Last updated July 16, 2020
When your indoor rowing workouts call for a larger number of meters, or you’re trying to hit a big number in the Concept2 online challenges, how do you keep it interesting? By breaking the workout up into smaller chunks and changing it up.
Longer indoor rowing workouts don’t have to be boring. You just need to have a plan that brings variety into the mix.
Longer indoor rowing workouts don’t have to be boring. You just need to have a plan that brings variety into the mix. Click To Tweet
Below we’ve given you 10 ways to kill 10k in your indoor rowing workouts, plus one bonus workout. You’ve got options that will take you from an easy row all the way through to a calorie-torching blast.
It’s up to you, pick the plan that works for you based on how you feel that day. Do one round or put several of them together for a monster meter rowing workout.
As always, if you’re new to indoor rowing get your doctor’s OK before taking on a rowing workout like these. Listen to your body and decide if it’s a good day for higher volume. If you’d rather do something shorter, check our indoor rowing workouts pages for more choices.
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10 Ways to Kill 10k (+1)
- Set the monitor and go: Find your happy place — that point where you’re sweating but you know you could keep up this pace for a long time, and row. Put on some good tunes and lean in to the Zen of the flywheel. Use this workout to find your steady-state target pace. You should be able to talk but prefer not to, and feel that you could stay at that pace for a long time. To easily set up the workout, from the main menu hit New Workout>Standard List>10000 meters.
2. Steady–State With Power Bursts: Row 10,000 meters at the pace you found in the workout above. Drop in 10 or 20 hard strokes every 500 or 1000 meters. Aim to drop 10 seconds or more off your split every time you do the power strokes, but always return to your base, steady-state pace.
3. Rolling 100s: Warm up through the first 2-3000m, then row 100 meters hard, 100 meters easy for 1000m. Paddle for 1-2 minutes and repeat for 3-5k. This is also a great way to get used to harder effort on the rowing machine.
4. Power Intervals: Like the rolling 1000s but longer intervals. For example 250 hard meters every 750 or 1000 meters.
5. Negative Splits: Start out at a fairly easy pace and aim to drop your split per 500 meters every time over the course of the piece. Using the split window on your monitor, aim to drop it progressively over the course of the rowing workout. For example take 5 seconds off your warmup split every 2000 meters. Use the last 500-1000m as your cooldown.
6. Stroke Play: Vary your strokes per minute (SPM): 2 minutes at 22-24-26-28 SPM, with the same amount of paddle rest, 2 minutes. Do this until you have completed the 10k. Bonus points if you can do rounds 18 and 20 spm (Hint: sloooow your recovery).
7. Rolling Intervals: Row repeating cycles of 3 minutes at 22 strokes per minute, 2 mins at 25, 1 min at 28. Paddle in between if you need a break, or challenge yourself and keep on row-ling.
8. Watch the Watch: Row rounds of 1:00 on with effort/1:00 off, 2:00 on/2:00 off and so on up to 5:00 on/5:00 off, then work your way back down. Increase your intensity as you come down the pyramid. Continue until you have completed the 10k.
9. Vary the Intensity: Use this one to practice adding more intensity to your workouts. Row intervals of 4:00 on, 2:00 off, keeping your stroke rating the same (we suggest 24-26 spm) but varying your intensity through the 4-minute intervals, from sustainable to highly intense.
10. Salad Bowl: Mix it up and choose up to 5 of the options above. Do something different every 2000 meters.
Example: First 1k: Warm up
1k-2k: Steady-state, half pressure
3k-5k: Rolling 100s
5k-6k: Steady state
6k-7k: Hard 1000m
7k-8k: Recover
8k-9k: :30 on / :30 off. 26 spm on the work, 22 spm on the rest
9-10k: Cool down
BONUS ROW-SKI for those with access to a SkiErg. Use the undefined rest feature on your monitor to keep both machines going without having to reset. If you’re a complete badass (and in our book you are if you do this), switch the row and ski numbers so you ski more than you row.
Row Ski
1000m 1000m
1200m 800m
1400m 600m
1600m 400m
1800m 200m
Which one did you try? Let us know what you thought in the comments, or if you have a question about endurance rowing, in general, let us know!
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