Written by Garett Reid | NSCA, CSCS, CISSN, M.S.E.S.S
Fact checked by Kirsten Yovino, CPT Brookbush Institute
FACT CHECKED
Thanks to Crossfit, rowing has continued to rise in popularity. And regardless of how you feel about this style of functional training, one thing we can all agree on is that Crossfit routines are tough, and rowing is no exception.
Performing low-intensity steady-state exercise on the rowing machine is challenging enough, and it gets even more difficult when you turn it into high intensity interval workouts.
Whether your goal is to improve your cardiovascular health, increase your fitness levels, or support your weight loss goals, a HIIT rowing workout won't disappoint. With that said, read this article, pick the HIIT workouts you like the best, and head to your gym to get your row on!
Table of Contents:
- What is the Rowing Machine?
- Proper Rowing Form
- What Is HIIT?
- Best HIIT Rowing Workouts
- Rowing HIIT Workout Training Benefits
- Tips For Getting The Most Out Of Your HIIT Rowing Workout
- Summary of HIIT Rowing Workouts
What is the Rowing Machine?
Rowing is one of the best cardio workouts you can do. Plus, unlike many other forms of cardiovascular exercise, indoor rowing workouts focus on the upper and lower body.
In fact, if you check out our article on what muscles a rowing machine works, you'll see it truly is a head-to-toe workout.
The rowing machine is intended to mimic the sport of rowing while allowing you to train inside. It uses a seat that slides back and forth on a track, enabling you to push your body back and pull it forward.
In addition, a handle is attached to a string and flywheel, which uses various forms of resistance, including pneumatic, water, and magnetic. For those interested in the magnetic option, check out our article on the best magnetic rowing machines, perfect for any home gym!
Regardless of what type of resistance your rowing machine uses, you will be able to make it harder or easier to row. Usually, this involves some sort of lever that can be manipulated while you sit, allowing you to adjust your speed while training.
Toward the end of the machine are feet pads with straps. Most feet pads have a heel lock that allows maneuverability in the foot and tightening straps to keep your feet snug.
Correct Rowing Technique:
There are numerous parts to proper rowing as it utilizes the entire body. Building the correct technique can take some time for some people, so be sure to spend time practicing the movement before you try increasing speed or power.
How to use the Rowing Machine:
- Sit on the rower's seat, placing your feet in the foot straps. Tighten the straps, as you will need to pull your body back. Loose straps can decrease the effectiveness.
- Reach down and grab the bar with an overhand grip. Pull it back so you're sitting with your legs extended and torso vertical. This is the starting position.
- To start rowing and begin your first stroke, simultaneously lean forward, pulling your body forward while performing a leg curl. Pull and reach as far as you can. Your hands should reach at least mid-shin.
- Keeping your arms straight, push your body back by extending your legs and slowly extending your back. Your back should remain straight and your shoulder blades should be pulled back.
- Once the handles pass your knees and your legs are almost fully extended, begin performing a row with your arms. Aim to pull the handle toward your chest while you continue to extend your back.
Ideally, this all happens with one fluid motion. Your ending position should be with your torso slightly leaning back.
What Is High-Intensity Interval Training?
High-intensity interval training, known as HIIT, is a form of cardio exercise that uses alternating work and recovery intervals.
The work intervals consist of short bursts of work using maximal high intensity. HIIt training intervals are usually around 20-30 seconds. If you go much longer, most people have a hard time maintaining the proper intensity for the entire workout.
Unlike traditional interval training, recovery intervals are short. Often, the recovery interval is shorter than the work interval, with the longer rest intervals equaling a 1:1 ratio.
6 Best HIIT Rowing Workouts
Let's get into some great HIIT rowing workouts that you can use in your training program. Even though HIIT is pretty specific in its design, we can manipulate some variables so it aligns with your goals.
Here are the best HIIT rowing workouts to help you hit your training goals, regardless of your fitness level. We're certain one is the perfect rowing machine HIIT workout for you!
1) Beginner HIIT Rowing Workout:
Beginner HIIT workouts are a bit of an oxymoron as HIIT is an advanced form of training. In fact, many people who think they're doing HIIT aren't. Rather, they're just following a HIIT protocol.
But even if you don't have the fitness ability to perform a perfect HIIT workout, you can still start training for one. To do so, you'll use a relatively short work interval and a longer rest period for this HIIT rowing machine workout.
Around 20 seconds works best as a work interval for beginners as it's long enough to push yourself, but it's over relatively fast. Then use 40 seconds as a rest interval, which is double the length. Do this for 10 minutes and gradually start to increase your intensity.
HIIT Rowing Workout For Beginners Guidelines:
- 20 Seconds Work
- 40 Seconds Rest (Low Intensity)
- Total Workout Time: 10 Minutes
2) Endurance-Based HIIT Rowing Workout:
Venturing from a typical shorter HIIT session, this HIIT row workout is great for endurance-focused gym goers who enjoy longer routines.
The total training time is 45 minutes, following a work-to-rest interval of two minutes and 30 seconds. This includes 30 seconds of work and 2 minutes of recovery. As the total time is longer, you will only use 30 seconds for work.
For the recovery, you will use a slower pace of around 60-70% max heart rate, depending on your ability. This is basically LISS cardio with short bursts of high intensity. Keep in mind this doesn't need to be full intensity but should be above 90% max heart rate.
Endurance HIIT Workout Guidelines:
- 30 Seconds Work
- 2 Minutes Rest (Low Intensity)
- Total Workout Time: 45 Minutes
3) Fat-Burning HIIT Rowing Workout:
The goal of a fat-burning HIIT rowing workout is to maximize caloric burn.
Although HIIT does provide a great calorie burn, you need an efficient exercise format to allow for maximal calorie burn. To do this, perform a longer HIIT workout of 30 minutes.
Because it's a longer HIIT workout, you need to use a work-to-rest ratio that's a bit on the lower end. You need a longer recovery to continue going the distance, so we suggest using a 1:1 ratio, as this will be enough to allow for high effort.
For the work, don't perform an all-out sprint. Work up to about 90% max heart rate, which is hard but manageable in spurts for long workouts. During your recovery, don't come to a complete stop, but keep your intensity low.
Fat Burning Rowing HIIT Guidelines:
- 1 Minute Work
- 1 Minute Rest
- Total Workout Time: 30 Minutes
4) Time-Efficient HIIT Rowing Workout:
One excuse many people have for not doing cardio exercise is time. One of the great things about HIIT is that you can make it the most efficient exercise format around.
For example, look at Tabata, which is a specific type of HIIT (technically, it's different as you don't completely stop during the recovery).
It's only 4 minutes long, produces significant cardiovascular system adaptations, and improves various fitness variables such as VO2 max.
However, to get these results, you need to work hard. For this, we want to use 45 seconds of work and 15 seconds of rest for 5 rounds. This puts the total work time at 5 minutes. It's going to be a tough 5 minutes, but it will be over fast.
This is a great option for the trainee who is short on time but knows they shouldn't ignore their cardio exercise.
Fast HIIT Rowing Guidelines:
- 45 Seconds Work
- 15 Seconds Rest
- Total Workout Time: 5 Minutes
5) Fun HIIT Rowing Workout (Fartlek Style):
For some trainees, the structure of a HIIT rowing workout can be off-putting. This is understandable, but remember, there is no guide you must follow when performing HIIT.
You can do what you want as long as you follow the primary variables. This is why we sometimes like using a mixed circuit when performing rowing machine workouts.
To keep it simple, always have your intervals on the minute. For example, you can have your work interval and recovery interval equal 1 minute (i.e., 20:40, 30:30), or you can use the entire minute for work, followed by an entire minute for recovery.
The great thing about this approach is you can build a HIIT workout for various goals or circumstances. It really gives you the freedom to train as you want, making it a must for any workout split.
Fun HIIT Rowing Workout Guidelines:
- Various Work-To-Rest Intervals, Lasting One Minute
- Total Workout Time: 20 Minutes
6) Pyramid HIIT Rowing Workout:
Here's an interesting pyramid-type HIIT rowing workout to switch things up.
You will gradually increase the interval time while switching back and forth. For example, you will use a long work interval with a short recovery interval followed by a short work interval and a long rest period.
Pyramid HIIT Rowing Guidelines:
- 25 seconds work/35 seconds recovery
- 30 seconds work/30 seconds recovery
- 35 seconds work/25 seconds recovery
- 40 seconds work/20 seconds recovery
- 45 seconds work/15 seconds recovery
- 50 seconds work/10 seconds recovery
- 10 seconds work/50 seconds recovery
- 55 seconds work/5 seconds recovery
- 5 seconds work/55 seconds recovery
- 1 minute work/1 minute recovery
- Total Workout Time: 11 Minutes
Benefits Of Rowing Workouts
Rowing is a very challenging form of training that provides a unique combination of cardio and muscular endurance training. In this aspect, it's somewhat similar to swimming.
Regardless, here are two reasons you should include it in your workout program.
1. Trains The Whole Body:
Similar to an assault bike workout, rowing is a true full-body workout requiring your lower body to push and pull your body while your muscles and core help pull the handle.
It's not uncommon for people to start rowing and think it's easy. But, five minutes later, they're dying, which can be attributed to the upper body muscular endurance that's required.
In fact, it's actually more similar to anaerobic endurance as you must complete repeated bursts of maximal efforts. If you think of doing a dumbbell row with a weight that's 50% of your 1RM, the first few reps are easy. However, just like rowing, it starts to become very challenging.
2. Great for blasting fat and burning calories:
The great thing about HIIT is that because you are working so hard during work intervals, you burn a ton of calories in a short period.
You'll be in and out of the gym faster and have a higher calorie burn to show for it.
4 Tips For Performing HIIT On Rowing Machines
Make the most out of your HIIT rowing workout by following these 4 tips.
1. Don't Go Fast.
This might sound a bit counterintuitive, as going fast is the epitome of HIIT. However, it's actually very difficult to go fast with HIIT and maintain complete control due to how the rowing machine works.
As mentioned, there's a flywheel that rotates, which lets the cable out and then reels it back in. The problem is that you can't make this go any faster than it's able to. You have probably seen people trying to go fast, which creates slack in the cable, resulting in banging around and an unfluid movement.
Rowing isn't really a fluid movement, to begin with. Compared with cycling, which is consistent, rowing occurs through the repetition of strokes. When combined, going at maximum effort will look different.
The best strategy is to find a harder setting that allows for a powerful stroke. For most people, this will likely be the hardest setting. You will then use maximum effort per stroke.
Once you feel confident with the biomechanics, you can then start gradually increasing your speed.
2. Use Slightly Longer Intervals.
Because the movement pattern is a little bit slower, ideally we want to use slightly longer work intervals. These will allow you to get enough reps in for a highly intense workout.
If you're an intermediate to advanced lifter, we recommend going for at least 30 seconds up to 1 minute. If you're a beginner, start smaller and work your way up.
3. Stick to the Optimal HIIT Ratio.
For recovery, you can use shorter periods. As a general rule, anywhere from a 4:1 to 1:1 work-rest ratio is good.
The only variable to consider is the total training time. If you want to use longer HIIT rowing sessions, stick to a 2:1 to 1:1 ratio. Since you're going for a long period, you need more moderate intervals.
On the other end, use a higher ratio for your shorter HIIT sessions. These will be tough but will be over soon.
4. Use Easy Rowing For Recovery.
When you perform treadmill HIIT, recovery usually consists of stopping your movement. However, the rowing machine can create issues with the flywheel. The heavier resistance used for HIIT can make the first few strokes difficult.
This means you shouldn't completely stop during your recovery interval. Continue to row lightly so that when the work interval starts, you can reach your maximal effort easier and faster.
Summary Of HIIT Rowing Workouts
A HIIT rowing workout routine is a great addition to any training program. Bodybuilders can use it for cutting fat, while athletes can improve their conditioning. Literally, anybody will benefit from them.
Plus, you don't need to spend a lot of time on a cardio centric workout to effectively hit your entire body. Five minutes is the minimum amount of time you need, but you can also go 30 to 45 minutes if you prefer longer workouts.
If you really want to push yourself and experience a new training stimulus, get on a rower the next time you hit the gym.
And if you don't want to head to the gym but still want to row, check out our article on the 7 Best Magnetic Rowing Machines, any of which are perfect for your home gym!
Garett Reid
Author