Top 5 Rowing Machine Workouts For Strength And Endurance

Being in a good physical shape has always been important. There’s nothing better than feeling and looking good at the same time. But sometimes, improving your health means more than including a basic workout in your daily routine.

If you are one of those people who like to push their limits, to build their strength and endurance, then you should definitely do more than jogging. Indoor rowing is one of the sports that can help you increase your stamina and boost your endurance. If you haven’t tried it yet, you should wait no longer!

The benefits of rowing

You don’t have to go to a gym to be able to row. There are plenty of indoor rowers that are suitable for home use. They have the exact same effects on your body, no matter where you use them.

Just like water rowing, indoor rowing comes with its benefits. Unlike regular fitness machines, this one puts all your muscles to work and provides you with a great cardio workout.

A regular rowing machine workout can help you build muscles all over your body, tone and strengthen them. Although muscles are extremely important for those who want to look good, the greatest benefit of indoor rowing is the fact that it can strengthen the entire cardiovascular system.

Athletes who need to increase their endurance choose the rowing machine due to its ability to activate more than 90 percent of the muscles.

If you find it boring, you should know that there are plenty of workout types that you can do on such a machine. Here are the 5 best rowing machine workouts for strength and endurance.

Top 5 rowing machine workouts for strength and endurance

The Progressive Pyramid Workout

This exercise is suitable for all trainees, regardless of their endurance level. If you are a newbie, than this routine will help you get used to the rowing machine and exercise the correct positions. Also, it helps you build your endurance from the beginning.

The entire exercise should last about 40 minutes and should be done at low intensity. The routine is quite simple: the warm up should last about 10 minutes and includes:

4 minutes of rowing at 25% pressure
4 minutes break
3 minutes of rowing at 50% pressure
3 minutes break
2 minutes of rowing at 75% pressure
2 minutes break
1 minute of rowing at 100% pressure

The full workout starts from a 1 minute row and 1 minute rest and continues the same way until you reach the 4 minutes row. Rest for 4 minutes and start decreasing the intervals, by doing a 3 minutes row and 3 minutes rest and so on. Keep the stroke rate between 26 and 32.

The Leapfrog Rowing Workout

This workout usually takes 46 minutes to complete. You should warm yourself up for 10 minutes with an easy row. During the actual workout you should do a sprint row for 1 minute and rest for another minute. Repeat 5 times and increase your stroke rate from 26 to 28 each second repetition. This interval should be repeated 3 times.

It is important to keep your eyes on the monitor during this exercise. Try to increase the meters you row each minute.

Sprint Rowing Workout

This workout is ideal for those who don’t have much time for their training. It only takes 20 minutes and it can help you burn 300 calories.

Start with the 10-minute easy row and continue with 3 intervals as follows:

Sprint row for 30 seconds at maximum effort
Rest for 30 seconds

Repeat 5 times and continue with air squats for 2 minutes during the first interval, with push-ups during the second interval and finish with air squats during the third interval. Keep your stroke rate between 26 and 32.

The Cardio Work-out

This is a short training, too. It only takes 20 minutes but you can build your endurance quickly by doing it regularly. During this workout you will have to:

Row for 5 minutes – set the resistance at 2
Rest for 2 minutes
Row for 4 minutes – set the resistance at 4
Rest for 1 minute
Row for 4 minutes – set the resistance at 6
Rest for 1 minute
Row for 2 minutes – set the resistance at 8
Rest for 1 minute
Row for 1 minute – set the resistance at 10
Rest for another minute

Rowing and push-ups

This is the best strength workout for those who enjoy exercising on a rowing machine. It is not the usual interval training and it doesn’t matter how long it takes to finish it. This time, instead of counting the minutes, you will have to count the distance. Here’s what you have to do: