Three Week Training Program for Competitive Rowers

A balanced diet of long and short intervals, longer distance work, and some speed.

The program is based on six rowing sessions per week. If you are unable to do six workouts per week, complete the workouts in the order given, ignoring the days of the week, and the program will last more than three weeks. For best results, try to row at least four times per week.

Day	Workout	Details	Advanced/competitive
Monday	Threshold Intervals	Alternate 4 minutes of hard rowing with 3 minutes of easy rowing	Do the work intervals at a challenging pace but not max effort. Use your best 5k pace, if you know it.  Do 4-5 intervals.
Tuesday	Steady Row with short bursts	Long moderate row with a “power ten” every 500 meters. (Power Ten = ten strokes at higher intensity).	Row 40-60 minutes.
Wednesday	Short intervals	1 minute of hard rowing, followed by 30 seconds of easier rowing. Repeat four times for one set then take a break of 3 minutes before starting the next set.	Do 4-5 sets with good intensity. Faster than your best 2k pace.
Thursday	Longer row with alternating intensity	Alternate 45 seconds (or 20 strokes) of moderately hard rowing with 15 seconds (or 5 strokes) of easy rowing. Make the transitions smooth.	Row with this alternating intensity pattern for 20 minutes. Take a break for five minutes of moderate rowing, then return to the alternating pattern for another 10-20 minutes.
Friday	Easy row!	Watch a movie; talk to a friend; row with your kids. Take a break to stretch in the middle.	Good technique, easy steady state. Rest up for tomorrow.
Saturday	Decreasing length pieces	Starting with a 5 or 6 minutes piece, each successive piece will be shorter by a minute and a little more intense, until you get to the last piece of 1 minute as hard as you can go. Row easily for 2 minutes in between pieces.	6 minutes moderately hard, 5 minutes moderately hard, 4 minutes moderately hard, 3 minutes a little harder, 2 minutes a little harder still, 1 minute piece as hard as you can go!
Sunday	Rest day	No rowing!	Rest, stretch, do something outdoors.
Monday	Alternating intensity	Row three minutes at a low stroke rate (22-25 SPM); then two minutes at slightly higher stroke rate (24-27 SPM); then one minute at a still higher stroke rate (26-30 SPM).	Row this sequence 5 to 7 times for a total elapsed time of 30-42 minutes.  Intensity as follows: 3min @ moderately hard pace, controlled slide 2min @ moderately hard pace, quicker. lighter 1 min@ hard pace
Tuesday	Steady row	Row at a comfortable conversational pace. Take a few power tens in the first 10 minutes to make the pace feel easier.	Nice steady rowing. 50-70 minutes.
Wednesday	Short intervals	Row 20 seconds hard, 40 seconds easy, and repeat for a set of 10. Aim for a stroke rate of 28-30 SPM for the 20 second work interval.	Do 3 sets of 10 of these intervals. Start a little easy on the first interval of each set; then row hard for all the rest of them. Row easily for five minutes in between the sets. Be sure to maintain good technique at the higher intensity.
Thursday	Long pieces	10 minute pieces with 4 minutes rest between	Find a moderately hard pace that will allow you to do three of these pieces with good consistent effort.
Friday	Mostly mindless, but steady and long. Earn your weekend!Bring a friend so you can talk while you row.	Every 1000 meters row harder for 30 seconds.	Aim for 10-12k total
Saturday	Pyramid pieces	1-2-3-4-3-2-1 minute pieces with equal rest time.	Good intensity on all these pieces, but especially as you come back down the pyramid.
Sunday	Rest. No rowing.		Rest, stretch, do something outdoors.
Monday	Intervals	1000 meter pieces with 4 minutes rest between.	Do 5 of these pieces. Go for max effort.
Tuesday	Easy steady row at a comfortable pace. Listen to music, talk to a friend or watch the news. Take a stretch break in the middle if you want to.		Aim for 60-75 minutes.
Wednesday	Stroke pyramids	10 strokes hard, 10 strokes easy; 20 strokes hard, 10 strokes easy; 30 strokes hard, 10 strokes easy; 20 strokes hard, 10 strokes easy; 10 strokes hard, 10 strokes easy. Row easy for three minutes between pyramids.	Do 4-6 pyramids. Good effort and good technique throughout all the pieces.
Thursday	Rest or Cross-Training	Rest or do some light exercise. This is your “taper” for tomorrow’s time trial.	Rest, stretch, taper.
Friday	2000 meter time trial.Be sure to record your score!	Suggested warm up: Row 10 strokes hard, 10 strokes easy and repeat three times. Row 20 strokes hard, 10 easy and repeat two times.	Go for a PR on this test. Use your best previous 2k pace as a starting point. If you feel good in the last 500, take up the intensity and empty the tanks!
Saturday	Long steady row:Row with a friend, or listen to music or books on tape, or put your erg in a new location – even outdoors if you have the option and the weather is good!	Row 10 minutes, get off and stretch. Continue rowing, taking five power tens in the next few minutes. Settle into a comfortable conversational pace.	Aim for 80 minutes.
Sunday	Rest, celebrate!	play, do something active.

Beginners: We recommend that you start with our “Getting Started” workouts. Be sure that your rowing technique is good, see out ‘How to Row’ section. After several weeks of rowing, you should be ready to start this program. Try either of the first two columns, using the low end of the range for workout time/distance, or add additional rest days as needed.

Notes for the Workouts:

• Recommended damper setting range: 3-5 (for those who prefer to use Drag Factor: 105-125)
• Recommended stroke rate range: 24-30 SPM (unless otherwise specified for a certain workout)
• Standard warm-up: row easily for 5-10 minutes. Take a short break off the indoor rower to stretch, paying special attention to your hamstrings.
• Standard cool-down: row easily for at least five minutes then get off and stretch again.
• If at any point you feel that you need an extra day off, due to sickness, lack of sleep, travel–whatever, take the day off and get back to the program as soon as you can. Don’t skip any workouts; just do them later, and let the program last longer than 3 weeks.