Why the Concept2 website community is more than just bells and whistles
for many people, future health benefits may just be too abstract and speculative to overcome inertia and take up walking, running, swimming, cycling or working out in the gym. So here is a little secret. What really keeps us devoted exercisers going, even in the face of myriad obstacles, is much more tangible.
It was a near thing, choosing a WaterRower over a Concept2 rowing machine. The WR got the nod because it was a good fit inside my home (and instantly available for regular use), operated quietly and soothingly -- and because I had a local community already for support, in Row2go and the Iron Oarsman Rowing Studio.
This article form the NY Times Health section (thanks to @RowfitChicago) highlights why that last intangible -- which doesn't come in the box from either manufacturer -- is key to ongoing exercise consistency. And the Concept2 has a very, very robust community of users supporting other users, both online and off.
I'm new to indoor rowing, but I know that a large proportion of my fellows have never been on the water, and have no intention of ever doing so. Whether they row like myself for fitness, or for competition, or for some mixture of both, they can do so forever on machines that are no closer to a bay than the Eiffel Tower.
Kind of like the vast majority of martial artists: even the most die-hard and serious can profitably study and teach their entire lives without ever actually using a real weapon.
There's a very devoted and vocal segment of rowers who actually, you know, row on the water. And their judgments of ergs is charitable, at best, and a prime driver for innovation amongst erg manufacturers. Re-creating and preparing a rower for the water -- or saying that you are devoted to such -- is the ultimate mark of sweat cred for these companies.
But other forces drive them, too: namely, the large market of rowers uninterested in the water. And maintaining and growing this base needs connecting it to something tangible, and immediately appealing.
Enter the community.
Online, group gym gab group, morning walking group -- it doesn't matter. We're born social creatures and we'll die social creatures, and social proof counts.
Meeting my own weight and BP target goals is grand. Wouldn't be around long if I didn't.
But posting my distance and time stats (and doing a quick comparison to those of others) is almost compulsory -- though they have little to do with the key fitness goals.
Getting a positive call-out from others doing the same thing? Makes my day.
And getting a personal reply from an Olympian in the field, or someone who's rowed across an ocean or a country?
Priceless.
