I do a lot of indoor rowing, find it helps my cycling a lot (quads, butt, lower back), does almost nothing for my swimming.

Thanks. Given the areas it works, I wonder if a lot of folks choose the rower over a treadmill?
I'm not ready to give up on my indoor bike setup... :)
But I was also thinking of getting a treadmill.......wonder if the concept rower would be better, mix things up a bit, etc

Rowing is definitely more of a good cross-training for cycling; rowed in undergrad, and occasionally hope on concept 2 as cross training. I do find that it can help strengthen hamstrings and glutes (something I have a strength deficiency in, as I am definitely a quad masher on the bike). Absolutely no way it is more beneficial than the specific exercise, though; only reason I do it is the occasional master's practice or regatta I do as one-offs for fun.

Much more translatable to cycling. Many rowers do cycling and some running as cross training. Some of them, such as Cameron Wurf, who competed at the Athens olympics, even become professional cyclists.

If you want to be faster at swim/bike/run, there's really no substitute for....swimming, biking and running!

I guess it comes down to what your priorities are - if it's being the fastest triathlete you can be, then buy the treadmill. I'm more into maintaining all-round health and fitness these days than just SBR, I really enjoy the indoor rowing and it's a great workout. I also hate treadmills, hate trainers, and don't like riding my rollers more than a couple of times a week for a max of 30-40 minutes, so in times when indoor training is the only option (where I live that tends to be because I'm looking after the children rather than because of weather) the rower is a good training tool to have around. There's also a great Concept training website where you can log your times and it tells you what percentile you're in versus your age group. Trying to improve my rankings satisfies my competitive streak when I'm not racing.

And yeah, if you go the rower route, the Concept really is the only one you should consider.

Do too much indoor rowing and you will be a crossfit-er.

Watch your technique as from the crossfit games videos I saw some ugly rowing, which I fear can't be good for the body.

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Swim - Bike - Run the rest is just clothing changes.

Anyone use the Halo swim product?

Yeah, Crossfitters universally suck at rowing -- horrible technique, and they think they're good at it and tough, but they suck. Any descent D1 college rower can knock the socks off the over-muscled crossfitters who blow up after a minute of cardio.

Rowing: definitely better for cycling and core strength. If you row with a lot of emphasis on the lats and arms, it can strengthen your back muscles and get your heartrate up, but doesn't directly benefit swimming, and certainly is not a viable replacement.

As a swimmer who became a D1 rower in college, I actually think the swimming helped my rowing (strong back and heart), but that rowing would not transfer back as much the other way.

 I love my sculling boat for exercise. But, I sure must be doing something wrong since it can really mess ones back up.

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Probably because power in rowing, even though you rowing as using your arms, most of the power is driven by leg strength.... which is what makes it so hard in terms of cardio, you use all you largest muscles groups.

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I know you said the Vasa Erg is beyond your budget. However, I bought one in January this year, and it's been awesome for swim training. (I posted tons on it why - can search my username for them.)

I just mention it again as a possible push for the expense if you're in this sport for the long haul. Not saying you're like this at all, but I find it interesting that a lot of people hear who bemoan their lack of swim time/access won't hesitate to drop $2k on a powermeter or $2k+ on racing wheels they might use 4x/year, but then bemoan their lack of swimming ability and swimming time.

Yes, it was pricey ($2k), but for me, it's been completely worth it, for the convenience, and effectiveness. I consider it a true long-term investment - it's build rock solid, requires essentially zero maintenance, and you just get on and go. (Ok, I set up some laptop video shows to watch while I'm cranking away at it.) I wish I had bought mine years ago, and I'm not the type of person who just buys expensive toys just because I can; in retrospect, I would gladly ditch the race wheels, aero helmet, and all that miniscule time-gaining stuff (I'm not missing KQ by tiny margins...) but I would absolutely keep my vasa and bike trainer as the two essentials for continued training gains.

Just to let you know there were a couple of D1 rowers in the crossfit games this year and several of the males have rowing times that are comparable to D1 rowers on a ERG. Obviously an ERG is different as bodyweight will give them an advantage but some of their times are legit. Rich Froning this year did under 6:20 (as part of a workout) for a 2k (also has a 1:21 500m). There are several other competitors at the games who have 2k times under 6. If i am not mistaken that will get you noticed for D1 heavyweight programs. Now yes of course your average crossfitter sucks at rowing, but many of the top guys have sought out rowing experts to learn how to row well and are crushing it considering they are having to do a lot of other stuff. Also they did a half marathon row at the crossfit games a while ago and the the winner came in around 1:16 which is pretty good endurance.

Hey, thanks. I haven't ruled it out completely, but it would -really- be stretching the budget! :)
Was still wondering if there are any folks who have used the Vasa, and also the Halo. Obviously the Halo is less sophisticated, but wondering if you can pretty much end up with the same workout...

I unfortunately haven't used a Halo. It does look interesting, but as well, I encountered zero user reviews of long-term users of it (or any users of it) on ST or BT, which is why I bit the bullet and went Vasa erg.

I did try using the latex tubing for awhile, and did it pretty seriously for awhile, but it honestly didn't seem to help me that much. I admittedly use my Vasa erg much more than I did the cords by a factor of at least 4, so that could be the reason why, but I never could get in a groove on the cords, whereas on the Vasa, it's all good, especially for longer sesssions. (I did a 90 minute Vasa session this morning and it went great.)

It does suck that there's no convincing dryland option south of the Vasa erg in pricing - there's definitely a huge gap in the market for something that could come in at the $1k pricepoint. But FWIW, I do think the Vasa erg is well worth the cost, and is worth biting the bullet to buy as a long-term investment if you're pool or time restricted. (My circle swims at my local Y are always crappy lunchtime circle swims where the fast lane swimers vary from 1:20/100 to 2:00/100, with no consistency, so it's nearly impossible to get a solid workout than you planned.)

For me, subjectively from my experience, my gains from Vasa swim compared to pool swim are literally 1:1. Meaning if I swim 3000 on the Vasa, it seems as effective as 3000 in the pool for my level of swimmer as a MOPer who goes about 1:30/100yds for a 3000 workout broken in intervals. I do seem to motivate harder in the pool, and can go harder in the pool for longer if there's competition my pace pushing me along, but I add so much more consistency and volume with my Vasa that it's no contest for me pre-vasa and post-vasa. I'm currently doing a post-race swim-focus block, which would otherwise be impossible logistically without the Vasa for me, but with the Vasa, I'm trying to log 9-10hrs/week of swim time for 4-6weeks to see what happens. It's been remarkably easy to do this with Vasa - just go in garage, crank away. Without it, I could max do 5-6 hours of swim per week due to logistics.

Just looking closer at the Concept2 products. So it seems well established that the rower is more about lower body workout.

Has anyone used their SkiErg product? Looks like it may be better cross training for swim than the rower??

Congrats to him... He is 9 seconds slower then I was as a junior in high school on a 2k and 2 seconds slower on a 500. I'm guessing he also has over 50lb on me from back then because I was only 164lb. 6:20 doesn't even make him competitive in the HS ranks today.

As for guys under 6 min, a d1 coach would look at their height and weight as well as technique in relation to that time. If they are just a mammoth guy (like 230-250) scores like that are impressive but not relevant because the second you put them in a boat it would sink. Rowing like cycling has a lot to do with w/kg. At 164lbs and a 6:11, with good technique, I could easily beat a 190-195lb guy with faster times and no technique. It wouldn't even be close.

So you are telling me you were trading blows with Henrik Stephansen for the junior lightweight world record on the erg? OK.

This. I knew a few people who were great swimmers and when they switched to rowing were "naturals" at it. As someone who went the other way, I can say it doesn't transfer the same way =). Although, the constant focus on technique and balance of strength/technique really helped me when I started swimming. There is that whole 'one-with-water' zen thing going on in both sports.

As for crossfitters, throw them in a single and see how far their 'technique' gets them. That ain't rowing.

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