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Tag: rowing machines
Stock Up for Summer Savings!
Stock Up for Summer Savings!
Despite the interruptions and restrictions of Covid-19, the long, warm days of summer are here and the rowing community is taking advantage however we can. Sculling down the Merrimack (one of our favorite local New Hampshire rivers). Dragging the rowing machine outside to sweat it out in the fresh air. Cross-training via hike, bike, kayak—you name it, we’re all doing it!
To help keep the momentum going, RowingPad is offering free U.S. shipping on all orders of $75 or more for the duration of the summer season. Just enter the promo code “RPFREE2020” at checkout.
This means you can upgrade your gear for both those stunning sunset rows on the water and those fierce ra`iny day sessions on the #erg. Try out our new Non-Slip Technology with our boat cushion collection, designed to add a textured layer to your pad base to help it grip the boat seat and stay put for the duration of your row. Choose from the 10MM Boat Pad with Non-Slip, the 20MM Boat Pad with Non-Slip, or the Non-Slip Boat Pad Add-On, which allows you to apply a non-slip layer to your current RowingPad cushion for an instant upgrade.
Regularly suffering from rowing machine aches and pains or raw rump? On the shorter end of the height spectrum? Your geometry could use a little adjustment in the form of an extra inch or so of seat cushion. Try the 20MM ErgPad or the 30MM Triple Decker ErgPad—the only rowing machine seat pad of its kind on the market, with three layers of foam—both available with or without comfort cutouts for the sitz bones. Our pads are specifically designed for the ergometer seat and stay in place to provide a comfortable, stable base for those long endurance pieces.
Stay strong, fellow rowers! Gear up. Breathe that fresh air. Soak in the beautiful views. Get your blood pumping. Need help? Reach out.
RowingPad Is Heading to the 2019 CRASH-B Sprints!
RowingPad Is Heading to the 2019 CRASH-B Sprints!
Every February rowers of all ages come together for a day dedicated to that beast of a training machine: the ergometer. The performances are often the stuff of legend, as new records are set and athletes push themselves to the limit! This year, the C.R.A.S.H.-B Indoor Rowing Championships will take place on Sunday, February 17, at the Boston University Track & Tennis Center.
We are excited to announce that, for 2019, RowingPad will be part of the action. Stop by our table during the event to check out our ErgPads and Boat Pads in person. It’s a great chance to test our 30mm Triple Decker ErgPad, which is truly one-of-a-kind in the rowing universe: It is the only pad in the world to combine three laminated layers of polymer foam, providing maximum comfort for those long-haul erg pieces. Our cheerful crew will be eager to swap rowing stories and help you determine which pad is the best fit for your needs. You can even score special discounts on our products. (Missing out this year? You can still get free shipping on all ErgPads through this Saturday, February 16, with the code “ERGFREE”.)
For those who don’t know the backstory of this beloved annual event, C.R.A.S.H.-B. stands for “Charles River All Star Has-Beens,” a group of 1976-1980 U.S. Olympic and World Team athletes who called the Charles River home and were always looking to inject a little fun into their sport. Following the 1980 U.S. boycott of the Olympics, the crew felt inspired to, as the group’s website explains, “break up the monotony of winter training” by forming a “fun little regatta of about twenty rowers in Harvard’s Newell Boathouse” all based around the ergometer.
Today the “fun little regatta” draws thousands of athletes to go all-out for 2,000 meters on Concept2’s Model D ergometer. Despite the emergence of other major indoor sprint competitions across the country, the C.R.A.S.H.-B.s remain a rowing institution. Catch up on all the remarkable performances and displays of passion from the 2018 installment with Row2k’s excellent coverage.
Why You Should Be Using an ErgPad
A seat pad can do incredible things for your erg performance. First and foremost, it provides incredible comfort, especially during a long workout. RowingPad’s ErgPads come as either solid cushions or with cut-outs for the sitz bones and are engineered to provide a buffer between your body and the hard seat. The bottom line? You will find yourself enjoying your time on the erg more. Many rowers have also reported a reduction in back pain and relief from sciatica when using one of our pads.
Beyond comfort, a seat pad is an excellent tool for adjusting your form and boosting your capability beyond what’s possible with your own body’s individual geometry, particularly as rowers age and their bodies change.
As legendary rowing coach and former C.R.A.S.H.-B. participant Larry Gluckman says, “Recently, I noticed that my range of motion on the ergometer (seat-to-heel compression and effective body angle) was less than it had been in recent months. Understanding the value of the hip/heel height in achieving proper body position at the front end (entry), I began to experiment with trying different pad thicknesses, since my heels were in the lowest setting. The 30mm ErgPad™ from RowingPad™ helped me restore that range of motion. Plus, it provided an increase in the seat-to-shoulder height, giving a longer upper body lever arm.”
Try out one of our ErgPads to adjust your body position and potentially boost your rowing power. Not sure which pad is for you? Stop by our table at the C.R.A.S.H.-B. Sprints this Sunday and we’ll help you identify the best pad for your needs. (Not attending this year? Send us a message via our Facebook page instead.) And remember: Enjoy free shipping on all ErgPad orders with the code “ERGFREE” through February 16.
We can’t wait to catch all the action in person this year. Best of luck to all the energetic C.R.A.S.H.-B. sprinters!
Check Out EngineRm, New York City’s Awesome Indoor Rowing Studio (Featuring RowingPad Seat Pads!)
Camaraderie is one of rowing’s best qualities as a sport—motivating individual athletes to push beyond their limits, even on days when they might have otherwise settled for a subpar performance. In fact, with its intense but low-impact training, team support, competitive spirit, and rhythmic stroke, rowing is truly an ideal form of indoor exercise for people of all ages and endurance levels. If only someone could transport the erg machine to the middle of the Thames during The Henley Regatta…
That’s exactly the experience you’ll get at EngineRm, an indoor rowing studio in Manhattan that recreates rowing at monumental regattas and gives participants—both seasoned on-water rowers and newcomers to the sport—a challenging full-body workout in the process. EngineRm founders Michael Ives and Laura Adams are banking on the belief that non-rowing exercise aficionados will become as enamored with all the sport has to offer as they (and we) are.
In fact, that’s how the idea for the studio came about—Adams, in need of a low-impact workout that wouldn’t strain her injured knee, discovered one of Ives’s indoor rowing classes. (For the uninitiated, master rower Michael Ives is a prominent figure in the competitive rowing world. In fact, he and his brother Chris, who is also an EngineRm coach, are credited with developing the first group indoor rowing program.) Adams was hooked.
Fast-forward a few years and many meters to the debut of EngineRm, New York’s only indoor rowing studio owned and operated by seasoned rowing pros.
And here’s the part we at RowingPad are especially proud of: The space is outfitted with top-of-the-line Concept2 machines, which feature custom ErgPads from RowingPad.
As another company founded by competitive rowers, RowingPad was thrilled at the opportunity to work with EngineRm to create pads for its machines. As Michael Ives says, “The challenge with all ergs, but in particular those used by multiple rowers, is that the erg has one design, one seat, but every rower’s body is unique. We like that RowingPad’s ErgPads are made from thick, laminated polymer foam layered in varying densities. It’s definitely a performance-oriented design.”
Soft layers provide EngineRm rowers with added comfort and a non-slip grip, while more dense layers allow for optimal rowing geometry. It’s a design that originated from years of on-water experience, one that has won over high-caliber rowing fans from Olympic athletes to premier boat clubs and collegiate programs.
“If our clients aren’t comfortable, they won’t perform well and they won’t want to come back,” Ives says. “These pads encourage excellent form. They have kept our rowers feeling good and paying attention to the experience, not the equipment.”
Here are a few more highlights about EngineRm.
It Has a Great Name.
Pro rowers will immediately get the reference: The Engine Room refers to the seats in the middle of the boat (in an 8-oared shell, seats 3,4,5,6) that are typically occupied by the most powerful rowers.
It Has an Impressive Rowing Heritage.
The Ives family has been making waves in the sport of rowing for generations, including a grandfather, Kenneth, who was a member of the Yale team representing the USA at the 1924 Olympics, and a brother, Ed, who rowed in the 1984 and 1988 Olympics.
Michael was a member of the Yale University Men’s Heavyweight Crew from 1976-1980, competing in two Eastern Sprints Championships and two Henley Royal Regatta wins (1979 and 1980). Chris rowed with the University of Massachusetts varsity crew that won the Dad Vail Championship in 1980, and, as Concept 2’s first Master Instructor, has helped implement indoor rowing programs at fitness centers around the world. (Read more about their backgrounds here.)
It Is a Truly Transportive Experience.
Anyone who has ever struggled through a lackluster indoor rowing set will appreciate the challenge of injecting energy into an erg workout. The EngineRm experience takes your mind out of the gym and into a boat on the water. For 45 minutes, participants row as if they are at Henley, The Head of the Charles, The Boat Race (Cambridge vs Oxford), the San Diego Crew Classic, and more. Ives says, “Our workouts are designed to emulate rowing on the water. There is no loud music—the energy comes from rowing together as a group through these legendary regattas. We row in unison, guided by the coach, your coxswain.”
It Has Something for Everyone.
All participants without on-water experience are required to take a beginner class to learn proper technique and form. The core EngineRm session is 45 minutes, and a one-hour Endurance class gives advanced class participants and on-water rowers a run for their money.
An extra-cool offering, especially in Manhattan, which has limited access to boathouses, is EngineRm’s youth program, available for kids ages 12 to 17, which includes 2k clinics and private training sessions. Solo training plans and insight from a guru like Chris Ives? Where was this studio when we were teens?
Find EngineRm at 1841 Broadway, Suite 320, New York, NY; rowenginerm.com.