Online Ranking Testimonials
The Online Ranking and Logbook has a weekly challenge, in which winners are picked from those people who have rowed over 20,000 metres that week. Below are testimonials from some of those winners.
Geoff Meyer - 21/11/03
I started rowing about a year and a half ago when my oldest son talked us into buying a rowing machine for him to train on. His interests went different directions but I started rowing during the colder months when running outside was difficult.
I live in Blue Ash Ohio with my wife and 3 high school age children. My invalid uncle also lives with us and the indoor rower works great in as much as I can get a great workout and still be at home to take care of my uncle.
I love the workout I get on the Concept2 rower. I have lost about 50 lbs since I started my exercise program, with rowing the main component, and I feel great.
Carolyn Manning - 02/07/04
In June of 1995 I weighed 209 lbs.. My blood pressure was 160/120. I joined a weight-loss group, T.O.P.S. , Take Pounds Off Sensibly. It was three months before I had the courage to go into our Fitness Center in Sun City. I had just got my weight under 200 -- I weighed 192.75.
Our gym had purchased 7 Indoor Rowers and was sponsoring a contest. I joined, and in 2 1/2 weeks , three of us rowed 1,000,000 meters. We became members of the Team Million Club December 20, 1995. We became members of the Team 5 Million Club March 19, 1996. Plus, by March of 1996, I had lost 60.75 lbs. and weighed 130 lbs. I had rowed my way to heart healthiness and was given a clean bill of health by my physician and taken off blood pressure medication. Though I've personally rowed over 10,000,000 meters by late 1997, it was not documented. Since going online, I've rowed close to 3,000,000 meters.
My rowing machine is one of the older models. I cannot afford a new one, but I keep this one in good shape and it is by the side of my bed - I use it daily. I will send you a picture as soon as I become computer friendly. Ha! but, believe me, I'm married to my Indoor Sport Services and John, my hubby, doesn't mind playing second fiddle!
Larry Sinclair - 23/07/04
I didn't realize when I started that Indoor Sport Services had a website to record data and therefore missed the opportunity to begin recording information prior to the 5/1/03 'rowing' year start-up. I started recording in mid-May and accomplished my first million meters in late March of '04. I began rowing at my local YMCA (Westside YMCA of Lansing (MI)) for the purpose of better health and weight reduction. I am enjoying the fruits of that labor now thanks to the use of the Indoor Sport Services Rower. I averaged about 2800 meters per day overall (last year) and just under 5800 meters for each day that I actually rowed. I don't necessarily have the rower available to me daily, between the travel, family obligations, sickness, and just plain laziness in some cases. The end result of all that work is a loss of about 30 pounds and a much healthier feeling both mentally and physically. It took a lot of work to get where I am and now I am trying to keep at this level of activity as a maintenance sort of thing. My goal this year is to do a million meters in 10 months.
I am employed as a manager of an engineering group that designs capital equipment for the foundry and automotive industries.
Aamir Sakhia - 28/05/04
I joined a gym for the first time in my life about two and a half years ago. Luckily for me the gym had two Concept2 rowing machines. I have been using them regularly and have been working on improving my speed and endurance. The experience has been terrific. I have lost 45 pounds to date and manage row faster and longer every week.
I discovered the website this past year and have found it a great way to stay motivated. My goal is to hit 3M meters by then end of the year.
Andy Cox - 25/07/04
I first got into rowing in the early 90s as a cox with Bradford on Avon Rowing Club in Wiltshire. I competed for 3-4 seasons with the club, but
once I got to big, moved onto other things as there wasn't much opportunity
for juniors at that time. I did 'play' on the club model B a number of
times however and always promised myself that I'd buy one once I had a place
of my own.
Well in February '04, I did just that, ordering a reconditioned model C from C2UK. I've since notched up 850km to date, and hope to break my first million in the next couple of weeks. My primary training goal has been to shed some weight and to date I've lost 1.5 stone. My better half has also caught the erg bug and has done 750km to date. The two of us now compete in the annual metres challenge as members of the "Taff Attack". We're currently 8th in the club rankings and rising. Personally, I've been doing a lot of work on my half marathon of late, but hope to work on the other distances over the course of the year.
Joe Williams - 16/02/04
I am not a rower but my wife got into rowing about 10 years ago with a Women's Master's Eight at the Prince William Rowing Club. Shortly after she started rowing she also got into coaching and has been a coach at Gar-Field Senior High School (where she is a math teacher) for about the last 5 years. She had mentioned a few times that it would be nice if she had her own erg. Back in October 2003 I needed to lose some weight and I decided to get her an erg and also see if using it would help me lose the weight.
Well she hasn't used it very much, she prefers running and only occasionally uses the erg. I have used it almost daily since we received it and it was major reason that I lost 30 lbs in 3 months and have maintained the weight loss over the last 3 months.
Purchasing the erg was definitely a good investment and the challenges and rewards provided by Indoor Sport Services are an added bonus.
Rick Hipsky - 02/01/04
I'm a relative newbie to the C2 family with my beloved Model D arriving in
late August of 2003. I almost went with the water rower until noticing what
a great group of dedicated folks make the C2 more than just a super machine
and I'm very glad I made the right choice. So far I've logged 1.2 mil meters
and expect to put on about 3 mil in 2004 even with a > 50% travel time away
from my 'D'. The challenges, incentives and overall esprit de corp is really
motivational and provides me with an added benefit for putting in the extra
meters whenever I'm on. So far I'm only down 10 lbs, but glad to note that
the waist size is continually receding while the chest size is expanding,
which is a very cool thing for a 40 something guy :-). Another 15 lbs to get
me into the 'Lightweight' rankings is my goal for 2004 as well as getting
onto the water this year.
Really appreciate the quality of the D, the people at Concept 2 that are behind it and being a part of the nicest group of competitive hard bodies you can imagine.
Manfred Sellink - 06/08/04
I am a 42 year old Dutchman living and working in medieval Bruges.
Married, two children. Since nearly four years I am the director of the
Municipal Museums of Bruges, an institution which hosts some of the most
famous collections of Netherlandish art and culture in 14 museums and
historical sites. While trying to manage a few hundred people working in
this fascinating institution, I daily make some time to exercise and
compensate the long hours of meetings, meetings, meetings, lunches, dinners
and receptions. I have always done a lot of sports, partly in competition:
judo, swimming, rugby and squash amongst them. Race-biking has been a life
long fascination, ever since I bought my first racebike at the age of
thirteen. With a group of friends did ride - not in competition though -
famous tours like Liege-Bastogne-Liege (247 km.), Paris-Roubaix (260 km) and
the Amstel Gold Race (250 km), as well as countless rides anywhere from 60
to 200 km. Always was a little too heavy (85-90 kilo) for the steepest
mountains, more the locomotive kind of biker - once under steam I could go
on for a long time at a good pace.
When I arrived in Bruges as director, I took over an institution in crisis and was also responsible for major blockbuster-exhibitions as Bruges was Cultural Capital of Europe in 2002. Thus no more time for long rides on my bike. In the health club - trying at first in vain to battle against all the pounds I was gaining very swiftly - I discovered the Concept rower and liked it. Bought one my self in summer of 2001. I slowly started to build up the training schedules. After more than three years I have lost nearly 20 kilogram, some 6 to go to be back at my ideal weight of 88/89. In the process liked the rowing more and more, and have become somewhat fanatic. The last weeks, just having been away for vacation to the Czech Republic for three weeks, were lousy for rowing, but normally I train six times a week at 6.30 in the morning. A general work out is between the 40 minutes and 60 minutes. To that I try to add a bike-ride of 50 to 75 km at a pace of 33-34 km an hour once a week.
Currently my favorite distances are 30 mins (best 8160 meters), 10.000 meters (best time 37.12,1) and 60 mins (best 15937 meters). All best times were rowed in the last five months. Am now targeting to improve strongly before the end of the year. In the course of the next years will try to also concentrate on half marathon and marathon (which I have rowed three times). Well that is all there is to tell. Just want to add that I really like rowing - done nearly 6.8 million meters so far - and would not like to be without it. This fall I will for the very first time start training in a real boat. Something very different I assume. I wish I had discovered rowing when I was young. But that's life, so I now concentrate on enjoying it as it is.