RowAlong – Indoor Rowing Machine Workouts

Today's row is another low intensity 5k plus 1k cool down — around 26 minutes in total. Row along at whatever pace suits you, match my stroke rate if you like, or just use the session as your anchor for the morning.

Before we get going I cover something I get asked about more than you'd think: what should your monitor actually be set to? Pace, watts or calories? I go through why most training plans default to pace per 500 metres, what CrossFit boxes do differently with calories, and why for general rowing the honest answer is — it doesn't matter as much as you think.

At around seven minutes I do a full technique walkthrough, working through the whole stroke from the finish position forward. I cover handle relaxation on the recovery, why letting your hands drop slightly beats trying to stay perfectly flat, the forward tilt sequence before you bend your knees, shin angle at the catch, core bracing, and how the arm pull should be the last thing that happens — not the first.

And in the cool down I have a bit of a rant about clickbait fitness content, VidIQ title suggestions, and why I'm not going to start calling every workout a guaranteed fat-torching session. I'm not that guy.

CHAPTERS

0:00 Intro & machine setup

2:00 Still on calories — rolling with it again

4:19 Pace, watts or calories — which should you use?

8:35 Full technique walkthrough

28:00 Cool down & stretching

33:44 Why I won't chase the algorithm

🚣 More indoor rowing workouts: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8ookhrQKwvKEfSfOxp73vX02j8LrtUil

📩 Subscribe for daily rows: https://www.youtube.com/rowalong

🎯 Join the leaderboard: https://rowalong.com/join

⚠️ Health Disclaimer: Always consult your doctor before starting a new exercise programme. The workouts on this channel are provided for informational purposes only.

#indoorrowing #rowalong #rowingworkout

Find more indoor rowing workouts, training plans, and rowing technique guides at rowalong.com

Watch the full video versions on YouTube: youtube.com/@rowalong

Join the community: facebook.com/groups/rowalong

Instagram: @rowalong_workouts

RowAlong is a free follow-along rowing workout podcast for indoor rowers of all levels. Every session is time-based and works on any rowing machine — Concept2, WaterRower, Hydrow, NordicTrack, or any gym rower. Press play. Strap in. Let's RowAlong.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rowing by feel today — literally. I started the session with my monitor still set to calories, and rather than stop and fix it, I just kept going. So this one is a fully improvised 25 minutes of low-intensity rowing with no real idea of my pace.

But rowing by feel is actually a useful thing to do. When you've spent enough time on the machine, you develop a sense of what low intensity feels like — the stroke rate, the effort, the rhythm — without needing a number to confirm it. I talk about why that matters, and what it has to do with a conversation I had with my daughter Jaime about swimming stroke counts.

From there I get into technique consistency — the idea that getting into the catch in the same position each time, with the same sequence through the drive, is where real improvement lives. I watched someone rowing this morning who was doing all the right things in completely the wrong order, and it's a reminder of how much the sequence matters.

And then — I won't pretend otherwise — things take a bit of a turn. I go off on a tangent about religion and money, what I'd remove from the planet, and why I'd rather be making rowing videos full time. It's a Thursday. My energy tank was depleted. I acknowledged this on camera. You've been warned.

The first half is solid coaching chat. The second half is peak playlist content.

CHAPTERS

0:00 Intro & EXR Dockside Drift course

1:41 The monitor is set to calories — we're winging it

4:38 Jamie's swimming lesson and stroke rate

8:00 Why you train at different stroke rates

10:24 Technique consistency and getting the sequence right

28:42 Cool down, stretching, and the big tangent

🚣 More indoor rowing workouts: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8ookhrQKwvKEfSfOxp73vX02j8LrtUil

📩 Subscribe for daily rows: https://www.youtube.com/rowalong

🎯 Join the leaderboard: https://rowalong.com/join

⚠️ Health Disclaimer: Always consult your doctor before starting a new exercise programme. The workouts on this channel are provided for informational purposes only.

#indoorrowing #rowalong #rowingworkout

Find more indoor rowing workouts, training plans, and rowing technique guides at rowalong.com

Watch the full video versions on YouTube: youtube.com/@rowalong

Join the community: facebook.com/groups/rowalong

Instagram: @rowalong_workouts

RowAlong is a free follow-along rowing workout podcast for indoor rowers of all levels. Every session is time-based and works on any rowing machine — Concept2, WaterRower, Hydrow, NordicTrack, or any gym rower. Press play. Strap in. Let's RowAlong.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

25 minutes of easy, low-intensity rowing — 5K plus a short cool-down. Join me and we'll talk.

Rowing consistently is where the real gains live, in fitness, in technique, and yes, in the numbers on the monitor. This session is one of those daily building blocks — nothing dramatic, just showing up and doing the work at a pace where your breathing rises but the effort stays manageable.

Along the way I get into calorie counting — what the monitor is actually telling you, how accurate it is, and how it fits into the bigger picture of energy in and out. It's a topic that comes up a lot and I cover it properly here. I also spend a few minutes on the stroke — the rhythm and timing of the drive that makes rowing feel connected rather than scrappy. Both topics are worth sticking around for.

There's also a genuine tangent about drummers, and a word about why I'm doing my lunchtime row on the Aviron today.

CHAPTERS

0:00 Intro

0:54 Machine Setup

2:31 Calories & Calorie Counting

5:56 Technique: The Rolling Stroke

36:18 Foo Fighters & Drummers

42:19 Aviron Team Competition

🚣 Full RowAlong playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8ookhrQKwvKEfSfOxp73vX02j8LrtUil

🏆 Join the leaderboard: rowalong.com/join

⚠️ Health Disclaimer: Always consult your doctor before starting a new exercise programme. The workouts on this channel are provided for informational purposes only.

#indoorrowing #rowalong #rowingworkout

Find more indoor rowing workouts, training plans, and rowing technique guides at rowalong.com

Watch the full video versions on YouTube: youtube.com/@rowalong

Join the community: facebook.com/groups/rowalong

Instagram: @rowalong_workouts

RowAlong is a free follow-along rowing workout podcast for indoor rowers of all levels. Every session is time-based and works on any rowing machine — Concept2, WaterRower, Hydrow, NordicTrack, or any gym rower. Press play. Strap in. Let's RowAlong.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Some days the best part of what my rowing workouts can offer is company. Load up, get on the machine, and let me waffle away in the background — and if something I say about technique or training actually lands, that's a bonus.

This is Tuesday's 5K with a 1K cool-down, low intensity, around 26 minutes. Row along at whatever pace suits you.

CHAPTERS

0:00 Intro & machine setup

1:56 We're rowing

3:43 Why this series exists

10:50 The 45-second stroke explainer — live rehearsal

20:18 Nutrition, gut biomes & listening to your body

28:53 Cool-down stretches + training tiers

🚣 More indoor rowing workouts: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8ookhrQKwvKEfSfOxp73vX02j8LrtUil

📩 Join the RowAlong community leaderboard: https://rowalong.com/join

⚠️ Health Disclaimer: Always consult your doctor before starting a new exercise programme. The workouts on this channel are provided for informational purposes only.

#indoorrowing #rowalong #rowingtechnique #concept2 #indoorrowingworkout

Find more indoor rowing workouts, training plans, and rowing technique guides at rowalong.com

Watch the full video versions on YouTube: youtube.com/@rowalong

Join the community: facebook.com/groups/rowalong

Instagram: @rowalong_workouts

RowAlong is a free follow-along rowing workout podcast for indoor rowers of all levels. Every session is time-based and works on any rowing machine — Concept2, WaterRower, Hydrow, NordicTrack, or any gym rower. Press play. Strap in. Let's RowAlong.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

25-minute easy indoor rowing workout — RowAlong with me while I talk through technique and make the case for why shortcuts don't actually exist. This is a follow-along session on a Monday morning. I'm rowing 5K at low intensity, around 20 strokes a minute, with a 1K cool-down at the end. You're welcome to match my stroke rate, set your own pace, or push harder if this is your main session for the day.

This video covers two things: technique and a coaching argument I've been sitting with.

On technique, I spend a good chunk of the row working through posture and the recovery sequence — specifically the arms-body-knees order coming out of the finish, why your forward tilt needs to carry through the whole stroke, and what actually happens when you push with your legs before your arms are in position. I also talk through handle height at the finish and why sternum height matters for back engagement.

The other thread running through this one starts with me cleaning the patio over the weekend. I was promised an easy chemical solution, it didn't work on its own, and the whole thing ended up being a better analogy for training than I expected — about snake oil fitness promises, why identifying your actual weakness matters more than buying the plan, and why you genuinely can't skip to the end.

I also talk through Lester, a 65-year-old rower with Parkinson's I've been coaching, who has serious power but is discovering that aerobic base is where the next gains are hiding.

CHAPTERS

0:00 Intro & machine setup

3:12 We're rowing — posture first

15:46 The drive — push with your legs, hang off the handle

20:20 No quick fix — patios, snake oil & real training

30:07 Cool-down stretches

🚣 More indoor rowing workouts: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8ookhrQKwvKEfSfOxp73vX02j8LrtUil

📩 Join the RowAlong community leaderboard: https://rowalong.com/join

⚠️ Health Disclaimer: Always consult your doctor before starting a new exercise programme. The workouts on this channel are provided for informational purposes only.

#indoorrowing #rowalong #rowingtechnique #concept2 #indoorrowingworkout

Find more indoor rowing workouts, training plans, and rowing technique guides at rowalong.com

Watch the full video versions on YouTube: youtube.com/@rowalong

Join the community: facebook.com/groups/rowalong

Instagram: @rowalong_workouts

RowAlong is a free follow-along rowing workout podcast for indoor rowers of all levels. Every session is time-based and works on any rowing machine — Concept2, WaterRower, Hydrow, NordicTrack, or any gym rower. Press play. Strap in. Let's RowAlong.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last one of the week — and I actually had some rowing thoughts to share today rather than just rambling. Well, I rambled too. But there was a plan.

This is Friday's 5K row with a 1K cool-down, sitting right around 25 minutes. I keep it low intensity, 20 strokes a minute, and I'd love you to row along at whatever pace suits you.

I start with a quick technique run-through — drive sequence, backswing timing, handle to sternum height — and then spend most of the session talking through why these low-intensity morning rows are doing more than they might feel like. I go through the RPE scale properly, from the walk-to-the-kitchen end all the way through climbing Ben Lomond steps and on to where these rows actually sit, and why that zone is where aerobic conditioning gets built and stroke technique gets grooved in.

Then there's the honest bit. Yesterday I did eight times two minutes at close to my 2K pace, and I stopped in the seventh interval. Not because my body gave out — my body was fine. It was my brain that pulled the handle down. I talk through what that means, why it's actually useful information, and how interval structure is a better tool for building mental tenacity than long hard rows, because you get a reset rather than a complete collapse. I also pick up the thread from earlier in the week about how I'm going to weave proper 2K training sessions into what's already a fairly full schedule.

There's also a quick thought on AI training plans — where they're useful and where they fall short — and a plug for the leaderboard community if you want somewhere to log your rows.

Want a shorter session? Stop at 20 minutes — any rowing counts.

CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro & machine setup 3:07 We're rowing 4:12 Community leaderboard — perfect week 6:16 Technique headlines 10:43 The RPE scale — what low intensity really means 23:54 2K training, intervals & the seventh rep 30:23 Cool-down stretches

Find more indoor rowing workouts, training plans, and rowing technique guides at rowalong.com

Watch the full video versions on YouTube: youtube.com/@rowalong

Join the community: facebook.com/groups/rowalong

Instagram: @rowalong_workouts

RowAlong is a free follow-along rowing workout podcast for indoor rowers of all levels. Every session is time-based and works on any rowing machine — Concept2, WaterRower, Hydrow, NordicTrack, or any gym rower. Press play. Strap in. Let's RowAlong.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All black outfit, desert loop on the EXR app, and a proper Thursday morning row. No plan for what to talk about today — which, as it turns out, is not a problem.

This one wanders pleasantly. I start with a look at why keeping these morning sessions at genuinely low intensity matters — not just for recovery, but so you have the energy to come back again tomorrow, and the day after that. Then I get into technique, spending a good chunk on handle height at the finish, the wrist flick you sometimes see from water rowers, and why swinging your back too soon is probably the most common thing quietly costing people power and eventually causing lower back grief.

Then things take a turn. I talk through a video by Professor Hannah Fry about an Alzheimer's study where patients were made to play Tetris before bed — and what their dreams revealed about how the brain files and ingrains repeated experience. The rowing connection is more direct than you'd expect: it's the whole argument for why showing up to row at low intensity, thinking about good technique, day after day, is actually doing something at a neurological level — even when it doesn't feel like hard work.

There's also a story about a girl called Zoe, a Toshiba word processor, floppy disks, and how I accidentally taught myself to type at 14 by writing 40-page letters to a holiday pen pal. And a tangent about how TV editing works, using sheep as a visual aid. It's that kind of episode.

CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro & machine setup 2:04 We're rowing 3:44 Why low intensity is the point 7:02 Technique — handle finish, wrist position & early swing 21:13 The Tetris study & muscle memory 26:05 The Zoe letters — how John learned to type 28:47 Cool-down stretches

Find more indoor rowing workouts, training plans, and rowing technique guides at rowalong.com

Watch the full video versions on YouTube: youtube.com/@rowalong

Join the community: facebook.com/groups/rowalong

Instagram: @rowalong_workouts

RowAlong is a free follow-along rowing workout podcast for indoor rowers of all levels. Every session is time-based and works on any rowing machine — Concept2, WaterRower, Hydrow, NordicTrack, or any gym rower. Press play. Strap in. Let's RowAlong.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bedhead hair, Expedition EXR route in the background, and a 5K row with a 1K cool-down to follow.

Today is one of those episodes where I don't have a plan, so I pick up the RowAlong story where I left it. I talk through how the channel started — a hand injury, then Covid, then a gap I spotted to offer something a bit calmer and more companionable than the shouty fitness content that was everywhere at the time. I cover how it went through a couple of name changes before landing on RowAlong, what those first lockdown summers looked like filming in the garden, and how throwing myself into Hyrox training from 2022 onwards was brilliant for my overall fitness but quietly let my 2K pace slide while I wasn't paying attention.

There's also a bit on why matching my stroke rate won't give you my split, how heart rate varies wildly between people (and why mine sitting at 34 resting isn't a cause for alarm, apparently), what my honest current training situation looks like — 5K in 21:50 when I said I was going easy — and what I actually need to do to get back under seven minutes for the British Rowing Indoor Champs in December.

Oh, and I might have won something on Premium Bonds. Could be £25, could be a million. We'll see.

Find more indoor rowing workouts, training plans, and rowing technique guides at rowalong.com

Watch the full video versions on YouTube: youtube.com/@rowalong

Join the community: facebook.com/groups/rowalong

Instagram: @rowalong_workouts

RowAlong is a free follow-along rowing workout podcast for indoor rowers of all levels. Every session is time-based and works on any rowing machine — Concept2, WaterRower, Hydrow, NordicTrack, or any gym rower. Press play. Strap in. Let's RowAlong.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nobody can hand you motivation. That's the honest truth — and it's actually good news once you understand it.

Today's session is a 5K row followed by a 1K cool-down, which runs to around 26 or 27 minutes in total. Along the way I do a full technique walkthrough covering machine setup, the drive sequence, and the recovery, and then we spend a good chunk of the row on something a viewer message sparked — what motivation actually is, where it comes from, and why waiting for someone to sprinkle it over you is a trap.

The core of it is this: that moment when you're sitting on the edge of the bed staring at your shoes and thinking "I know I should train but I just can't face it" — that moment isn't a failure. It's a signal. I talk about what to do with it, why goal-setting matters more than inspiration, the case for keeping a training diary written by hand rather than typed, and why I'd genuinely rather you went and rowed with Shane or Austin than clung on to me if you're not enjoying what we do here. I also cover the plateau effect when you're building muscle and losing fat at the same time, and share where I'm at with my own lightweight target right now.

There's technique throughout — drive mechanics, backswing timing, handle height, and a stretch sequence at the end including hamstrings, glutes, quads, hip flexors, forearms, and shoulders.

Want a shorter session? Stop at 20 minutes — any rowing counts.

CHAPTERS

0:00 Intro & machine setup

2:41 We're rowing

6:43 Technique — the drive and recovery

12:42 Motivation — what it actually is

21:19 Goals, tracking, and knowing your why

29:28 Cool-down stretches

🚣 More indoor rowing workouts: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8ookhrQKwvKEfSfOxp73vX02j8LrtUil

📩 Join the RowAlong community leaderboard: https://rowalong.com/join

⚠️ Health Disclaimer: Always consult your doctor before starting a new exercise programme. The workouts on this channel are provided for informational purposes only.

#indoorrowing #rowalong #rowingmotivation #concept2 #indoorrowingworkout

Find more indoor rowing workouts, training plans, and rowing technique guides at rowalong.com

Watch the full video versions on YouTube: youtube.com/@rowalong

Join the community: facebook.com/groups/rowalong

Instagram: @rowalong_workouts

RowAlong is a free follow-along rowing workout podcast for indoor rowers of all levels. Every session is time-based and works on any rowing machine — Concept2, WaterRower, Hydrow, NordicTrack, or any gym rower. Press play. Strap in. Let's RowAlong.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

52 resets a year. Here's one.

Coming back from injury? Life got in the way? Kids took over? Just had an indulgent weekend? This is your reset.

Easter weekend: 10 family members, farmhouse in Penrith, chocolate eggs everywhere, 7% dark ale. Park run Saturday (equaled PB), then zero training thoughts. Felt awful Sunday, couldn't sleep. Delayed filming until lunchtime because forcing it would've hurt more than helped.

The reset philosophy: Plans are great, but they're not prison sentences. Don't let accountability systems become the tail that wags the dog. I lost my Duolingo streak after a year and stopped completely. People who won't run if they forgot their Strava watch. The accountability board tracks daily, weekly, AND total weeks so one missed day doesn't derail everything.

Technique covered: Back of stroke sets up the next power phase. Handle bounces off chest using muscle tension, relaxes and drops, balloon imagery brings it back to neutral. Hands-sit-tilt-knees. First half of drive is legs only, arms straight, core braced.

Reset whenever you need it. rowalong.com/join

Podcast link in bio.

#rowing #reset #freshstart #comeback #accountability #rowalong

Find more indoor rowing workouts, training plans, and rowing technique guides at rowalong.com

Watch the full video versions on YouTube: youtube.com/@rowalong

Join the community: facebook.com/groups/rowalong

Instagram: @rowalong_workouts

RowAlong is a free follow-along rowing workout podcast for indoor rowers of all levels. Every session is time-based and works on any rowing machine — Concept2, WaterRower, Hydrow, NordicTrack, or any gym rower. Press play. Strap in. Let's RowAlong.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.