This is an eight-week training plan developed by the British Rowing Association, designed to quickly get started and improve rowing for new rowers. It can be used as an initial introduction or as a benchmark for long-term rowing exercises in the future.
Before training, you need to have a basic understanding of the technique, precautions and exercise intensity of the rowing machine.
1. Rowing technique practice
The technical learning in the early stage of rowing is very important. Mastering the technology can avoid many detours and effectively improve the efficiency of rowing.
2. boating precautions
Focus on the rowing sequence at all times, and imprint "legs-torso-hands, hands-torso-legs" in your mind to form a muscle memory. Learn to control your rowing intensity and pay attention to changes in paddle frequency (stroke rate) on your digital watch. The different intensities of the paddle frequencies are described below. (Note: There is no fixed value for the paddle frequency, and different physiques have different feelings on the strength. The following are the reference values)
Rowing Strength Standard
1. Low-intensity rowing
- should feel comfortable
- Can easily communicate with others
- Paddle frequency between 16-22spm
- Can row for more than 45 minutes for a long time
2. moderate intensity rowing
- Heartbeat starts to speed up rapidly
- Can gasp for short conversations with others
- Paddle frequency between 22-28spm
- Unable to maintain continuity for a long time
3. High-intensity rowing
- Heart beating wildly fast
- Difficulty breathing
- The paddle frequency is above 28spm
- Only a short burst, usually only tens of seconds to a minute or two.
3. Beginner training plan
Week 1:
Goal: Get used to rowing movements, train and improve rowing skills, including rowing paddle frequency control, rowing posture, rhythm, etc., and improve basic physical fitness.
Phase 1: 1 minute of low-intensity rowing, 1 minute of rest, 5 repetitions.
Phase 2: 5 minutes of low-intensity rowing, 3 minutes of rest, 2 repetitions.
Week 2:
Goal: Increase the rowing time, row with a low-intensity steady state training method, focus on the explosive power of each paddle, feel the driving force of the moment when the hip pushes out, and slowly recover when returning to the paddle.
Phase 1: 2 minutes of low-intensity rowing, 1 minute rest, 5 repetitions.
Stage 2: 5 minutes of low-intensity rowing, 3 minutes of rest (or easy rowing), 3 repetitions.
Week 3:
Goal: To further increase the rowing time, row at a higher intensity, find your own rhythm and paddle frequency in the long row, and record the performance analysis.
The first stage: 500 meters of moderate intensity, rest for 2 minutes, repeat 4 times, and record the time score of 500 meters.
Stage 2: Row for 10 minutes, with the first 5 minutes of low-intensity rowing and the last 5 minutes of moderate-intensity rowing.
Week 4:
Goal: Increase moderate-intensity exercise time, shift focus from time to distance, and increase rowing distance with consistent timing.
Stage 1: Row 1000 meters at moderate intensity, rest for 5 minutes, repeat 2 times.
Stage 2: 15-minute rowing (alternating low-intensity and moderate-intensity every 3 minutes for 5 reps)
Week 5:
Goal: Complete the first complete 2000-meter row at moderate intensity, record the time, and take pictures.
Stage 1: 30 low-intensity rowing, then 10 moderate-intensity bursts, alternating 5 repetitions.
The second stage: complete the rowing of 2000 meters at one time and record the time.
ps: Set a pace for your own 500m target (refer to 500m in the third week), you can divide 2000m into 4 groups of 500m, calculate the time of 4×500m, add 20 seconds and divide by 4, that is Your target pace per 500 meters.
Example: Target pace = (3min×4+20s)÷4≈185s (3min5s)
Week 6:
Goal: Add some high-intensity interval HIIT training to improve muscular endurance and fat-burning efficiency.
Phase 1: 1 minute of high-intensity rowing, 1 minute of rest, 6 repetitions.
Stage 2: 500 meters at moderate intensity, 2 minutes rest, 4 repetitions. And record the time, compare it with the 500 meters in the third week, and look for improvements and breakthroughs.
Week 7:
Goal: Comprehensive training of different rowing styles, focusing on skill control and training to maintain movement without deformation in a state of fatigue.
Stage 1: 1,000 meters of moderate-intensity rowing (10 high-intensity explosive rows at 1-minute intervals), 5-minute rest, 2 repetitions.
Phase 2: 10 minutes of rowing (2 minutes low intensity, 2 minutes moderate intensity, 1 minute high intensity, 2 minutes moderate intensity, 3 minutes low intensity), 5 minutes rest, 2 repetitions.
Week 8:
Goal: Pursue the most powerful burst in the power phase and the slowest recovery in the recovery phase to improve the stroke distance per paddle, compared to the 500m results in the third and sixth weeks.
Stage 1: 5 minutes of moderate-intensity rowing, 3 minutes of rest (or easy rowing), 4 repetitions.
Stage 2: 500 meters at moderate intensity, 1000 meters at moderate intensity, and 500 meters at high intensity, with a 2-minute rest in between.
Efficiency improvement
In the early stage of rowing, you can combine 10 minutes of bodyweight training such as push-ups, planks, and squats to improve muscle strength. In the later stage, it can be increased to 15-20 minutes, and combined with dumbbells, swings, rib racks, etc. Do weight-bearing resistance training.
Rowing is the existence of "quiet like a novice, moving like a rabbit" in the fitness world. It can be a low-intensity aerobic exercise or the most powerful endurance exercise. The more you understand, the more you will like this sport. If you're new to rowing machines, give this eight-week training plan a try!
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