Every session
- Warm up 5 min easy, cool down 5 min easy. Not optional.
- Order of the stroke: legs push, body swings back, arms pull. Return: arms, body, legs. If your arms are tired first, it's backwards.
- Rate is a cap, not a target. Fewer strokes, harder legs. Watch s/m on the monitor.
- Drag factor stays at 121.
- Lower back hurts? Stop for the day. Tired is fine. Pain is not.
- Log everything in ErgData. Missed a day? Skip it, don't double up.
Baseline
Where it starts
2k test 10:42.6
2,017 m · 2:39.2 pace · rate 27 · 87 W
Done: 2,017 m in 10:42.6 · 2:39.3 pace · rate 27 · 87 W
Even splits on the very first try. That's the hard part and you already have it.
Week 1
Sept 21 – 27 · Learn the low-rate stroke · Sunday target 10:15
Steady row
20 min · rate 20–22 · pace 2:50–2:55
Done: 3,764 m in 20:04.8 · 2:40.0 pace · rate 27 · 85 W
You held your 2k race pace for twenty minutes on an easy day. So the 2k wasn't a race. Targets moved.
Power strokes
10 rounds · 10 hard strokes at rate 22, then 50 sec easy
Just Row, watch the clock. On the hard 10, drive the legs like you're jumping. Note your peak watts.
Rest
Off the erg. Walk, stretch hamstrings and hips.
Intervals
5 × 500 m at 2:30 · rate 24–26 · 2 min rest between
Select Workout → Intervals → Distance 500 m, rest 2:00. Hold 2:30 on every one. If the last is fastest, the first were too slow.
Rate-20 endurance
20 min · rate 18–20 · pace 2:50–2:55
This one is meant to be easy. Slowest rate of the week, long strokes. Save it for Sunday.
Rest
Legs fresh for tomorrow. Early night.
2k test 10:15
2,000 m · rate 24–26 · hold 2:33 the whole way
Select Workout → Single Distance → 2000. Even splits, then empty the tank in the last 300 m. This time it should hurt.
Week 2
Sept 28 – Oct 4 · More time on the seat · Sunday target 10:20 (revised after Sept 27)
Steady row
25 min · rate 20–22 · pace 2:48–2:53
Five minutes longer. Still conversational.
Power strokes
12 rounds · 10 hard strokes at rate 22, then 50 sec easy
Note the peak watts from last week and beat it.
Rest
Off.
Intervals
6 × 500 m at 2:33 · rate 24–26 · 2 min rest
One more rep. Even pieces.
Rate-20 endurance
25 min · rate 18–20 · pace 2:52–2:58
Long and low. Count strokes per minute if the monitor says more than 20.
Rest
Off.
2k test 10:20
2,000 m · rate 24–26 · hold 2:35
Halfway through the month. This one shows whether the low-rate work is landing.
Week 3
Oct 5 – 11 · The big week · Sunday target 10:10
Steady row
30 min · rate 20–22 · pace 2:46–2:51
Longest row of the month. Drink water before, not during.
Power strokes
14 rounds · 10 hard strokes at rate 22, then 50 sec easy
Fourteen. Form stays clean on the last one or it doesn't count.
Rest
Off. You've earned it.
Intervals
8 × 500 m at 2:31 · rate 24–26 · 2 min rest
4,000 m of hard rowing. Two 2ks' worth. Same split, every rep.
Rate-20 endurance
30 min · rate 18–20 · pace 2:50–2:55
The real thing: 30'@20. Log the distance. That number goes on your club form.
Rest
Off.
2k test 10:10
2,000 m · rate 24–26 · hold 2:32
Tired legs this week are normal. Race it anyway.
Week 4
Oct 12 – 18 · Back off, then break ten · Sunday target 9:59
Steady row
25 min · rate 20–22 · pace 2:46–2:51
Shorter on purpose. Fresh legs by Sunday.
Power strokes
10 rounds · 10 hard strokes at rate 22, then 50 sec easy
Sharp, not long. Best peak watts of the month is the goal.
Rest
Off.
Intervals
5 × 500 m at 2:27 · rate 26–28 · 2 min rest
Fastest pace of the month, fewer reps. This is what sub-10 feels like, in pieces.
Rate-20 easy
20 min · rate 18–20 · easy pace
Loosen up. No watching the split.
Rest
Sleep. Eat well. Think about 2:29.
2k test 9:59
2,000 m · rate 26–28 · hold 2:29
First 500 at 2:31, middle two at 2:29, last one at whatever's left. Under ten and month one is done.
Reading the monitor
- Pace (/500m)
- Time to row 500 m at your current speed. A 2k is four of these. 2:30 pace = 10:00 2k.
- s/m
- Strokes per minute. Lower means each stroke is doing more work.
- Watts
- Power per stroke. Goes up when the legs drive harder, not when you row faster.
- Even splits
- Same pace in every 500. The way you already row.
Synced with Concept2 Logbook. Workouts logged in ErgData show up here on their own.