Indoor exercise is tedious and without good tunes, it can be worse than boring and more like torture. Since 1994 I’ve been rowing on my Concept2 ergometer and trying to perfect the perfect “mix-tape.” The last 15 years have also seen me struggle to figure out how to listen to that perfect set of songs without a) horrifying people around me by playing them out loud, in the open and b) killing myself or my personal electronics.
At first I used a Sony portable CD player – one of those little round things – and set it next to the erg on a chair. I’d climb onto the rolling seat, put on the “sports” earphones, and then haul away for 30 minutes to an hour, the thin wire swaying back and forth with just enough slack not to pull the player off the chair and crash it to the floor. Too much slack and the rolling seat would roll over the cable, jam the wheels, bring me to an abrupt halt (not cool when one is pushing a 200 beat per minute heart rate) and trash the earphones.
Then I moved to a MiniDisc player and put it inside of a neoprene fanny pack/belt thing that made me look like an American tourist with black socks and madras shorts in the Bagatelle gardens. That was okay, but when I travelled I had to make sure I had the thing as no belt meant no tunes.
In 2002 or so I joined the iPod movement. I moved to an armband holster thing popular with joggers/runners. That was okay except it constricted the blood supply to my burgeoning biceps and I had to wind the cord around and around the iPod to avoid the aforementioned cord-meets-wheels-surprise.
Forget that little solution at home when I travelled, or lose it, and the iPod would get stuck inside of my rowing shorts – or “trou” as rowers refer to them – a tight lycra-spandex bike short sort of thing without the butt-pad. Rowing shorts are better than petri dishes for growing new biological weapons, and let’s just say you never want to borrow my iPod. Never.
A few weeks ago, while reading the Union Boat Club of Boston’s email listserv, I saw a fellow member recommend a solution called the iErg. This is a fabric cover that fits over the rolling seat of my Concept 2 erg, with a side pocket for the iPod. Brilliant. Ten minutes later I had PayPal-ed an order and within a week it arrived.
Perfect solution. I strongly recommend it. And I paid $25 for it, just so you know I am not blowing blogola/pay-per-post b.s.
dude!!!!! David!!!! Love your blog!!!! I’ve just gotten back into indoor rowing after a 25yr layoff. I’ve forgotten how fantastic it is. Been at it for 3 months now, 790000 meters in the online logbook now. If you think that maintaining a 2:05 pace is a loser , then I’m a sub- loser, as I just recently completed my hour of power at a 2:13 pace. My times keep dropping though, and hopefully in a few more months I’ll have it down below 2:00 pace.
But I digress,,,,, ah,,, music!!!!! Yes,,, as you said,,,, no way can I get through an hour of power without music, and I too am working on that perfect mix to get me through the hour of power, trying to sorta choreograph a specific mix to get me through each specific part. My solution to how to carry my music is very simple. I use iPod shuffle. Not the brand new one without the play ring, but the one before, that has the play ring on it. It also has a built in spring loaded clip. Its very small, and I just clip it on front of my shirt up just below my shoulder. The headphone cord just hangs at my side, out of the way of my body or the erg. Very simple, comfortable, and effective. Also , siting on my shoulder, its very easy to reach up and tap the play ring to adjust volume, change songs, or pause it. I use a very small set of B&O portable headphones that I got at Apple store. I can’t say enough good things about these headphones!!!!
they’re about $100 ( they ARE B&O’s !!!! ) they’re very durable, sturdy, hold up well to sweaty workouts, and are comfortable, and have fantastic sound!!!! You can still get one of the last generation shuffles at Walmart for about $40,a bargin!!!! I bought 2, and load two different playlists on each one. And,,,,, if you loose one your only out $40 bucks. To me its the perfect erg music solution!!!! Try it, you’ll love it!!!! And if you come up with the perfect hour of power playlist, PLEASE share, as I will when I come up with mine. Well,,, keep up the blogging, love reading it!! Jerry
Ummm, here’s a thought. How about wearing a t-shirt with a breast pocket on it.
handle hits the chest and tangles in the wire. prisoner puts the lotion in the basket.