Rowing + Slider Circuit Workout

It’s been forever since I’ve shared a rowing workout with you guys! Since I stopped teaching row classes, I honestly don’t row much anymore myself but I seriously should because it kicks my butt every time. The other week I was feeling an uncharacteristically powerful surge of self discipline after teaching my morning classes and decided I’d stay after at Btone to put myself through my own rowing+megaformer circuit. It’s a rare gift to have access to both machines in the same studio, but luckily for all you at home, the megaformer exercises I did can easily be done with sliders (or a dish towel or paper plates). 🙂 No video for this one since you go through the circuit as quickly as you can and that’ll be different for everyone, but I think the pictures are (hopefully!) self-explanatory.

My friends at Champion outfitted me for today’s post, and with these uncharacteristically high October temps in Boston, I was grateful for the shorts! Both the Marathon Printed Shorts and Short-Sleeve Women’s Tee are from Champion’s Vapor X-Temp line of products. The material dries faster to help you stay cool, wicks moisture and is super lightweight.

Rowing + Sliders Circuit

This workout is essentially broken up into three mini circuits. As far as rowing, the circuits get easier as you go (yay!).

Circuit 1 | 300m row sprint + 60 seconds bear slide triceps push ups x3
Circuit 2 | 200m row sprint + 60 seconds marching plank to pike x3
Circuit 3 | 100m row sprint + 60 seconds mountain climber push ups x3

Complete three rounds of one circuit before moving onto the next. Rest as needed between circuits. Your goal is to stay within a couple seconds of whatever time you hit on your first sprint of a circuit. For example, if your first 300-m sprint takes you 1:07, try to stay at about 1:10 or under for the next two. As you tire, it’s harder and harder to hit that low time, but do your best to stay close to it.

Because this is a sprint workout, make sure to warm up beforehand. Spend at least 5 minutes on the rower gradually increasing speed so that you’re not going into an all-out sprint cold.

I made the below chart for an older row workout and it’s good to refer to if you need a time to aim for with the sprints (just look at the bottom half). These are general times and as long as you’re pushing your hardest (while maintaining proper form!), that’s all that matters. For my competitive people, my fastest sprints for the distances we’ll be doing are a 58-second 300m sprint, a 38-second 200m sprint and a 17-second 100m sprint. For the record, that 17-sec one was like some sort of fluke because I’ve hit it once and once only haha.

If you’re new to rowing, I HIGHLY recommend watching this video on proper row form. There’s a common misconception that rowing is mostly an upper body exercise but the row stroke is actually about 60% legs (20% core and just 20% arms). If you don’t have that stroke down, it’s easy to strain your back, especially at all-out sprint speeds like this workout contains.

Bear to Triceps Push Up | From plank position, bend yours knees, sliding them under your hips while maintaining tabletop spine. Slide them back out to plank and then do a triceps push up, keeping the elbows in tight to the sides of your body (think chaturanga in yoga). You can modify by doing the push up from your knees.

Marching Plank to Pike | Do one pike from your forearms (legs straight, heels lifted and pike the hips up into an upside down “v” shape) and then march up to a high plank one hand at a time and do a pike from straight arms. Continue this, leading with a different hand each time you march up and down.

Sliding Mountain Climber Push Ups | Do 6 sliding mountain climbers (3 to each side) and then perform one push up. If you need to modify the push up, low to your knees first. Since we did the triceps push up with the first exercise, have your hands wider on this exercise to more pointedly target the chest.

Outfit c/o Champion

Nothing like row sprints and some slider exercises to get a huge burn in minimal time! Try this triple circuit next time you’re at the gym. And for local readers, Btone actually offers a class that combines rowing and the megaformers (look for Tone & Row or Tandem Row on the schedule).