How fit should you be before starting CREW/ROWING?

Question

I want to go to a crew camp this summer, but I have heard that rowers are in really good shape and crew is really hard work. I'm just wondering exactly HOW good of shape I should be in before starting crew? That makes me a little bit nervous... I'm pretty strong, but my endurance is not so good, and I have asthma which makes breathing hard. I have a month & a half until the camp starts and could do a lot of running between now & then to boost endurance. What do you think?

Answer 1

From your question it sounds like you haven't rowed before. Assuming you will be rowing with other novices, then it'll be more about learning technique than lots of hard work. Running's good but you can't beat the erg (Concept II rowing machine) for preparation - most gyms will have them; try and get 1 or 2 erg sessions (10-20 minutes per session) a week in your schedule between now and camp.

enjoy

Answer 2

If you're a beginner, part of the focus will be on how to get into shape, and you'll spend a log time doing drills and rowing at low speed and pressure to get your technique together.  If it turns out that you like rowing, you will have to work on your endurance, and, as another poster noted, the best way to do that is with a Concept II rowing machine (called an "erg") in the US.  You can probably find one at your local gym, but don't count on anyone there being able to show you how to use it right!

Here's a link to a training guide you can print out:  http://www.concept2.com/us/support/manua...

This page has a little clip of a guy erging:  http://www.concept2.com/us/training/star... and a link to where you can get a free DVD of erging technique.  There's a lot of other good stuff on the site, including a forum where most people are really helpful.

Of course, the best thing would be to have a friend who rows help you get started.

If all that sounds daunting, running (especially hills) is good, too.

Don't worry about the asthma--lots of rowers that I know have asthma.  Just bring your inhaler to practice all the time and watch out for stuff that makes it worse--like doing strenuous exercise in cold weather--that's always bad for me!