Viewers of Channel 4's Fit Farm, or readers of previous newsletters, may remember David Pearce, the wine merchant who lost over 22% of his body weight, something that he attributes in large part to the Indoor Rower. Here, David writes about his experience on the programme and on using the Indoor Rower to bust some inches.A huge number of people applied for the Fit Farm, which was broadcast on Channel 4 every week day for 12 weeks, ending in May 2004. Upon entering I was 16'1 stone, which at 5 foot 5 inches is not impressive! I knew that I had no emotional attachment to food, and as such was very fortunate. I just had to stop being excessively greedy and being a slob and become active and eat healthily. Upon our initial gym equipment training I knew that the Indoor Rower was the tool for me to achieve my goals. It works every major muscle group so is great for all round fitness. I started off doing 1,000 metre rows, which really wore me out. It was so tiring. I soon got used to it though, as I knew it was my weight that was the problem and not the machine. At home after the first week, I had a look on the Concept 2 website and saw the one million metre challenge. I wondered if I could do it. I had 11 weeks left and taking into account a week off for injury/illness I worked out how much I would have to do over a period of 10 weeks. It works out at 20,000 metres per day over a 5-day week. It was crazy in my state, but I thought that I could do it. I went back after the weekend and told the staff - they thought I was totally mad and off the wall but would encourage me all the way. It was hard work, but the fitter I got the easier it became. As my objective was weight loss, I did not have to row at a fast pace; in fact, the optimum pace for me was fine as you should be able to hold a conversation (just!) whilst rowing. In the end I could do the 20,000 meters in around one and a half hours, which was perfect, and I timed it so that I finished on the second to last day. It is an amazing feeling and you can really feel the difference in the muscles, especially the legs, triceps, shoulders and abs (in fact as a direct result of the rowing machine I have a 6 pack lurking beneath my excess weight!) The Concept 2 is also fantastic for rehabilitation as there is no impact, which was a major plus for me, as I have bad knees due to skiing injuries. Part way through my one million meters I read Christopher (Superman) Reeves' autobiography and he states that in life you have to make massive goals for yourself and then shout about them as loud as you can. His was to be able to move again (even if it was just a finger) and mine to row one million miles. I did shout about it and this helped considerably. It is what motivated me to carry on - I could under no circumstances accept failure as I had told everyone I would do it. I strongly believe that if you only ever buy one piece of cardio equipment it should be the Rower, as it is portable and the most effective form of exercise I know. I would put 70% of my success down to rowing; the results it gave me were amazing. I lost the most weight as a percentage of my body weight than any other guest in the Fit Farm. I was also the only one to use the Concept 2 as my main piece of equipment, which is probably no coincidence. I lost 22% of my body weight in total, taking me to 12 stone and 7 pounds. After coming out of the Fit Farm I was committed to carrying on with my fitness and rowing. As well as training by myself, I have started up a Sunday morning exercise club with some friends and they all come to my house to have a 2,000 metre rowing competition, which they all love. I have now decided to try and pursue a career in the health and fitness sector but have so far been unfortunate, as I have no qualifications and they take a while to get. Obviously they cost money, and I need to work so I need to evaluate my options or find a company to take me on. I would love to undertake more TV and media work extolling the virtues of health, fitness and eating the correct diet. There is such a blaze of publicity about weight problems in the UK currently, that I feel there must be scope for me to work and promote fitness, especially rowing.I am still training and have beaten my Personal Best for the 2,000 metres by six seconds but am unfortunately slightly injured at the moment with a medial ligament injury to my left knee. The good news though is that I can still row, such is the completeness of the machine and its non-weight bearing format. I may not go as far or as fast but it all helps! I am also trying to lose another five kilograms so that I can compete in the AXA PPP healthcare British Indoor Rowing Championship later this year. Although I am short, I am aiming for a time of 7:30 and will undertake a 2,000 metre specific training plan to achieve this. I am currently at 8:11.