilty, even when hurt... 🤤

I had a couple questions about the concept of rest weeks. First-- I'm 41 and I'm in the best shape of my life. A few years ago, I decided to get fit; I lost 55 pounds (down from 230 to 175, and I'm 6'3), dropped my body fat down to about 6.5%, and got my resting heart rate into the low 50s. I cross-train basically; I'm a rower first and foremost, and I also lift weights and play tennis. This is 5 days a week, every week: row M, W, F, lift Tues. and Thurs. with a tennis day worked in there somewhere. I'm never sore or achy but I recently suffered an injury in my side/back and for the first time in years, I can't do my long Friday row (I go 14,500 meters; my best is 59 minutes, 32 seconds). But I've never taken a rest week before... My fear has always been that I'll gain weight back and worse, I'll lose some of my conditioning I've worked so hard for. But is that just irrational? Will I really lose that fitness in just one week? I really need to give this injury a rest, but my "guilt trigger" is so sensitive, I'm afraid I'll push it...the instant I think I can get back into my routine, despite a little pain, I'm gonna do it... But I've read that rest weeks are essential for people with workout regiments like mine, and maybe this injury is telling me I'm overdoing it. Not sure. Any help, suggestions, ideas, etc. would be appreciated. 😀