I am Stefano and I live in Monterotondo, a town near Rome, I have 26 years, I work as a radiology technician, and I met this machine about 4 years ago, a bit like it happens for all things, by pure chance; when in my old gym they had organized a functional course also introducing this strange machine, which before that I had only seen "parked" in some.
Now that you know a little something about me, let me introduce you to him, il rowing machine.
The remoergometer or in English "rowing ergometer" or more simply in Italian, rowing machine, it simulates the movement of rowing and is used by rowers especially in the winter period, but also by amateurs in gyms who exploit its completeness in movements.
The rower has taken his foot in time and has spread so much that he has given birth to a sport practice separate from the rowing that takes the name of indoor rowing, a discipline that has now conquered me.
"The first time you never forget." For me it went like this and it was beautiful; without the instructor giving me great explanations, I started to row and I felt my body move in a very natural way, and it was at that moment that I realized that it was the sport for me.
Fortunately, in my gym there are dedicated courses, which is very rare even for a big city like Rome, but now thanks to the use of the rowing machine in the CrossFit® WODs it has become much easier to practice it.
The first lessons were a disaster, I went out of rhythm with the class, I never managed to finish a workout because maybe I exaggerated in the initial part of the lesson and then found myself without force in the end, or, I finished the workout without even having sweated.
After 3 / 4 months the situation had changed, thanks to the tips of my old coach Max, I improved the technique and started not to waste the wrong force but above all useless.
From that moment on I tried to push more and more in training and shortly after I started doing the first races that vary from 100 meters where I hold the Italian category record, to the half marathon, about 21 km, a real mental challenge with yourself, passing through other distances like the 500 meters and the 1000 meters; but the competition par excellence is the 2000 meters, or the Olympic distance.
//www.instagram.com/p/Bs6G9d5F1V_/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
The 2000 m is a race where important preparation is needed to obtain results, a distance that cannot be improvised, which must be tried and tried again to understand the exact moment in which the body begins to feel fatigue, the moment in which the head tells you to stop and slow down, or the right time to do the final sprint, and it is only thanks to training that one manages to overcome all the difficulties of this distance.
Meanwhile in my gym the number of people doing rowing increased more and more, and in a short time we went from being 3 people who were competing to be more than 20, which may seem like a ridiculous number, but I assure you it's not easy to find 20 "crazy" who train and dedicate a Sunday to the month for this sport.
//www.instagram.com/p/Blv3jsYFcQR/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
So slowly, month after month, a very close-knit group was created that pushed me more and more to continue this discipline.
About 2 years ago I began to follow on Instagram people like me who shared a passion for rowing, and I met international athletes whose training times but especially the race were crazy!
Talking to them, and watching their training, I realized that I lacked a fundamental part, the fund !!
Background means a workout that lasts longer than 30 minutes and where you need to keep the frequency of shots low, among the 18-22 shots per minute (for high frequency we mean from 32 / 34 shots per minute up) so the technique, strength, endurance is researched but above all it trains the mind, because I assure you that it is not easy to row for 10 km always looking at the same point.
In the last year, both for work reasons and for personal reasons, I spent less time rowing, nevertheless I managed to keep my race times constant, always thanks to the work on the bottom, which is the most boring but basic.
From around 1 month I decided to change and get involved both Crossfit and BikeERG, the first that many of you will surely know is a sport that involves the use of rowing in your WOD, the second is a machine, always from the same house manufacturer of rowing machines, the Concept2, which simulates the movement of cycling.
In my life I have tried different sports, judo, swimming, soccer, volleyball, but the only sport that I really felt mine was rowing because whatever activity I do, be it running, weight room, CrossFit®, cycling etc. … Allows me to find a benefit and improvement in training and competition times; thus giving me the incentive to always look for something new that can improve my performance.
This feeling of wanting to push my body to the limit I was never able to find it before that day when I put my ass on the rowing saddle!