Posted on November 30, 2016 by Jenny Cromack

rower

Why Rowing Is Perfect For HIIT……And For This Festive Time Of Year….

It is ‘December-eve’, the festive period is just around the corner and the build up to Christmas is well and truly on! The only downside; the weather. It is getting very cold, not many hours of day-light and it is getting a bit icy and potentially dangerous. At this time of year making your workouts sweet, sharp and effective is high on the priority list. A rowing HIIT session is the perfect answer.

Why Row?

As mentioned above,  the weather may restrict your usual training routine and force you to take your training indoors. Whether your goal is to improve your aerobic capacity, burn fat or just get a high quality workout to feel fit and healthy then moving into a gym and onto the rowing ergometer is a great option. Often the rowing machine is a neglected piece of gym equipment, this is a waste,  rowing provides a full body workout targeting all the major muscle groups but focusing on the lower extremity muscles.

Advantages of Rowing:

  • Unlike some aerobic activities rowing uses upper and lower extremities. Moreover the actual movement pattern of rowing includes some key exercises, squat and row. Many people believe that rowing requires more arm work than leg work – this is false. The major movement pattern is a squat, only once fully extended with the legs are the arms activated. Ideally this will be a ‘row’ (how it gets the name…) performed with a nice neutral spine, engaging our back muscles not biceps!
  • If you have ever followed a high volume running training programme you’ll know that the high impact forces on your ankles, knees and hips take its toll and can, if over trained, lead to some wear and tear injuries. This is a problem that doesn’t apply to rowing. The lack of high impact forces going through joints means your training can be of high volume and intensity. Obviously perfect form and technique needs to be applied on the rowing ergometer to minimalize risk of injury, but this is the case for any physical activity.
  • If you really enjoy your rowing training and want to start improving times and splits then there simple steps you can take. Firstly rowing is a bilateral activity and therefore you should looked to increase bilateral strength and power. The two major movement patterns during a rowing stroke is a squat and a pull, there are so many different exercises that can be applied to improve your squat strength and pull strength. Try focusing your strength training on these three principles are your splits should start to plummet.
  • If I have managed to keep you interested this far, but you are starting to wonder whether rowing will help you reach your goal then fear not. Rowing is great for improving your aerobic capacity, developing your lactate energy system or if you just want a high intensity fat burn session then it is really effective too (see below)
  • Finally, its actually really good fun…give it ago!

Rowing HIIT session:

Lets keep things really simple, all of the work will be done at maximal intensity. During the rest periods just do a light row, just to keep blood flow around the body as you are sitting and do not want to become static.

  • 30 seconds work, 15 seconds active rest
  • 45 seconds work, 15 seconds active rest
  • 60 seconds work, 15 seconds active rest
  • 45 seconds work, 15 seconds active rest
  • 30 seconds work, 15 seconds active rest

Repeat this 3 to 4  times depending on how adventurous you’rE feeling.

Enjoy.