Orangetheory Fitness (OTF) can seem intimidating when first joining for some people. It did for me. Whether it involves getting out of one’s respective comfort zone, or acknowledging one doesn’t have all the answers, OTF helps members realize they’re part of something bigger. Orangetheory rowing is no different.

Of course, each individual is unique; we have all our own respective backgrounds, experiences, and skills in personal fitness (as well as other areas of our lives).

And that’s what I find great about Orangetheory – it really does bring individuals together. People work hard as a class; they encourage and motivate each other.

For me, I find the encouragement spills over into other areas of my life. Balanced Dividends continues to provide me an outlet to explore and share ideas.

After covering OTF Dri-Tri and the importance of your treadmill Base Pace, I’ve had some readers ask about rowing at OTF. A few of the questions:

• Is there a base pace for rowing? And how do I know my base?
• What’s my speed in Watts vs. 500-meter pace?
• How long will it take me to reach a certain distance?
• Should I change my pace throughout a row?
• How does my form impact my endurance, power, and speed?

As there is no single “right” answer for these questions, we’ll explore some (1) high-level, general mechanics of rowing as well as (2) pacing and strategy considerations. As usual, I’ll also offer some personal lessons learned from my own experience. Hopefully, you can avoid some of the dumb things I’ve done.

Background

I rowed on the water and indoors on the Crew team in college for ~1.5 years. Aside from rowing on indoor machines at Orangetheory, that is the extent of my rowing experience. As mentioned previously, I am NOT an expert.

Listening to your coaches at Orangetheory and listening to your own body during workouts is key. With some additional knowledge and awareness, you can better position yourself to make gradual progress and improvement in your rowing blocks. The potential benefits will carry over into other areas of your workouts, too.

That said, I can attest as an amateur runner (sprints in track and distance in half- & full-marathons), a swimmer, and a former football player (when I actually played and did not rock the sideline) that rowing kicks my ass the most.

For any single movement or exercise, I have personally not experienced anything as effective as rowing in terms of strength, power, and endurance. The coaches at OTF will also tell you that you burn the most calories on the rower compared to the treadmill or weight room.

I’m in no position to argue against that; I just know the rower challenges me the most. But the rower also gets a bad perception most of the time from classmates.

Let’s hopefully change that here.

Rowing Basics

I sat on a rowing machine for the first time in the fall of 2003 during my freshman year of college. I thought rowing was ALL upper body based on the rowing machine in the weight room. WRONG!

Nearly all of your power during a row comes from your lower body. And thank goodness! Your legs are so much stronger than your arms. When I realized this, I admit I was a bit sad at first; I wanted to do bench press and bicep curls during rowing practice because that’s all I thought rowers did (besides row, of course).

Enough with the bench and curls – here is an overview of a row.

The Two Phases

A row is composed of two primary components or movements.

(1) The Stroke

This is the workload portion of the movement, where your legs are pushing and your core/arms are pulling.

NOTE – your arms should still be fully EXTENDED at this point.

(2) The Recovery

This is the non-workload portion of the movement, where your arms, core, and legs begin moving forward to prepare for the next stroke.

Rowing Order

Orangetheory is great for making things effective and easy to understand. Learning how to row also doesn’t have to be difficult.

Just remember L.C.A. for the Stroke portion of the row:

• (L)egs – before moving anything else, your legs are the first thing to go – you begin your stroke by pushing and extending your legs, moving yourself backward on the rower.
• (C)ore – after your legs, your core – effectively your torso – moves backward. Coaches like to use the example of moving from a 10 o’clock position to a 2 o’clock position with your torso. I find this helpful, as it keeps me be aware of how much – or little – I’m leaning backward / forward.

NOTE – most classmates initially collapse forward or backward far too much. Your torso should NOT move beyond the 10 o’clock position (forward-facing) and the 2 o’clock position (backward facing).

• (A)rms – after your core, your arms pull back with the rower handle to finish the stroke.

NOTE – generally, your arms should pull the rowing handle toward your sternum. This might vary a little depending on your height.

For the Recovery portion of the row, the parts move in the opposite order: A.C.L.:

• (A)rms – your arms should fully extend BEFORE your core and legs move at all.

NOTE – the rowing handle should also move forward at the same height as during the pull portion of the stroke. You do NOT want to dip the rowing handle downward or raise it upward. Overall, the rowing handle should move back and forward on a relatively flat level.

• (C)ore – after your arms are fully extended, you should move your core or torso from the 2 o’clock position (where you’re leaning backward) back to the 10 o’clock position.
• (L)egs – once your core and arms have moved, then begin to slide forward with your legs.

It’s important to not rush these points – especially on the recovery.

Related: Post-Fat Kid Circle of Self-Circumvention: Reflection & Motivation

Rowing Power

During class, you’ll constantly hear the coaches say “60% legs, 20% core, 20% arms.” This refers to the approximate distribution of power throughout the stroke portion of each row.

If you’re pulling only with your arms, you won’t get nearly as much out of each stroke vs. utilizing all three portions of the movement. Likewise, your legs will carry you most of the way.

But with your core and arms as well, you’ll get that additional finish to carry you longer over the water.

Rowing Timing

To be fair, this can vary depending on the type of distance and/or race one might be doing.

In general though, at OTF, coaches will reference a three-count cadence, where 1 count is applied to the stoke portion of the row and 2 counts are applied to the recovery portion of the row.

I sometimes do a 2 count vs. 3 count cadence, but that’s when I’m drilling and focusing on my stroke length and trying to minimize my strokes per minute.

Overall, the 1 count back and 2 counts forward cadence is very effective.

Breathing

Ultimately, this comes down to your own comfort level and preference. Other variables such as your pace, distance, and/or intensity come into play.

Generally, I think of the row similar to movements in the weight room: exhale on the primary workload portion of the movement and inhale on the secondary workload (or recovery) portion of the movement.

So on the rower, this would entail exhaling on the stroke portion of the row and inhaling on the recovery portion.

Again, this can vary. Ask your coach for different suggestions and carefully listen to your body and see how you’re feeling.

Putting it All Together

Over time, you’ll get the mechanics and timing of a row – both the stroke and recovery – down to a single fluid motion. It takes time.

I also recommend watching a video online (YouTube is your friend here) or watch your coach demo in the studio at class.

Here are all the components we covered so far in one place. I threw in a few other tidbits for the more detail-oriented readers.

Overview of Pacing and Strategy

After reviewing the basic, general components of how to row, we can now discuss some common terms and concepts used at Orangetheory (and for rowing, in general).

Monitor Breakdown

On a rowing machine, the monitor is full of goodies. Some are used more than others. Here are the big four in my opinion:

(1) Strokes Per Minute

The number of strokes you’re taking per minute. The higher the number, the more strokes; the lower the number, the less strokes.

(2) Average Intensity

This is your average X intensity, where X can be multiple variables related to speed, power, or pace. The primary method utilized at Orangetheory is Watts; I prefer average 500-meter pace. More to come below.

(3) Duration

How long have you been rowing? This can be hours, minutes, or seconds. At OTF, you’ll most likely only hit into the minutes. In Crew, we did do movie-row-a-thons at a local mall though, and rowed for 90-120 minutes. You blink really hard when seeing your monitor hit into the hour mark.

Fun times (at least looking back now).

(4) Distance

How far you’ve rowed is covered here. Meters are the standard at Orangetheory and elsewhere in rowing, but other distances and measurements are available on the monitor.

Nerdy But Important Stuff

With some basic terminology down, we can get into further detail on pacing and average intensity.

To help determine the calculation and conversions for the followings pace tables I created, I leveraged the terrific calculator at Concept2’s website (source here). As stated on the Concept2 site:

“2.80 is a constant used in both formulas. The formulas used are:

• watts = 2.80/pace³
• pace = ³√(2.80/watts)

where pace is time in seconds over distance in meters.

For example: a 2:05/500m split = 125 seconds/500 meters or a 0.25 pace. Watts are then calculated as (2.80/0.25 ^ 3) or (2.80/0.015625), which equals 179.2.”

Using this formula and variations of the formula (as well as the calculator itself), I assembled the following tables in Excel. I also had to refresh some basic math skills along the way.

Related: Passive Income Engine: Under the Hood of the Balanced Dividends Portfolio

Watts vs. Average 500 Meter (M) Pace

By default, Orangetheory studios have members utilize Watts on the rowing monitor. This is fine. I just don’t prefer it and think your average pace per 500 meters is better. Here’s why:

• Watts are one form of intensity measurement on the rower, but they don’t gauge time and distance effectively.
• Your average pace per 500m can tell you exactly just that – your average pace.
• Your average pace per 500m can help you gauge your overall finish time for a specific distance.
• Watts on the rower aren’t generating any electricity.

I know, I know. This might not be a valid reason to ignore Watts.

I do find both helpful, and it’s important for variety at times. Speaking of which, here are Watts converted into a more helpful form of time.

Distance and Time Impact Pace

Especially for longer distance rows, it’s key to NOT assume you’ll be able to maintain an all-out pace for the entire row.

Many classmates go “all-out” the first 30 seconds of a 2,000-meter row and wonder why they feel like they hit a wall less than a minute into the race.

Think of rowing like both the treadmill AND weight lifting (or floor) portions of class combined into one.

Can you run at 12 miles per hour (MPH) on the treadmill for 8 minutes? I can’t. You can!? Damn! Well, can you do it holding 25-pound dumbbells? No? Yeah, didn’t think so.

Joking aside, the point is this: you need to keep in mind the time and/or distance you’ll be going.

On the treadmill, you wouldn’t just set it at 12 mph and just run, right?

Or in the weight room, you take into account the type of lifts and number of blocks (or sets) and repetitions you’re doing when evaluating what weights you’ll use, right?

The rowing machine should be no different.

Here are two tables to consider for determining a target pace or finish time. Try out different paces during your workouts to see how you feel.

Other Considerations & Lessons Learned

Here are some items I’ve reflected on both from my time on the Crew team and as a member at OTF. They don’t always all apply, but I hope you can avoid some of the mistakes I’ve made in the past. Admittedly, I still make plenty of mistakes every workout, too.

I’m just trying to be more consistent at forming positive behaviors and maintaining proper form.

Related: Orangetheory Fitness: 25 Things You (Might) Learn or Do After 250 Workouts

Be Mindful of Your Strokes per Minute

Located in the top left of your monitor, your strokes per minute directly measures your timing in terms of the stroke and recovery. How many strokes are you taking in a minute?

Generally, for longer rows, you’ll want to your stroke rate to be lower; for shorter rows, your stroke rate will be higher. It’s also possible to vary slightly depending on the part of your race.

Try A Base Pace

Similar to running, your rowing base pace should, generally, be a pace that is challenging but doable that can be maintained for 20 to 30 minutes.

At Orangetheory, I don’t think I’ve ever had a block or set where we just rowed for +20 minutes.

In Crew, we found our base pace (or what we called out “steady state”) by rowing two 20 minute blocks back-to-back with a 5-minute rest between each row.

The average 500-meter pace across our two blocks became our target base pace.

To be clear, I’m not encouraging you to go row for 40 to 45 minutes, or even for 20.

But while at Orangetheory, and under the supervision of your coach while in class, ask yourself if you’d be able to maintain a certain pace for a longer period of time.

Also factor in that you’re doing other things in a one hour window (weight lifting and running).

Break Your Race or Block into Different Pieces

Overall, Orangetheory workouts have lots of variety. Likewise, your rowing times can vary by day, the type of workout, and even the size of your class (two groups or three groups (3G)).

While on the rower itself, I recommend breaking the row down into different sections or pieces, especially:

The Start

Usually the first 5-10 strokes, you can get up to your target speed more quickly – and efficiently – by modifying your stroke rate in the beginning. T

ry taking a few shorter, faster strokes and then begin to settle down into your target pace and strokes per minute.

The Finish

Similar to the start, you’ll hopefully have a little gas left in the tank to quicken your pace.

Depending on the race distance, the length of your finish can vary, but I’d suggest the last 150 meters or so as a benchmark.

At this point, you’re almost done so you might as well have a strong finish with a final push to the end.

For a 2,000 meter row, you can break it down by the start and finish as well as into 250-500 meter increments.

We’ll cover the 2,000-meter race in further detail in a future post.

The Power 10 Will Be Your Friend

At any point during a row when you’re feeling tired or even just bored, throw in a power 10. Keep track of the next 10 strokes and focus on your form and cadence. It helps make the time go by faster.

You’ll also be able to gain up some ground (or water rather) during a race.

During a 2,000 meter row, for example, I’ll throw in a power 10 every 100 to 200 meters.

Again, this doesn’t mean “going faster” by increasing your stroke rate.

You can if you want, but a focus on power and form is just as helpful – and perhaps even more effective.

Don’t “Rush the Catch”

I can’t emphasize this point enough.

After a stroke, do NOT “rush the catch.”

In rowing, the catch is the point of your oar entering the water at your next stroke to “catch” the water.

On a rowing machine, this is rushing or speeding through your recovery in order to take your next stroke. Don’t do it.

Maintain proper timing. Your form – and performance – will start to suffer if you don’t.

Trust me, you don’t want to catch a crab and mess-up your race.

Monitor Your Hands vs. Your Rowing Monitor

That is, be aware of how far you reach during each stroke. You don’t want to overextend yourself, but you should gradually be able to increase the length of your stroke over time.

If you can’t reach the monitor now, try to see if you can get to the monitor in a few weeks. After that, see if you can progress a little further.

To be clear, the goal is NOT to extend as far as you can; however, without compromising your form, a longer stroke will offer great returns in terms of input (workload) vs. output (distance covered per stroke).

Experiment A Little Within the Guidelines of Your Coaches

Rowing drills occur sometimes at Orangetheory. Or separate rowing clinics might be offered every couple of months. Take advantage of these opportunities.

Additionally, ask your coach to give you feedback during a class. With any movement – whether rowing, running, or lifting – change takes time and should feel different at first.

It takes a while to form positive behaviors and to establish a correct, consistent form.

Looking Back and – More Importantly – Ahead

As with running, I’m finding it’s becoming much more difficult to burn the same level of calories as I did a year ago.

This is not surprising though – I have to work harder, but that’s because I’ve seen improvement in my strength and endurance (which is a good thing!).

Likewise, improving my rowing times is becoming more challenging. At the same time, the “return” in terms of time savings becomes even less significant as we’ve seen.

Finding that balance is an ongoing effort – and it’s never-ending.

For better or worse, at least with an indoor rowing machine, the only one to balance (or unbalance) the boat is yourself.

Readers, have you tried any type of rowing before? What do you believe are some other effective forms of exercise? Would you consider trying rowing?

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Related:

Orangetheory Fitness: It’s All About That Base (Pace)!

Orangetheory Fitness: How to Win (Your Personal) Dri-Tri

160,962 Calories and 209 Workouts: 365 Days Later

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