6 Workouts You'll Love to Hate

We all have our go-to or favorite workouts. For some of us, it’s a straight-up 5k or 30 minute piece. For others, it may just be doing 500m to get your blood pumping. For most of us there’s one thing we don’t like doing: Leaving our comfort zone. Here are six workouts to try!

1. :30 on :30 Off Whether you have 6 minutes or 30 minutes this workout can get your heart pumping. The trick here is to have a goal and stick to it. It’s easy to go out too hard the first 30 seconds and fall apart for the remaining intervals.

2. Increase Work/Decrease Rest Intervals are a great way to make you breathe. One way to switch it up is to decrease your rest and increase your workload. This workout requires strategy and planning. You can shorten or lengthen the intervals as needed. 1 minute work, 3 minute rest 2 minutes work, 2 minutes rest 3 minutes work, 1 minute rest 4 minutes work.

3. 3 x 2k, 5 minutes Rest If you thought doing a single 2k was tough try making it 3. Try to get faster as you go, so don’t blow yourself up on the first one. Consider stroke rate changes starting the first one around 24 spm, the second one at 26 spm, and the last one at 28 spm.

4. 60 Minutes, 20 spm The hour of power. Use this piece not to work on an hour PR, but to work on form, stroke rate and consistent pacing. If you aren’t one who’s mastered steady state, consider alternating your stroke rate every 6 minutes in pyramids: 20 spm, 22 spm, 24 spm, 26 spm, 24 spm, 22 spm, 20 spm, 22 spm, 24 spm, 26 spm. Learning to hold the same pace at varying stroke rates for extended periods of time will be very helpful.

5. Pyramid Increase, 1 Minute Rest If you thought decreasing rest sounded tricky, consider giving yourself the same minimal rest from start to finish. A grand total of 2500 meters, this pyramid makes your turn around quickly. Consider trying a second or two faster than your 2k pace: 250m, 1 min rest / 500m, 1 min rest / 1000m, 1 min rest / 500m, 1 min rest / 250m.

6. How Low Can You Go? Generally, we start our workouts with a clearly defined purpose, whether it’s distance or time. For this one, be open to new ideas. Choose a starting pace five seconds above your 5k pace. For example, if your 5k pace is 2:00/500m, start at 2:05/500m, and every 500 meters decrease your pace by one second. Continue this until you can no longer maintain the pace.

While these are six workout ideas to get you outside of your comfort zone, they can all be adapted to any of our ergs. Testing your erging ability with intervals, long pieces, and domains you’re not comfortable with is a great way to keep your body guessing and learn what you may be capable of.