Waterower "Performance" Monitors

These monitors are no longer in production.

For the sake of clarity, what follows does NOT apply to series 3 version 2.5, or the new series 4 monitor. I have no experience of these products, and whilst I doubt they are perfect.... I am assured that the fault I describe has been rectified.

For more information and discussion on these products, please visit the Waterrower Usergroup

The Problem - It doesn't matter how hard you pull!

Ever wondered why waterrower can't give you a conversion factor so that you can compare your times with Concept ii machines?
Wonder why your wife can beat your scores?
Do you find the Calories and Watts values pretty meaningless?

Here's why.....

Distance

We all know that on a exercise machine of pretty much any type, you're not really travelling a recordable distance. However, for training, motivation, and information purposes, it helps if the machine gives you a score of some sort. For rowing we want to estimate how far we would have travelled were we actually in a racing shell of some description.
Do not underestimate the importance of this to many users. Indoor rowing has become a sport in its own right due to the market leader (concept2) having clever electronics that are reliable to the extent that huge indoor regattas are very popular.
National teams are selected largely around athletes performance on these machines.

So surely a Waterower (not a cheap bit of kit by anyones standards) performs the task to a similar degree of competency?
Sadly - the values are very poor indeed. Perhaps even disruptuve to anyone who takes them at face value and sets goals based on their scores.
A WaterRower Series iii monitor only receives data from the paddle whilst you are pulling.
(At all other times, the "clutch" is disengaged, enabling the rower to return up the slide, but the paddle movement goes unrecorded.)

Therefore you obtain a distance value relating to how far the paddles moves during the POWER PHASE of the stroke only (i.e. the distance the paddle moves whilst you are pulling)
This distance per stroke works out at approximately 5 x the stroke length (distance moved by the rowing handle).
(This 5x value is presumably is related to the gearing connecting the handle to the paddle axle.)
This value therefore DOES NOT CHANGE if you pull harder.

So if your stroke length is about 1.2m you will always get about 6m per stroke. i.e. distance = 5 x stroke length
Therefore it stands to reason that it will take you 333 strokes of 1.2m to do 2000m.
So length of stroke, and the number of strokes are the only factors in determining the distance you record.

Speed

Increase the stroke rate, or the stroke length and you'll go faster.
Pulling harder doesn't matter.

Take our 2000m example above. If your stroke length is a constant 1.2m, then your time over 2000m depends solely on stroke rate.
Stroke rate 30 equates to a 2K time of 11mins
Stroke rate 40 will deliver a score of 8mins 20 secs.

The implications are clear. To do good times on a waterrower, for any given rate, pull as light as you can, but rate as high as you can by rushing up the slide like a nutter.
Oh - but keep the stroke length long.
Remember - if you let the water spin, (i.e. "let the boat run" or "get some cover") - you will be slow.
Like a real boat???
Not at all.

Click here to see my "WaterRower experiments" page which shows how this was realised.

Neil Wallace Page last updated 9th March 2006.