The Best Rowing Machine Workouts

The best rowing machine workout is the one that will best help YOU to get closer to your goals. There’s no single rowing workout that will do this for everyone, so if someone promises to give you the best one—don’t believe them! However, we believe that this short list of rowing machine workouts includes something for everyone.

The Best Workout When You Only Have 20 Minutes: 40" On/20" Off

1. Warm up for 5 minutes.
2. The Workout: Alternate 40 seconds of hard rowing with 20 seconds of easy rowing for a total of 10 minutes.
3. Cool down for 5 minutes after the workout.

The Best Quick High Intensity Intervals Workout: Tabatas

1. Warm up for 10 minutes.
2. The Workout: Row one set of Tabata high intensity intervals: 8 x (20 seconds max effort, alternating with 10 seconds easy rowing).
3. Cool down for 5 minutes after the workout. (If you have more time, take a 2 minute break, then do a second set.)

The Best Workout to Share with a Friend (one indoor rower, two people):

500m AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible)

1. Select 2-3 other exercises to alternate with rowing. For example: pushups, situps and air squats.
2. Warm up for 10 minutes, giving each person 5 minutes of rowing and 5 minutes doing other things.
3. The Workout: Person 1 rows 500 meters, while Person 2 does 5 pushups, 10 air squats and 15 sit-ups, repeating the series until Person 1 finishes the 500m.
4. Switch places and repeat for a total of 20 minutes, or your desired workout time.
5. Cool down for 5 minutes after the workout.

The Best Aerobic Interval Workout: 4 x 4 minutes

1. Warm up for 5-10 minutes.
2. Set the Performance Monitor for intervals with a work time of 4 minutes and a rest time of 2 minutes.
3. The Workout: Row the first 4 minute piece at a moderately intense pace. Increase your effort each piece, so that you have totally “emptied the tanks” by the end of the 4^th piece.
4. Cool down for 5 minutes after the workout.

The Best Recovery Workout: Power Tens

1. If you like to listen to music, put it on.
2. Start rowing very easily, thinking more about good technique than anything else.
3. Get off the erg and stretch for a minute or two.
4. The Workout: Start rowing again, still thinking about technique. Every minute, take 10 strokes with a little bit more intensity, then ease back down. (If you feel good, you can go a bit harder on the 10 stroke pieces; if not, keep them moderate.)
5. Continue Power Tens for about 20 minutes.
6. Cool down after the workout.