How should you pace a 1000 m row in a HYROX race? What about a 50-calorie row in a functional fitness workout?
🔹 Should you use the same strategy whether the distance is measured in metres or calories? Is it really just a different unit for the same thing?
🧬 Here's the truth: whenever you train on an erg, it's you versus the monitor and its numbers – or can the monitor be your ally if you use it smartly? There's a good deal of engineering behind the numbers on the screen, and once you understand how it works, you can optimise your strategy for different workouts.
The pacing challenge in mixed training
Does it feel like you have to practically kill yourself to shave just a few seconds off on the rower?
"10 seconds can be the difference between life and death on the rower."
It's not your fault, and it doesn't mean you're out of shape.
It all comes down to the physics and maths running behind the rower's monitor.
Rowing for metres: don't chase speed at any cost
The relationship between your power output and the rower's speed is not linear.
🔹 Doubling your speed takes 8 times the power.
🔹 Doubling your power increases speed only 1.26 times.
🔹 To improve your 1000 m time from 4:20 → 4:10 (just 10 seconds, or 3.8%), you need to increase your power by 12.5%.
"That means you put in a lot more effort and get only a little more speed."
Why is that?
The rower's monitor simulates a boat on water. Boats slow down because of drag, and this force increases with the square of speed.
The same happens on the rower: the power needed to hold a high pace grows with the cube of speed. That explains why extra power doesn't bring a significant time gain over longer rowing distances.
Rowing for calories: is it worth going faster?
🔹 If the workout is based on calories rather than metres, it's a whole different game.
🔹 Rowing for calories rewards a harder pull:
- The more effort you put in, the fewer metres you have to row.
- The less effort you put in, the longer the distance you have to row.
For example, if your power output drops from 400 → 200 watts,
🔹 your 500 m time slows by 25 seconds.
🔹 a 30-calorie row takes 45 seconds longer.
How to get the most out of the rower
🔹 If the workout is rowing only, the only thing that matters is the right pacing.
🔹 If the target is a distance in metres, working harder isn't efficient – save your energy for the other movements.
🔹 With a calorie target, it can pay to row harder, because the relationship between calories and power is more linear than with metres.
