20 minute HIIT Rowing Workout with Go Row Indoor

I seriously think the rowing machine and the benefits of something as simple as a 20 minute HIIT rowing workout, are underrated.

I’m not sure everyone knows how to row (well) but rowing has had it’s seasons throughout my life starting in primary school when I was on the rowing team. I never did get to compete though – long story – but as an adult, I’ve never shied away from the rower in the gym whilst most people only give it the time of day if something else, maybe everything else, is unavailable.

I remember doing a great workout with a friend once where we ran 500m and then rowed 500m for 5 sets. It was one of the most killer cardio workouts I’d done in a while! In more recent years, I’ve used the rower with my Personal Training clients and have even had one at home or the past couple of years now. 

Way back in 2018, I was lucky enough to be invited along to an indoor rowing session with British Rowing and Olympic athlete Alex Gregory which massively inspired me in regards to rowing workouts and I learnt a lot.

Plus, being paced by an Olympic athlete on the rower next to you is enough to make anyone put in maximum effort to get a decent workout.

Why You Should Add Indoor Rowing To Your Workout Routine 

The indoor rowing machine is a versatile piece of fitness equipment that offers a full-body workout, engaging major muscle groups in the lower body, core, and upper body. Specifically, it targets the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, calves, and lower back with each stroke, while also working the biceps, triceps, shoulders, and upper back. 

This comprehensive muscle engagement makes rowing an excellent choice for a high-intensity workouts, efficiently burning calories and improving cardiovascular health. 

A simple 20-minute HIIT rowing workout can include low impact intervals of intense rowing interspersed with rest periods which enhances overall fitness in a short amount of time. Perfect for those who are injured, or looking to include high intensity interval training into their workout plan with less impact. 

As you work in your own personalised heart rate zones, it’s an accessible form of training no matter your fitness levels. 

Rowing Technique – The Basics

We started the session by going over some basic technique covering the two phases of the rowing stroke:

1. The Drive where you’re pushing with your legs.
2. The Recovery where you move back to the start.

For the Drive phase, the body movement sequence is – legs, body, arms. Then for the Recovery, it’s the direct opposite – arms, body, legs. Executing proper form in rowing will see 60% of the power coming from legs, 30% from your body and 10% from arms. 

One of the biggest takeaways I got from the session was in regards to the ratio between drive:recovery in that they don’t need to be even. The clue is kinda in the name of each phase – drive for the drive and recover on the recovery.

This helps you to control the SPM (strokes per minute) – your stroke rate – by focusing on the power in your drive rather than just sliding up and down the rail! Learning how to do this will help you to row more efficiently and improve your overall pace.

Another major takeaway was about the resistance setting. I’m sure most people think that popping it up to 10 will give you the best workout but I learnt this really wasn’t the case. We were advised that really and truly, you should and can get a decent workout on 5 when using a Concept2 rowing machine. 

Last but not least, I realised all the reasons why we should choose the rower over other cardio based pieces of equipment in the gym. The thing with workouts for cardiovascular fitness is that most of the time it involves high impact like running which can be tough on your body.

Cycling is another great low impact option that I personally also enjoy; but I’ll be honest, when the weather starts to get a bit unpredictable, indoor cycling is my goto. 

You won’t ever find me on a cross-trainer either so that just leaves the humble rowing machine which to be honest, takes less time to get a good workout. The fact of the matter also is that you get out what you put in; the intensity is determined by the person doing the workout… which also means it’s a suitable piece of equipment for pretty much anyone and everyone!

20 minute HIIT Rowing Workout

As part of the session I attended back in 2018, British Rowing devised a workout personally for me which you can see below. To be honest though, the 20-minute workout isn’t anything that anyone else couldn’t do, hence why I’m sharing it.  

I immediately gave it a try at the gym (slightly modified so I could train with a friend) but absolutely loved it. I ended up doing about 40-50 seconds of each exercise plus the rowing intervals for the circuit after the warmup and Tabata parts of the programme.

Full Rowing Machine HIIT Workout

This 20 minute Go Row Indoor workout is designed specifically for you. the aim of this workout is to give an introduction to the rowing machine, which is a great cross training tool for runners. Whether it’s a quick gym session before work or a weekend energiser, this workout packs a punch.

Warm Up (4 minutes)

1 minute light rowing at 18SPM
1 minute medium rowing at 22PSM
1 minute hard rowing at 26SPM
1 minute light rowing at 18SPM

Interval 1 (3 minutes)

3x [20seconds light rowing, 20seconds medium rowing, 20seconds hard rowing]

Circuit (9 minutes)

This circuit is designed to work out your whole body. Do each row first followed by the exercises. This should take approximately 9 minutes.

The row + the exercise

30s rowing + squat thrusts (feet on seat) – 1 minute
30s rowing + press-ups (feet on seat) – 1 minute
30s rowing + squat and kick – 1 minute
30s rowing + plank (feet on seat) – 1 minute
30s rowing + bicycle crunches (seated on machine) – 1 minute
30s rowing

Interval 2 (1 minute)

1 minute rowing as fast as you can

Cool Down (3+ minutes)

3 minutes light rowing followed by stretching glutes, hamstrings and quads.

Benefits of HIIT Training

High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) has become super popular and for great reason. It offers a dynamic approach to fitness through alternating short bursts of intense exercise with periods of rest or lower-intensity activity. 

HIIT training is an efficient training method to improve cardiovascular health, metabolic rate, and accelerate fat loss, making it ideal for those with busy schedules.

Additionally, HIIT improves muscle tone and endurance, while the varied nature of the workouts helps prevent boredom and sustain motivation. Overall, HIIT provides a time-effective and versatile strategy for achieving a wide range of fitness goals.

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If you’re looking for more rowing machine workout inspiration, check out this rowing and strength video on my YouTube channel: 

Also look out for indoor rowing classes at your local gym or fitness studio, or just jump on a rower and get creative (if you’re unsure how to use it ask a member of gym staff or Personal Trainer to show you the basics).

So who’s gonna give the indoor rower a second chance?!

Elle

Updated July 2024.