Rowing for Triathlon/Multisport

Rowing is a great way to build endurance, manage injuries, and increase overall fitness. Include rowing in your indoor brick workouts to add variety to long training sessions. Since rowing is low-impact, it is a great choice for building up endurance without the pounding of running or the unresponsiveness of bike trainers.

Sample Workouts

Before trying these workouts, please read our liability disclaimer.

Notes:

• RPE refers to Rating of Perceived Exertion on a 1 (low) to 10 (high) scale. Heart rate equipment can help you determine this rate.
• If you would like to compare your performance against other disciplines where you use power meters, we recommend changing the units to watts on the Performance Monitor (by pressing Change Units).

Workout 1

Goal: Improve cardiovascular conditioning.

Details:

1. 20 minute row
2. 20 minute bike ride
3. 20 minute run

Do all of the above at RPE 4–5 with five minute easy recoveries in between. Keep cadence/stroke rating comfortably high throughout.

Workout 2

Goal: Intervals with changes in intensity.

Details: 35 minute pyramid at 26–30 strokes per minute. Rest intervals should be at 1–2 RPE.

1. 1 minute at RPE 9, 1 minute rest
2. 3 minutes at RPE 7, 1 minute rest
3. 5 minutes at RPE 5, 1 minute rest
4. 7 minutes at RPE 3, 1 minute rest
5. 6 minutes at RPE 4, 1 minute rest
6. 4 minutes at RPE 6, 1 minute rest
7. 2 minutes at RPE 8, 1 minute rest

Additional Resources

• Rowing for Runners Flyer
• A New Spin, from Rowing News