The amount of water in the tank simulates the weight of the boat and crew,
the more water in the tank the heavier the boat and crew. We recommend the
following levels:
Level
12-14 for children
Level
14-17 for women
Level
16-19 for men
The WaterRower comes shipped complete with a syphon pump for ease of
filling or emptying the tank.
To fill the tank or add water; simply place a container of water onto the
top of the machine, insert the stiff tube of the syphon pump into the
container of water and the flexible tube through the hole in the
WaterRower tanks, pump couple of primes by hand and
let gravity do all the work.
To empty the tank or remove water; simply place an empty container by the
side of the machine, insert
the stiff tube of the syphon pump into the WaterRower tank and the
flexible tube into a container or outside, pump
a couple of primes and again
gravity does all the work.
Your should adjust the floating heel rests to a height suitable for
your foot size.
To adjust the heel rests, push the centre button and slide one heel rest
at a time up or down, release the button and the heel rest will lock into
place. Repeat on the other side.
We recommend the strap to cover the foot just below the arch across the
ball of your foot or the widest part of your foot..
When feet are in position and you are seated, ensure you are sitting in a
tall yet relaxed position. Try to feel as if you are sitting on your ‘sit’
or ischia bones and rock slightly forwards and backwards on these bones.
Your body weight will move from the front to the back of the seat. Ensure
you are sitting with a locked core, shoulders relaxed and head looking
forwards.
When holding the handle, the fingers are hooked around the grip of the
handle. You do not need to actually grip the handle.
Ensure your hands are equidistant from the center of the handle. A good
way is to use your thumbs to measure the same distance from the center of the
handle.
Draw the handle to the body at a height comfortable for you. Ideally
you want to draw the handle to chest or just below chest height. Your
forearms should be fairly horizontal to the ground and your wrists flat.
When
starting out, shorter sessions more often is best. Rowing 4x a week
for 10 minutes is better than rowing 1x a week for 40
minutes.
On
average aim to row at least 4x a week of between 10-20 minutes for the first 6-8 weeks of rowing, after which one or two sessions can
be increased to 25 minutes and/or another session can be added to the week
(the latter is not always possible).
For
the first few weeks of any rowing program you need to focus on
form/technique - work on moving through each
position
and phase of the rowing action. Use drills such as
Check
Points to help you to learn the technique. It would be ideal if you
could use a mirror or advice from another person to assist you with
the correct body positions.
Intensity
needs to be low, no more than 75% effort (of your
maximum heart
rate). For the first 4 weeks of rowing, aim to row to get warm - not full sweating and being
out of breath. You can also use the 'Ratings
of Perceived Exertion' chart. When starting out row at around 11
or 12 on the RPE scale.
Stroke rate varies according to the individual and type of
training session one is doing. Ideally strokes rates need to be around
20-24 strokes per minute for steady state sessions and around
28-32 strokes per minutes for higher intensity sessions.
On water race stroke rates are between 34spm - 40spm.
Most people who are new to the sport of rowing have difficulty achieving low
strokes rates while trying to obtain their desired intensity - there are many
comments such as "it does not feel hard enough?" or "how can
I make it harder?" Rowing is about ratio and rhythm and you need to focus on
a long stroke
length and a powerful drive phase (push with the legs and pull with
the arms).
Give yourself time to learn this, it can take a few weeks before you
start to feel the intensity at low stroke rates.
