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bob1029yesterday at 11:41 PM3 repliesview on HN

I used to do weightlifting, but it's hard to keep up daily discipline with potential injury risk. Rest days are mandatory and this is the #1 killer of compliance over time (for me).

Rowing is my go-to now. It is low impact so I can do it every day without any exceptions. I've been able to hold onto this discipline for 2 years now. The advantage of rowing is that there isn't really a limit to how much it can suck. You can burn 500 calories per hour, or 9000. It's more of a psychological battle than a physical one.

My system is to row at whatever intensity and duration until I my brain starts to internally play music from Spotify. However long that takes. Sometimes it's 40 minutes, sometimes it's 80. I think this variance mostly boils down to blood sugar and what I ate the previous day. If I gorge on a box of snacky crackers, I need to row for at least an hour before I stop feeling like shit.


Replies

karamanolevtoday at 1:07 AM

You cannot burn 9000 calories per hour. Cycling at 166W for 1 hour burns approx. 600 calories. That's sustainable for a most amateurs. The absolute best riders in the world can optimistically do 450W for 1 hour and then be completely drained. That's 2000 calories and mere mortals are nowhere near that. So a realistic cap if you have great cardio and you're pushing it is 1000 calories.

SubmarineClubyesterday at 11:50 PM

It depends how you train. 6 days per week is pretty common among bodybuilders. Injury risk is also lower (for naturals) because you’re generally lifting at a lower % of 1 RM.

tootietoday at 12:18 AM

It's funny you should say that because I had to stop rowing due to repetitive strain on my ankle.