RowErg + SS, DFW or a mix of both?

danbranson

New member
I am rowing a Concept 2 RowErg three times every week. How should I supplement with KBs?

A) Just simple and sinister (with an added press)
B) Just DFW
C) ABA BAB where I run SS and DFW every other KB workout

I feel like the mix (C) might dilute the effect of the KB sessions. B doesn't have any chest activation while A might be too simple on it's own?

Also should I add some ring rows / pullups? Or will the rowing on the erg be sufficient?

Thanks in advance?
 
@danbranson You could take some inspiration from DFW Remix.

That's 6 workouts a week - 3 DFW workouts and 3 Remix days with pullups/rows + swings. You could also add some chest work to the Remix days (or do them instead of swings).

The number of Remix days can be scaled as needed, but you could probably do easy rowing workouts at the end of your lifting, and hard rowing workouts either on a different time of day or on non-lifting days.
 
@danbranson Rows and pullups are never a bad idea. The erg is not strength training (similar to runners and soccer players thinking that they dont need to train their legs).
 
@danbranson I do Kettlebell AXE on Monday/Thursday, a LCCJ plan on Tuesday/Friday, and then row on Wednesday and Saturday. Hits everything and is my prep work for a 30 mile cross country ski race (because there is no snow where I'm at!!)
 
@danbranson What are your goals? What's your training history? Your injury history? How much time do you have per day/week? What other equipment do you have available? Is there a reason you're only looking at S&S and DFW?

I feel like there ought to be a "provide this information when you ask for advice about a routine" checklist on the sidebar or something. A lot of these questions are too vague to be answered helpfully.
 
@chanteuserose You're right, sorry. My goals are to be well rounded and have a body that keeps moving so that I can be able to play rough with my kids, sleep with my wife, move for my friends etc and never break a sweat while at it. The reason why I have been looking at DFW and SS is that I am busy and have about 30-40 minutes of time to invest into training on a daily basis (after the kids are tucked in). I have a weighted west (adjustable 1-30kg), every pair of KB I can lift, 1 adjustable comp bell (12-32kg), my concept 2 row ergometer and rings for rows/pullups.

Oh, and I have some sort of issue with my shoulder from rockclimbing. My surgeon thinks it's a torn labrum. MRI will clear it up in a months time. I have been able to lift with some soreness.

Thankss you for taking the time to reach out.
 
@danbranson Cool, thanks for that. First, I'm not qualified to answer the shoulder stuff, except to say that if a movement hurts your shoulder, you probably shouldn't do it, and if it doesn't hurt, you're probably fine. If your surgeon tells you something different, do that instead.

Given that you don't have specific goals (by non-specific I don't mean that your goals are bad, just that it's not like "compete at a certain level in GS" or "press the beast" or something like that), I think getting to a "good enough" level of strength, conditioning, and flexibility* is plenty. (I put the asterisk after flexibility because you might not need specific flexibility work. If you can move well and hit the positions you need to hit without it, then cool. I'm 45 and find that I do need some. YMMV.)

You've got the conditioning taken care of with the erg, which is great.

For strength: I'm personally not a fan of S&S: I don't think there's enough variety or volume. It feels to me like minimalism for its own sake. And I don't think the TGU is a good strength movement (and honestly I'd be especially wary of trying to push the weight on a TGU if you think you might have a torn labrum). I know that there are people who have gotten good results from S&S; not trying to take anything away from that; but I don't think it's the best.

I think DFW is better both in terms of volume and exercise selection, and the DFW remix that @hunter101 mentioned is even better. He mentioned one way to structure it; another way might be DFW + rows/pullups (just do a few reasonably hard sets at the end, don't overthink it) 3 days a week, and erg + a short flexibility/mobility routine 3 days a week.

Or instead of DFW, you could 3 days a week of something like Brett Jones's Iron Cardio (don't worry about the name, it's not really cardio) or Dan John's Armor Building Complex, again either incorporating rows/pullups as part of the routine itself or afterwards. They're not really "routines" in the sense that something like DFW is, but I've enjoyed and gotten good results from both. They're simple and progressive, don't require a lot of time, and can tolerate a lot of variation and experimentation. You can do them heavier with longer rest periods for more of a strength focus, or lighter with less rest for more conditioning.

You also don't have to choose just one: run a couple cycles of DFW until you get bored, then do Iron Cardio or ABC for a while until you get bored of that, rinse and repeat or do something different.

Hope this all helps.
 
@danbranson I ran the three day version of Pete Plan with Giant and it was a pretty great combo. I’m sure it would work equally well with DFW.

Six days on one day off, just alternating between Pete Plan and Giant.
 
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