It's taken me five years since I stopped rowing competitively to sit on an erg again without the PTSD. Here's the hardest workout we used to do on one. It looks pretty easy written down. It isn't.
What is the hardest erg workout?
For us it was a super sneaky one: 1 minute on, 7.5 minutes off, eight times. That's eight minutes of work and a lot of rest. It doesn't sound too bad, but it was harder than any other erg we used to do.
The intention behind the session is that you go out to blow, like a sacrificial lamb. Every stroke you take in that minute is as hard as you possibly can, at open rate, going as fast as you possibly can.
"Absolutely max the living balls out of it for every single stroke in that minute on."
The full session
| Part | What you do |
|---|---|
| Work | 1 minute, every single stroke as hard as you possibly can |
| Rate | Open. No cap, as fast as you can go |
| Rest | 7.5 minutes |
| Reps | 8 |
| Total | 8 minutes of work in a session that runs over an hour |
That's the whole thing. Go as hard as you can every single stroke, like your life depends on it.
How do you know you're doing it right?
"If you do that properly, after maybe 15-20 seconds you are royally in the hurt locker."
You're up a paddle with no stream, up the stream with no paddle, and regretting your life choices. That's when you know you're doing the workout right. Then you do it seven more times.
Why is it so hard?
"It doesn't sound like much but literally if you do it properly it's the hardest workout you could ever do on one of these machines."
It destroys you, and it destroys you for days after. Going that hard, blowing that hard and then desperately trying to hold on for every second takes quite a bit of mental practice.
So who's it for? If you're a true masochist, if you like type 2 fun and a little self-punishment, and you actually want to increase your lactate tolerance, this is your session.
What's the hardest setting on a rowing machine?
What makes this session hard is the effort you put in. As for the setting, our standard drag factor for heavyweight men was 125 to 130, based on how it feels in the boat. I always found 125 to 130 felt like the weight of a coxless four. For women, I think it's around 110.
Check the drag factor rather than the damper number. On a public gym erg that's caked in dust, you might need the damper up at seven or eight to get 130. On my brand new erg, it was about four.
Common mistakes
- Undercooking it. Everyone does on their first go. They don't actually go hard enough, and it takes some practice to do it properly.
- Saving something for later in the minute. The whole point is every single stroke at max. You go out to blow.
- Judging it on paper. Eight minutes of work looks easy. Do it properly once and you'll know why it was our hardest session.
If you're after sessions aimed at the 2k itself, the two erg sessions I did before every big 2k are about pace and confidence, and the 6 x 2k session was the Kiwi eight's proving ground. For the head side of a big erg, here's how to stay optimally aroused, not dialled up.
