Sporty Sunday: Build Rower Endurance

In my opinion, the two greatest, aerobic, yet low-impact, exercises that work the entire body are swimming and rowing. While swimming will always be my first love, rowing has the advantage of being dry and available in most gyms. However, building endurance on a rowing machine is tough.

I’m always up for a challenge. Last summer, I began working towards my goal of a 30-minute session on the rower (at about level 7).

Aerobic and muscular endurance – I started at 10 minutes, 3x/week. Every two weeks, I increased my time by 2 minutes. If I didn’t complete at least 5 sessions during the two week period, I waited an additional week to increase my time.

Epidural endurance (or, really, protection) – I developed some nasty calluses when following a long rowing session with a Nautilus circuit. I began wearing cycling gloves (fingerless and padded) for both activities and the calluses faded. They were seriously gnarly!

Mental endurance – Rowing, like other stationary aerobic activities, can be really boring. On the bicycle, I read. On the rower (and treadmill), I listen to audiobooks. The Night Circus got me through many tough rowing sessions.

Using these techniques, I reached my goal of 30 minutes of continuous rowing…and then had to back off due to the training stress of my marathon training schedule. (I was simply too tired to row within 24 hours of a run.) After Pike’s Peak, I plan on starting all over again. Advantages:

- Aerobic
- Low impact
- Whole-body workout
- Little skill required
- Available in most gyms
- Dry (except for the sweat)
- And seriously impressive to your fellow gym-goers!

Do you workout on a rowing machine? What are your tips? Anyone follow interval routines on the rower?

Sporty Sunday is a recurring feature in which I share my fitness routine and offer and solicit advice. While this content might seem a little out of place in an outfit diary, a healthy, strong body is the foundation of my wardrobe. I hope to inspire my readers to be fit as well as stylish!