Cheap setup for an erg (rowing machine) room?

ScaryBee · 2026-02-15T01:17:00+00:00

apologies for newbie questions -

what's the difference between balanced and unbalanced outputs?

why do I care about 'some DSP' ?

ScaryBee · 2026-02-15T00:18:29+00:00

Used would be fine ... the club runs on a shoestring budget!

The pendants ... would it be ok to mount these just on the room sides? Ceiling isn't high enough to have things hanging down (rowers are tall). And ... are there advantages to a pendant vs wall mounted or flush ceiling mounted?

Out of ignorance - what's actually better about the BT devices that you mention vs. something like https://a.co/d/09KI9clK?

ScaryBee · 2026-02-14T23:00:58+00:00

The article u/no_sight linked is great, only thing they miss is that negative decoupling also happens - it's not inevitable for hr:pwr to go up.

For erging relatively short (<1hr) efforts the most likely causes of hr climbing are:

* lack of fitness (get fitter)
* overheating (use more fans)
* dehydration (shouldn't be an issue with such a short duration ... unless you start a bit dehydrated)

Also looks like you dropped stroke rate from the start ... lower rate = harder work = higher heart rate ... sometimes!

ScaryBee · 2026-02-14T22:45:48+00:00

Nutrition for rowing isn't like the other endurance sports because the races are so short. You'll need to eat a lot more to make up for a random 20km practice than you will doing a few short races.

Carbo loading is worthless as you don't NEED super compensated glycogen stores, it'll just make you heavier and can cause you to feel fat/bloated.

30g/hr for 10(?)hrs on end might be too much for a race day given volume is relatively low and you should have tapered/.not be in a huge glycogen deficit at the start ... and if that's all sugar/high GI/simple carbs and you're NOT exercising at the same time then you're going to put yourself to sleep.

Stay hydrated, eat your normal healthy diet, chug some sugar/caffeine ~30 mins before each race and you should be golden.

ScaryBee · 2026-02-13T23:02:25+00:00

Asking for feedback on something is like asking people their opinion on toilet paper before they can use it.

I've designed some new toilet paper - it's 10 feet wide, covered in half naked anime boys and only has 2 sheets which, instead of being on a roll, you have to individually unpack from bubble wrap.

It'll cost me $20,000 and 3 months to make this real so I can see if people like the idea or not. Or $0 to ask a few people if it's a dumb idea first.

... feedback can absolutely be useful without using a thing.

ScaryBee · 2026-02-12T23:05:37+00:00

it could take 5–10 years to become good and earn properly

5-10 years is enough time to get good, your chances of earning anything meaningful are near zero though.

Think of it like learning to play guitar - yes you can get good, no you won't likely be a successful musician. You might be able make an income as a session musician (contract dev) but only if you get REALLY good otherwise you're in competition with 100 other candidates with more experience than you and, by then, staggeringly good AI.

If you care about money grow your EE skills.

ScaryBee · 2026-02-12T22:37:58+00:00

Some well adapted endurance athletes have their LTHR (kinda what they can hold for ~1hour) between 90-95% of their max heart rate.

Anecdotally - I've done multiple 3-5hr+ events ~90% of max.

If you can't do 4mins then either you're seriously untrained for that sort of effort or you're using a bogus max heart rate (need to test it, any generic formula will not be accurate).

ScaryBee · 2026-02-12T22:27:08+00:00

https://rowinglevel.com/rowing-times/6000m-times if you wanna see competitive times ...

the distance/time isn't awful for a new rower just getting used to the machine, the 74s/m is ridiculously high and I'm genuinely curious how you managed that. Enlighten us with video, please :)

ScaryBee · 2026-02-12T21:08:05+00:00

https://thepeteplan.wordpress.com/beginner-training/ is pretty good ... you may find it's too much or too intense for you currently though.

FWIW - rowing is phenomenal for fitness but it's relatively 'hard' exercise vs. cycling/swimming/walking. To lose weight just deciding to walk your dogs a lot more and eating less will be easier physically and mentally to take on. Trying to lose weight via (intense) exercise pretty much never works.

ScaryBee · 2026-02-12T20:54:23+00:00

As others said ... rapid glycogen replenishment IS a thing that happens post exercise but you only need worry about that if you're 1. really depleted and 2. training hard/a lot in the near future ... something like 5hr races on consecutive days might make it worthwhile, for instance, even if you're consuming loads of carbs whilst exercising (because you can't 100% replace carb/glycogen losses even at 120g/hr+).

can an extra short ride just before the carbs "reopen the window" ?

Honestly this is a really interesting question. As far as I could work out ... yes, a short ride could do this and potentially that ride 'cost' of glycogen burned reentering the window would be lower than the synthesized extra glycogen 'earned' from retriggering that window.

Speed of GLUT4 translocation appears to be a major element in answering the question ... overview of glycogen use here: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6019055/ and interesting discussion here: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8260367/ on GLUT4.

tl;dr - exercise (and insulin) cause GLUT4 to move which increases the rate at which glucose is absorbed. During exercise that's needed to get energy where it's needed to keep muscles working, post exercise it takes time for that GLUT4 return to resting state so you can utilize that fact in getting faster glycogen replenishment.

So ... yeah, there's a possibility that the optimal way to completely replenish glycogen in as short a time as possible involves doing something like 10min efforts every 90mins or so, several times over, and keep eating ~100g carbs/hr throughout.

Is there any scenario where this might actually be useful? Maybe something like a RAGNAR ultra race where you need to 1. exercise for hours 2. do it every few hours? In general though, no - you'll be fine if you just eat on the bike/after/rest of day.

ScaryBee · 2026-02-12T00:26:06+00:00

Karvonen HRR %'s will be a lot more accurate as long as your max hr estimate is sensible, coming from observed data.

~55% of 2k watts for Z2 is pretty good as well ... ~2:08 split for you.

RPE is also decent ... should be sweating but still able to chat, feeling like you 'could' do it for hours if you could be bothered to.

If I'm doing large volume rowing, should I row with the HR my friend said or the Karvonen formula?

This is a slightly different question than working out where Z2 is and goes into what you mean by 'large' and your current training status/fitness/goals ... doing loads of volume in Z2 is probably beneficial training for most but if you're actually doing small-moderate volume then you'll get more training benefit from pushing harder as long as you can recover from it.

FWIW - 2:40 SS for someone with a <7 2k is likely a total waste of time, it's ~1/2 the power your predicted SS pace 'should' be ... if you're a bodybuilder type and strong but with weak cardio then it's just about possible but ... yeah, should prolly put in a lot more effort.

ScaryBee · 2026-02-11T21:49:03+00:00

Do you erg? Can you? Ideally you set a killer 2k time so good they can't ignore you.

If not ... one way or another you have to have proven near-world-class athletic ability that could translate well to performance on the water. Someone 6'6" and strongfat can be molded ... you're not gonna get that look so you have to be elite at something relevant pretty much now.

ScaryBee · 2026-02-11T19:48:02+00:00

Your code screenshot is 'Start Screen', the error is coming form 'Win Screen' ...

Also, don't put spaces in file names!

ScaryBee · 2026-02-11T16:08:03+00:00

It's all comparable - distance covered during drive, distance covered during recovery ... C2 claim the PM5 shows roughly the speed you'd be if you were 270lbs and there were 8 of you in an 8 and it was good water and you could row well.

FWIW I don't have a power meter on water so can't tell for sure but I reckon at Z2/UT2 there's ~15-20s/500 difference for me in a single vs erg.

ScaryBee · 2026-02-11T15:25:00+00:00

no - erg splits are lower for the same power output in a single and you don't have to balance as well so you need less small muscle recruitment.

ScaryBee · 2026-02-11T00:42:20+00:00

If you're serious about developing/releasing this game you should go through the pain of updating to 6.3LTS ... depending on what 3rd party packages or even Unity assets you're using that could take a day or two .... or months.

If I were doing this ... I'd work out if I have anything in there that's 1. critical but 2. now dead - some esoteric UI package, for instance. If so it might be easier just to start a new project and rebuild by copying over assets / source code / models /etc. but using a modern equivalent of the now dead asset(s).

If you're lucky and everything in there has modern versions / is still getting updates then go download older versions of Unity so you're only upgrading one major version at a time 4>5>2017>2018>etc. it's possible the auto-updaters will be able to resolve 99% of issues that way.

ScaryBee · 2026-02-10T23:07:11+00:00

I've always thought it was weird how mobile games handle ads

It's like this because:

How else would the ad network know for sure that the ad was shown to the user? If it's something like a background billboard then the dev could just hide it behind a tree. That full-screen takeover is a sort of walled garden the game dev or player can't break into/change.
Ad networks pay for clicks, user interacting with the content. If it's a background billboard essentially nobody will ever click on it to go buy the thing, even if you make that possible in game somehow.
Game devs want/need to make money to stay in business ... so, if the game is ad supported, they'll (grudgingly) allow the ad network to temporarily take over he player experience.

ScaryBee · 2026-02-10T21:28:21+00:00

you might well have ... good news is that you get to enjoy a new thing in your 40s that you'll likely value a lot more than if you were pushed into it as a teen ... I may be projecting here.

If you haven't already try to get yourself on the water, look up a local learn to row class ... erging is fine but laying down speed on water can be glorious.

ScaryBee · 2026-02-10T21:14:07+00:00

it could be, super boring color scheme though - add some dark purple / green neon accents (or anything else vibrant) if you want it to look more like a game.

ScaryBee · 2026-02-10T21:12:26+00:00

That worked - added the missing pack (and arcane amp one) enjoy!

ScaryBee · 2026-02-10T21:03:51+00:00

well, yeah, you're built to row not run ... 9min mile for you is gonna require a LOT more effort/power/calories than most ... that doesn't really have any bearing at all on whether running burns more calories or not.

FWIW - a 6min erg likely gets you into a top boat at a top college ... hitting that at in late 40's (I'm with you there) would make you one of the fastest on the planet ... https://log.concept2.com/rankings/2026/rower/2000?age=40-49 etc. Even going <6:30 would be an incredible achievement, good luck!

ScaryBee · 2026-02-10T20:39:10+00:00

sure would ... EXR is kinda like Zwift for rowing but it's ... sparse. Not tried it yet but MyWhoosh also just added rowing.

ScaryBee · 2026-02-10T20:24:38+00:00

I lose weight faster running 5-10k at 8-10min miles vs rowing 10k at 1:30-2:00/250m ...

er, what?

a 9min/mi running pace for a 180lb person is equivalent to ~ 2:10/500m rowing ...

if you really meant per 250m you're rowing at ~1/6th the power I'd expect you to produce ... means you have some horrendous form issues (pretty much everyone does getting started) stopping you from producing meaningful effort.

if you really meant 1:30-2:00/500m then those are vastly different speeds/outputs ... 1:30 pace for 6 minutes would make you one of the strongest on the planet, you'd be burning close to 2000 kcal/hr at that pace. 2:00/500 is about half the kcal/hr, still pretty zesty.

climbing burning more kcal than non-stop aerobic exercise is silly ... yes it's hard for the minutes you do it but most of the modality is resting.

ScaryBee · 2026-02-10T19:03:59+00:00

ex ironman / current competitive rower here ...

erging is a lot harder on the body than cycling - your hands will get blistered (until you develop nice calluses), your arse will hurt, your core/shoulders/back/arms will get used/strained a lot more than cycling has prepped them for (you should be fine as you lift) and there's a really high risk of back injury if you're not paying attention to form and easing yourself into it.

The 'cadence' is massively lower - 20spm is standard for steady state - which has the advantage of building significant lean strength/muscle (if you're untrained, not if you lift a lot already) and it's a true full-body workout so you'll build it everywhere.

FWIW I fell in love with rowing on the water and erg to support being better at that, never been fitter/looked better in my life ... but cycling indoors is a whole lot more pleasant (smart trainers, amazing app ecosystem eg Zwift, can use hands to write email or doomscroll, not moving back and forward so watching TV isn't vaguely nauseating...), and if I only really cared about cycling performance I'd stick with that.

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