Rowing paired with Body-weight Circuit

[DapperHusband]

There seem to be quite a few of these, and they all start out the same way. I'll skip the, "I'm new..." stuff and jump right in. 

 

My starting position:

 

I'm 26, married for 4 years and the butter and cream my wife feeds me is starting to accumulate in my gut. It's not noticeable unless I'm naked, and part of the goals of NF is to look good naked, which I'm starting to lose. I eat mostly fresh, whole foods, but I throw in some cheese and some grease every now and then. working on cleanign the diet up as well, but without making drastic changes. I'm a full time online student in IT, and I work part time Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. I started a gym membership and have been looking for a good routine for me. For the past few days I've been hitting the stationary bike, but I'm starting to realize how much I hate sitting still. I've done rowing a few times, and I remember really liking it as it was easy to vary, and it involved my entire body so I didn't feel stiff. I'm setting up my routine and just need some external opinions to help me optimize it. My goal is to build up to a bit of a ranger meets assassin build. I want strong, dense, and fast muscles, a fitness level that will keep me ahead of my kids (one on the way any day now) and endurance. I also REALLY need to work on flexibility. If I stand flat-footed, I can barely reach past my knees.... SAD!

 

OK, My plan as it sits now involves rowing on my work days, and rowing paired with the body-weight circuit on my off days. I'm just needing some help to get the rowing routines down. Should I be doing interval training yet, or wait until I can sustain an endurance workout. Should I alternate between long endurance workout and interval workout? Should I just warm-up with rowing on the circuit days? Should I add other exercises? Any and all comments, opinions, and guidance would be greatly appreciated. 

 

On another note, I used to be in shape, but the body-weight circuit kicked my trash on Monday! Looking forward to the second round tomorrow. 

 

So Quick recap:

 

I have the following plan

 

M, W, F:  Light rowing + body-weight circuit + cool down and stretches

Tu, Th, Sa: Endurance Rowing + cool down and stretches. 

 

What I need:

 

Guidance on what the rowing should be about on my endurance days and on my light days. 

Guidance on any additional adjustments to make to the routine. 

 

I have a full gym at my disposal, but the beginners body-weight circuit is really killing me, so I plan to start there and work my way into weights over time. 

 

Thanks in advance for any and all comments!

[BaconHunter]

First off, very smart move to get proficient with BW exercises first before doing anything with weights.

 

I'm not a big fan of cardio machines, but the rowing machine is a bit of an exception, so great choice

 

What's great about rowing is that that's a movement you don't usually do during the day. Working at a desk every day can lead to a slumped-over posture. Rowing counteracts this.

 

One question: Is this just a plan or did you actually try doing it? Going from doing not much to 6 days a week sounds like eager-beaver syndrome. You're highly motivated right now and overestimate your willpower (happens to everyone. Been there, done that). 

 

Personally, I wouldn't do the endurance days because rowing for 30-60 minutes without getting anywhere sounds incredibly boring to me. 

 

My suggestion: Start with 3 workout days a week. Warm up with some light rowing, do the BW circuits. Do that for a month. Your cardiovascular capacity (i.e. endurance) will improve from only that.

 

Once that gets easy, add 4 minute tabatas of intense rowing at the end of your session (go as hard as you can for 20 seconds, rest 10 seconds, repeat for 4 minutes).

 

As a side note: You will outgrow the BBWW quickly. When that happens, maybe switch over to the Angry Birds Workout (much more scalable), or try my beginner routine.

 

Hope that helped!

[DapperHusband]

Thank you BaconHunter!

 

Your feedback helps a ton! I was initially nervous that only working out 3 days a week would not help my cardio endurance, but I think you are absolutely right, I need to build up to it. Thanks also for the next step suggestions, very helpful! I was also able to get some great tips from the Concept2 site about rowing for 5 mins, stopping and stretching, then rowing for 20 - 50 mins, depending on the desired workout (Stretching). Combining these, I've come up with the following:

 

Updated Plan:

 

M, W, F:

1.) Walk to Gym (about 2.5 mins)

2.) Light rowing for 2.5 mins

3.) 2.5 mins stretching

4.) Main Rowing workout (20 mins) I'll start out light, but I may add some variation to the strokes-per-min or the intensity. Nothing major, just light variation. I'll also have about 4-5 mins of cool-down built in to workout.

5.) Walk home (2.5 mins)

6.) BBWW (~20 mins)

7.) Stretch it out (5 mins)

 

All in all that comes to about a 55 min workout on my workout days, which are my the days I don't work, helping me to stick to it. This is pretty much the same routine I did on Monday, except I was on a bike instead of a rower (which I hated) I also didn't have the motivation to hit the gym yesterday, so your point about 3 days is spot on. 

 

I'm confident this 3 days is a workable plan that I can stick to. i enjoy rowing, and I'm enjoying the muscle pain I feel everywhere from the BBWW!

 

I'll be posting my challenge soon, so I'll be updating everyone there on how it's going!

[DapperHusband]

It was amazing! Rowing is so much more engaging that the stationary bike! I really enjoyed that I used my entire body and was able to have some fun varying my intensity. I didn't get the sore bum, but I also didn't get the dripping in sweat workout I've had on the bike. I wanted to start slow and ease into rowing, especially since I'm using muscles that haven't been used much. 

 

After the walk home I hit my second BBWW  and it was brutal and fantastic at the same time. The last round was KILLER! Thanks again for the advice, I'll stick to this on my workout days for the next little while, until I see the need to adjust. 

 

Any tips on what I can do at home on my off days in the morning for about 15 mins? I'm thinking something light with a lot of stretching, working to build that flexibility and keep from getting sore. 

[BaconHunter]

Great job, man! Be aware of the fact that walking home first for the BBWW can be a trap. Once you're home, it's much easier to hit the couch or get distracted by something else. I'd advice you to do the BBWW at the gym.

 

I have just the perfect thing for your mornings: 5 minute flow. Read that article! Really did change my life.

 

I did an article where I provide a little bit more structure to it if that's your thing.

[DapperHusband]

Thanks again bacon, that 5 min flow is exactly what I needed for my mornings! 

[devkat]

Hi DapperHusband,

 

some recommendations from my experience:

 

* Rowing is a great full-body workout. It makes sense to invest some time in getting down the technique; do you have somebody to coach you? There are some mistakes to be made, especially regarding the back position, hip angle / knee angle / arms timing, and they might affect your efficiency and the wear on your joints when you are doing it a lot.

 

* If getting flexible is really your goal, then "classic" stretching (especially static stretching) might be frustrating, most people don't improve much. I'd try yoga (I like asthanga vinyasa because of its dynamic nature), apart from increased flexibility you will benefit from getting a better feeling for your body, more strength and better posture. And it's a lot more fun (in my opinion). There are lots of instructional videos to try.

 

Good luck!

[DapperHusband]

Thanks for the tips devkat! I'll look into the yoga routines. Looks like a great idea. As for the rowing, I do not have a coach, but I've been watching some videos on proper form and common mistakes. I'm feeling the workout all over, but I do feel quite a bit more than I expected in my hip flexors. I assume this is normal due to the back and forth of the back.