Rowing Workout

The Rowing Machine is one of the most effective pieces of fitness equipment for burning fat and improving conditioning. A great non-weight-bearing exercise machine, a rowing machine uses both your upper- and lower-body muscles to increase cardiovascular conditioning. Since you’re using your entire body, targeted muscle soreness is unlikely—you'll more likely feel the soreness all over as you train your cardio ability and burn fat quickly.

While most people think rowing requires mostly upper-body strength, it’s actually all about the legs, says Nunn. Like a golf swing, the legs and hips do most of the work for creating power during a rowing stroke. In fact, the movement is similar to an explosive power clean in weightlifting that uses your entire body. You begin driving with your legs, engage the muscles in your back and core, and then follow through with your arms, explains Nunn.

Rowing: The Basics

While most people think rowing requires mostly upper-body strength, it’s actually all about the legs, says Nunn. Like a golf swing, the legs and hips do most of the work for creating power during a rowing stroke. In fact, the movement is similar to an explosive power clean in weightlifting that uses your entire body. You begin driving with your legs, engage the muscles in your back and core, and then follow through with your arms, explains Nunn.

The Warm-Up

To get your body warmed up and ready to row, Nunn suggests a 10-minute “Pick Drill.” To pick the stroke apart and wake up the muscles, you’ll begin with simple, partial movements and then work up to the full rowing motion.

Start with your legs straight, body in an upright position, elbows bent so the handle is pulled fully into your chest. Keeping your back and legs straight, extend your arms away from your body, reaching towards your feet, then bring them back to the original position. Shoulders should remain relaxed. Repeat for two minutes.
Next, engage your back. After you extend your arms forward, hinge forward slightly at the hips. Then, keeping your spine neutral, reverse the motion by leaning back from the hips once your body is fully upright, as you pull your arms and the handle into your chest. Repeat for two minutes.
Warming up your legs comes next. After you extend your arms and hinge forward from the hips, bend your knees slightly so your seat rolls halfway towards the flywheel, and your arms extend forward past your feet, grasping the handle. Reverse the motion by pushing with your legs first, then leaning back and finally pulling your arms into your chest. Repeat for two minutes.
Time to take a complete stroke! You may now bend your knees fully so your shins are perpendicular to the ground and your heels lift up slightly. Repeat for four minutes.

The Workouts

Ready to row? Try one of these three conditioning sessions suggested by Nunn. And we’ve got some good news: You don’t even need to time your own intervals. You’ll find all three of these workouts pre-programmed in the monitor of the Concept 2 rower. Read the tips below, do the 10-minute Pick Drill above, then cue up your routine by choosing “Select Workout” from the main menu, then tapping “Custom List” on the rowing monitor, and picking your poison.

Rowing Workout 1: HIIT Sprints

If you’re short on time, these high-intensity intervals will give you a quick sweat fix. Improve your strength and explosive power in just 20 minutes (not including warm-up or cool down). You’ll burn roughly 300 calories in total, says Nunn. Keep your stroke rate between 26 and 32 and always be in control of how fast your legs are moving.

Rowing Workout 2: Pyramid Power

Try this intermediate challenge to improve endurance and consistency with your rowing. For each interval, aim to keep the same workout intensity, or pace. You can check this by looking at watts or by changing your units to “time per 500 meters” on the display. Be warned: Just because you’re rowing and resting for the same amount of time doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy! Your hard work will burn roughly 450 calories.

Rowing Workout 3: Lean Leapfrog

Compete against yourself during these aggressive bursts. While most rowing workouts are aerobic, this one is anaerobic. Similar to a weight lifting session, you’ll exert your muscles enough to produce lactate, which leaves you with that burns-so-good feeling. Ultimately, an anaerobic rowing machine session will help you increase your power output and endurance because it forces you to tap into the strength of your legs. While paying strict attention to your stroke rate, try to maintain or increase your meters rowed during each “on” minute. This challenging row is 40 minutes and will burn roughly 700 calories, says Nunn.