jollyroger88 wrote:
devashish_paul wrote:
I have a concept2 rowing erg. Its my best machine to get a super workout really quickly. I am trying to tack on 15-30 min daily on top of my runs to keep my upper body conditioned (in addition to legs and core before anyone jumps on me, I am doing things correctly).
I would not get a swimming erg, because it just cannot generate enough cardio load. The wattage you can generate with your arms alone is insanely low relative to a bike or rowing erg. This is why I would get a ski erg because you can send your heart rate through the roof and do the roughly same upper body motion but you get the core in there and legs too. The reason I have not gotten the ski erg is because between real swimming and XC skiing, it has not been worth it given I also have a rowing erg. The rowing erg has a better crossover to biking and running (how it used the core is almost identical to running during the push off phase).
So if you have a choice, I would get the rowing erg over the swim erg. Next I would get the ski erg and compliment with stretch chords.
If you were swim (and not "general fitness") focused and had limited pool time/access, would you still pick the rower first?
Yes, because my primary sport now is swimming (I am racing 400IM, 200 fly, 200IM, 1500 free, 800 free). My events are all distance events meaning they are aerobically focused, not strength (200IM is the most combo of fast and slow twitch). Performance in these events are primarily determined by cardio. There is going to be no machine that helps me technically for these events better than hitting the water, so between stretch chords and the concept2, its better prep for when I get back in the water. If I had a ski erg, I think it would be better prep than the swim erg becausee the motion is more close to swimming and you can get cardio through the roof.
In normal scenario, I am swimming 7 days per week 20k-30k before all this covid shut down started.
So my 2 cents whether you are a triathlete or a pure swimmer, get the concept2 rowing erg and strech chords. Its just a better fitness machine and stretch chords gets some swimmer specificity for when you return to the pool.