Training on a Concept2 rowing machine, or any machine for that matter is a lot of fun and keeps you fit. But eventually for some, the motivation to keep on pushing can wane if these reasons are the only ones that make you return to the erg.
One reason that the Concept2 rowing machines are so popular is that their design means that all machines are equal, regardless of how their drag factor is set (the lever on the side, read this page if you want to know more). This not only gives the Concept2 the position of the best machine to use in organised races, but also means that users can compete with other through various challenges found on the internet. For example, one person can row a 500m effort on their machine, and another person on the other side of the world on a different day can row 500m on their machine – and the times are able to be compared, and ranked against each other
Although software like RowPro is the ‘go-to’ for racing other users in real time (more on this on the Apps page) – the alternative is to join in with team events like the CTC or individual competitions like the FMMC or Nonathlon where you row a set piece on your own, upload your time (sometimes with a screenshot for proof) and then compare your results with others.
FMMC
Not as big as the next one in the list, but as we run the FMMC, it’s shamelessly at the top of our list of online challenges. Each month there’s a different challenge. Always either a timed event (how far in a certain time) or a distance (how fast can you cover that distance). Throughout the year, all events apart from the 100m for the Concept 2 Logbook are covered, so it’s a great way to fill up your rankings for the year.
What makes this event special, is two things. Firstly, you row for yourself, but also get points for your team and your country. So even if you’re not topping the leaderboard yourself, the points you earn are combined with other rowers from your team and country, giving them a chance to win the season. But what really sets this apart is that the results are handicapped / weighted. This means that no matter whether you’re a 20 year old heavyweight woman, or an 80 year old lightweight man, you’re racing as equals. More info on how this is calculated can be found on the webpage. And of course, as we run it – if you have any questions, just send a message.
CTC
The CTC is a long established team challenge (CTC stands for Cross-Team-Challenge) that has a different row every month, chosen by one of the teams. It’s probably the most popular event on the internet for Indoor Rowers, and can be fiercely competitive at the top.
It’s based around the idea of floating boat. Each boat has five members – usually 3 x heavyweights, 1 lightweight, and 1 woman. But there are subtleties to this (a lightweight woman for example). The average time or distance (depending on the challenge) is worked out by the website, and the boat with the fastest overall score wins – with boats lower down the ranks getting less points to go towards a yearly score.
Some teams can end up floating 20 boats or more. Some just one or two. The advantage of the bigger teams is that not only are you fighting to get the best score for the team, but you’re also trying to get into a better boat each month by getting faster and stronger than your closest team-member-rival.
NONATHLON
The Nonathlon is an individual challenge that takes advantage of the rankings on the Concept2 website in its design. Over the course of a season, the challenge is to row each of the Concept2 ranking distances or times, and enter them into your profile on the Nonathlon page.
Apart from giving you a total ‘score’ for all your efforts, What makes this an exciting extension of the rankings on the Concept2 website is that it gives you a score that is adjusted to allow you to compete with other rowers regardless of their age, sex or weight.
It does this by using the previous years rankings to score you against the best times/distances for your own age, weight, and sex. This gives everyone a more equal chance of winning.
It also provides a glint of motivation to do a full marathon by handing out a 100 point bonus for completing all of the events.
INDOOR ROWERS LEAGUE
Similar to the CTC in that each month there is a different challenge, the Indoor Rowers League differs by offering both individual and team competitions.
It doesn’t run all year round, most likely leaving the summer months free for those who turn to on the water rowing rather than Indoor Rowing – but the competitive aspects and the website’s ability to filter the results to compare your efforts against similar age and weight categories makes this a fun option.
CONCEPT2 CHALLENGES
Apart from offering the individual ranking distances, the Concept2 website also offers a variety of challenges throughout the year. From individual challenges “The Mud Season Madness” where you are required to row 5 or 10K almost every day for a month to the Virtual Team Challenge, where you row with the rest of your team to accumulate as many meters as possible in the set timeframe (usually a month).
A great set of challenges for keeping you personally motivated, and if you are part of a team, a fantastic way to drum up some team spirit.
ALSTER ERGO CUP
This renowned competition-series on the ergometer is the ultimate physical and mental challenge for every indoor rower.
It is perhaps the most singular worldwide event where ALL participants whether young or old, man or woman, beginner or pro are listed in one common line-up.
Participants compete against the world reference time in their respective age and weight class. That is why everybody has a fair chance pitting themselves against all others. The renowned Ergo-event will take place in the city of Hamburg in November and will cover nine seperate races covering nine different ergo-distances.
It is open to all athletes such as cyclists, triathletes, joggers, crossfiters and simply anybody willing to push themselves to the their physical limits.
ROW SERIES
The Row Series “Rowing Online World Series” is the only challenge option in this list which you have to pay for (£12.50)
It’s a competition set over a period of four weeks, one workout is released each Monday at 10am and athletes then have until the Sunday at 9pm to complete the workout and upload their score to the website.
New for this year, and starting on June 5th 2017, it’ll be interesting to see how many people pick this one up, and whether it becomes a popular event on the online Indoor Rowing calendar.
ROWSPRINT.COM
This seems to be based around a traditional ‘bracket’ setup – where rowers submit a time and are then matched against another rower – going through a series of rounds until a winner is pronounced.
ROWD ROYALTY
This sprung out of a conversation in a gym about who the best rower was. It’s another challenge that runs through one month of the year (January) and incorporates different events over that period. Results are then tallied up and compared, and winners announced.
