Indoor
SUP Trainer
It’s not every day that you get an invite to a
‘man-cave’ to check out a SUP trainer but that’s what happened when I bumped
into former gig rower Jamie Barwell one day this spring. He has modified his well-used
Concept II rowing machine to make it work for his SUP training;
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| Jamie Barwell on his creation |
The
Seat
Useless for Stand Up Paddling but already already
subject to an easy hack for his gig training, gigs have a static seat so Jamie’s Concept already had a
big metal clamp holding the seat still. On top of the seat he added a section of
plywood and a pad on top of that, all secured in proper man-cave style with zip ties and gaffer tape.
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| Simple seat conversion |
This does not give a sturdy platform to stand on
but that is an advantage for SUP as the slight instability means no relaxing
when standing there. It’s a little like standing on a slow balance board. Without doubt this mod places strain on the
seat bearings that it was not designed for but as Concepts are overbuilt it’s
not likely to be a problem unless converted back to a rowing machine. Worth
keeping an eye on them if you make this mod as you really don’t want to fall
off on dry land and hurt yourself.
The
Paddle
Taking a blade to an old, ‘spare’ paddle resulted
in a good handle and shaft to use. This is attached to the chain on the Concept
using the same ‘U’ shaped, double ended bolt that held the rowing handle in
place. Simply unbolt the rowing handle, mark up the SUP paddle using the
Concept bolt as a guide, carefully drill through the SUP handle and attach with
the original bolt.
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| Paddle fixed with original handle fixings |
This is the one time when an alloy paddle would have an advantage over glass or Carbon, easier to drill with more confidence that the shaft will keep it’s structural integrity in use. The bolt needs to be low on the shaft in order to replicate a paddling position in use.
The
Computer
On a Concept the computer is on an adjustable
mount above the chain that links the handle and the fan. This allows paddlers
to set it at the right height for them when sitting. The chain runs directly
under the computer and because the chainline doesn’t change for rowing the
steel arms that hold it are fairly close together and not that long.
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| Concept computer and mount |
When used for SUP the chain no longer runs
straight along the axis of the trainer causing it to catch on the metal arms.
Jamie’s hack for this is to wrap the arms in carpet, this stops the chain
rubbing on them but isn’t that elegant. A better solution would be to move the
arms out with longer bolts and spacers, cheap and easily done with supplies
from a local hardware shop.
The
Fan / resistance unit.
This is where most work has had to be done to
make the unit work. An unmodified fan unit is incredibly hard to move when
standing, makes you appreciate how much power rowers generate with their legs!
Luckily this is easy to address with a screwdriver and hacksaw or drill with a
small cutting disk.
The cover for the fan is held in place with 4
screws, once removed it’s surprising how simple the inside of a rowing machine
is. The resistance unit is a drum with fan blades within it, the more blades
the higher the resistance. Blades should be removed evenly around the drum to
keep the resistance even around each rotation. And any changes would be very
hard yo put back so careful with the saw… the most logical, and easiest thing
to do is to remove every other blade in the drum, which is exactly what Jamie
did.
With the cover replaced this means that the
eternal resistance still works although you’d need to be a much stronger
paddler than me to move it up above 1.
The Data
The Concept II is a very good rowing machine
computer and has the ability to pick up a signal from a heart rate monitor and
this functionality is completely unaffected by Jamie’s changes. You can set
workouts based on distance or time, create interval sessions, row against your
previous best and more. Everything you’d ever need to get the most from your indoor sessions.
Lets
Paddle!
Wobbly! Now that I wasn’t expecting. As a regular
indoor rower I naively thought that a quick session on Jamie’s custom machine
would be easy but in reality it’s far harder than you’d think.
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| Nowhere near as easy as you'd think |
The first thing to get accustomed to is how to
stand. On a board if you stand up straight then bend forward at your waist you
are counterbalanced by the board and the water. Professor Brian Cox could
explain that better but bear with me. On the really very small, wobbly seat on
the converted trainer if you lean forward the only thing stopping you falling
forwards is you. There is no counter balance but that is what stomach muscles
and ‘core’ is all about. Standing still is easy but it gets exponentially more
difficult when you put a paddle into the equation.
We take the resistance of water in every paddle
stroke for granted. That resistance moves us forwards when paddling in a
straight line and upright during turns. So much so that we rarely think about
what is happening or how we are using Newton’s Third Law of Motion, the one
about equal and opposite reactions. We ‘lean’ on the paddle for balance without
thinking about the forces in play
Take away the water and a paddle blade but still
retain the need to put some effort into it when standing on something that
moves a bit and things get a little unbalanced. Luckily, for my pride more than
anything else I stayed upright but it was a bit of a surprise at first.
That instability is a very good thing.
The way that Jamie’s creation works forces you to
make a shorter, faster, more powerful stroke as a longer, slower stroke just
feels horrible and like you’re about to topple off. Once the initial power
strokes are out of the way, required to get the fan spinning, a fast cadence
results in a very strenuous workout.
I used to do a lot of gym rowing, intervals, mid
and relatively long distances and have no doubt that the modified Concept is a
far harder beast to work with. The imbalanced seat makes it oddly realistic,
the way you are encouraged to paddle fits in well with current thinking on high
cadence paddling technique and the workout can be savage, if required.
If you are serious about SUP racing and find that
conditions or circumstances mean that you cannot get enough time on the water
then an indoor trainer like this would be a great way to improve your SUP
fitness and, if used correctly, increase your cadence.
Man Cave and SUP Trainer : Jamie Barwell