C2 versus treadmill

[Gary Ohm]

I did not know whether to put this under equipment, nutrition, or injuies, so here goes. This may be a bit convoluted so bear with me....

My wife and I own a treadmill. She uses it at least six days a week and just loves the thing. She is doing hills, intervals, and all that as well as LSD's. She does not compete at all and has no interest. She was addicted to aerobics in high school and college in the 80's.
We bought the treadmill for the hip/bone strength factor. She is small boned and petite and has osteoperosis in her family. When we bought it the discussion in the industry was that women (and men for that matter) needed to have consistent repetitive micro stresses in their skeleton to encourage calcium deposition as time goes by. She actually wanted a stair climber but I talked her in to a treadmill.
So now the crux of my question: Will a C2 rower do anything for the bone/hip/calcium/osteoperosis issues? I personally hate running on it but she "needs" it. If we had a C2 I would use that. When the tread finally dies at some point we will have to replace it with something.
She has no interest in working out with me doing CF type stuff no matter how much I try to convince her. She is pretty darned fit naturally, she is around 5'4", about 107#, BP is "hardly anything over just about nothing" and her blood chemistry is that of an African Pygme despite chocolate and ice cream all over the house...
She wants to join a globo but I am really trying to avoid it. I certainly won't but she may end up joining on her own. She will not run on the road.

So does anyone have any insight on the osteoperosis thing and opinions on what the rower would do for these issues?

Thanks and I hope I made things clear. If not, I'll try again.

Gary

[Dane Thomas]

You two both might be sweating, but she is looking for a different workout experience than you are.

She probably likes the treadmill because it is easily quantifiable and gives her the feeling of meeting her perceived minimum daily requirement of fitness without needing to dress for public consumption.

She is probably drawn to a globogym rather than crossfit because what you do does not look like fun. Fun and friends and a feeling of non-threatening progress is more important to many people than risking failure at an exercise or having to try so hard that you get all ugly and disgusting. Videos like Nasty Girls or Kallista at the Games are as off-putting to those people as they are amazingly positive to Crossfitters. That's just the way it is. She might change at some point, but only she can bring that on. All you can do is set a positive example and wait for a change that may never come. It won't be your fault, and it doesn't make either of you wrong, you are just after different things.

Back to the question - Rowers are not likely to do a lot to help maintain bone density. If that is her primary incentive for the treadmill she should be wearing some shoes that allow her feet to work as they are designed to: http://nymag.com/health/features/46213/

[Brian Bedell]

I'm not sure why you/Dane would say that a c2 would not help with the osteoporis. With the rower you use your legs, hips, and the rest of your body; especially your core. I'm not a Dr. either, but your statement doesn't make sense to me. Not hating, just discussing.

That being said, your wife is gonna do what she wants, no use trying to persuade her either way. My opinion would be that you can run outside anytime, but most people can't row without a rower. AND a rower is very low impact compared to running. Get a rower. Keep an eye on Craigslist and one will turn up.

[Jay Cohen]

Brian;

Post the question to C2 via their website. Might as well get an answer from the folks that make it.

Have you visited their website, it's loaded with info.

Personally, there is no comparsion to rowing vs running. One will make you killer strong, the other will just kill ya.

But, the only words that you have to concern yourself with is "yes dear".

[Jason M Struck]

milk and deadlifts are what's needed for little caucasian and asian women.

[Dane Thomas]

Fair question, no offense taken.

I have a background as a sports PT and I've done research on testing and training for injury prevention and performance enhancement. I'm convinced of the overall value of the rowers from Concept and have used them when available since they were still making them using bicycle wheels with black plastic paddles on them. I've got bikes and running shoes and access to the outdoors, so if I had to pick only one piece of cardio equipment for my own personal home gym it would be a C2.

Even so, I've yet to see any evidence that the use of a C2 puts enough of the right kind of load on the weight-bearing structures to inhibit demineralization to a degree similar to the same degree as running. I'd advise her to run in the real world more often than the fake one and to mix things up a bit with jumping rope and agility drills and such. That having been said, if the treadmill is what floats her boat it is certainly better than nothing, and is by all evidence that I've come across more likely to help minimize the bad effects of the condition that she is at genetic risk for.

Originally Posted by Brian Bedell

I'm not sure why you/Dane would say that a c2 would not help with the osteoporis. With the rower you use your legs, hips, and the rest of your body; especially your core. I'm not a Dr. either, but your statement doesn't make sense to me. Not hating, just discussing.

That being said, your wife is gonna do what she wants, no use trying to persuade her either way. My opinion would be that you can run outside anytime, but most people can't row without a rower. AND a rower is very low impact compared to running. Get a rower. Keep an eye on Craigslist and one will turn up.

[Gary Ohm]

Thanks for everyone's suggestions. First off, Jay, the first and last two words out of my mouth each day are indeed "yes dear"... You hit that nail right on the head.

I have been to the C2 site, I was posting my times on there in the 10k Clydesdale section for quite a while until I stopped rowing. My employer has a gym with a C2 rower and for over a year my work schedule actually allowed me to row three or four days a week.

She will indeed do what she wants and I am just glad she is doing something. She was actually consistent with it while I was getting the desk job spread a few years ago. And when I pull up youtube workouts of Nasty girls or any other thing she is really turned off.

Of course I had the pukie-rhabdo as my desktop until she demanded I change it. Now I have the vintage pukie...

I'll just keep working on it and maybe eventually it will click. I will post this question to the C2 site and see what they have to say. But my hunch is that the load bearing stresses are just not there with the rower despite it being my ideal machine...

Thanks again.

[Stephen Baker]

Originally Posted by Jason M Struck

milk and deadlifts are what's needed for little caucasian and asian women.

Oh yeah! Wheewwwww....

[Jay Cohen]

Originally Posted by Gary Ohm

First off, Jay, the first and last two words out of my mouth each day are indeed "yes dear"... You hit that nail right on the head.

Your a very wise man and I hope your wife appreciates your groveling.