Simply put, a Watt is a measure of work output over time (joules/second). In fact, it is the same measurement used for lightbulbs in your home. The number of Watts displayed on your machine reflects the amount of work the machine receives from you on every stroke. The more effort you put into the drive, the more power output, or Watts, you will be able to achieve. There are three factors that should be considered when determining how many Watts you should aim to generate: your fitness/strength level, your rowing technique and your height/weight.

Increasing any of these factors will help achieve a higher Watt output. That means that taller and, to a degree, heavier rowers will have an easier time producing more power or Watts during a training session. However, if you don’t have those ‘natural’ factors on your side, don’t despair. Bettering your technique and improving your strength and fitness level will result in higher Watt output. Here’s a very general rule of thumb:

Average woman, 165cm, 65kg
Aerobic rowing: 100-130 watts
Sprint rowing: 270-300 watts

Average man, 180cm, 85kg
Aerobic rowing: 170-200 watts
Sprint rowing: 370-400 watts

But remember, the important thing is to improve on YOUR personal best. Here is a challenge for your next class: Take your highest watt score from the dashboard and during a sprint effort in the next class, try to add 5 watts per stroke for 5 strokes!

Enjoy and power up!

On-water rowing races take place over a standard 2000-meter distance. This distance is divided into four 500-meter segments. The time per 500 meters has been set as a common measurement of rowing performance.

Did you know? The world record time for a man over 2000 meters is 5:35.8, that means an average split of 1:23.9 for more than 5 minutes. For a woman it is 6:22.8, which is a 1:35.7 split. Can you reach those numbers for one stroke during your next class?

The split is related to *Watts via a complicated formula. Luckily, the machine translates the numbers for you directly. As your Watts, or power output, goes up, your split will decrease. If you were rowing on the water, you would be moving the boat faster!

Similarly to Watts, it is difficult to estimate what to aim for because factors such as fitness level, technique and height/weight play an important role. However, below you will find some general guidelines.

Average woman, 165cm, 65kg
Aerobic rowing: 2:25/500m
Sprint rowing: 1:55/500m

Average man, 180cm, 85kg
Aerobic rowing: 2:05/500m
Sprint rowing: 1:35/500m

Take a look at your split the next time you are on the rowing machine. The harder you drive through your legs, the faster you will go (that means the number will decrease). Remember to focus on improving your best split as your fitness level increases!

The resistance setting on the rowing machine adjusts the amount of air that is allowed to rotate through the flywheel – the round part at the front  of the machine. The higher the resistance, on a scale from 1 to 10, the more air that is allowed to enter the wheel, causing it to feel heavier. Yet it is uncommon to set the resistance all the way at 10.

Rowing at a level 10 can be likened with cycling up a 20% incline. While it will feel heavy and force you to work hard, it does little to help with your technique nor is it sustainable for building power endurance.

Rather than measuring your strength or the difficulty of the class by the level of resistance, try putting your resistance at a moderate level (1-3 for beginners, 4-6 for more experienced rowers) and work on improving your technique. Look for the results in a higher *watt output or in lower *splits.

*Challenge* : In your next class, experiment with the resistance level. Start at level 1 and see how high you can get your watts, then add one level of resistance and try again. Repeat until you reach level 10. Where did you generate the highest watts? What level felt best to you?

Did you know? Olympic rowers will often start a race with more than 50 strokes per minute! And they have to be 100% in-sync with the other rowers in their boat.

During a warm-up, the stroke rate is usually between 18-22 spm, but while sprinting it can go up to more than 40 spm. At RowStudio, the desired stroke rate will be indicated on your screen. At your next class, try to follow it, while still maintaining power.

In order to do so, you’ll have to pay attention to your ratio. Remember to drive your legs down hard and then relax back up to take the next stroke. You are aiming for about a two to one ratio.  One beat to push the legs down and two or three beats to go back up for the next stroke. As the stroke rate increases, maintain the same ratio. You’ll have to drive the legs down faster, which will generate more power and therefore more speed.

Enjoy and power up!

The total distance will vary depending on the class you book. Some RowStudio workouts focus more on short sprints and intense intervals (RowStudio Ripped), while others put a bigger emphasis on learning the basic technique and spending more time on the machine (RowStudio Launch).

But on average, during a RowStudio workout, you’ll spend about 30 of the 45 minutes on the rowing machine. If you manage an average *split of 2:15, that means you would row about 6,500 meters total per class. 

*Fun fact* – every year there are a few hundred people who row across the Atlantic Ocean. The most common route is more than 6,000 kilometers, or roughly 1,000 RowStudio classes! The fastest solo attempt was completed in 38 days and 9 hours.

Keeping track of the distances you row each class will help you to see your improvement over time. Better technique and more endurance will help you gain more meters as you go along. And the more meters you put it, the more you’ll get out of it.

What are you looking for? The ideal curve would actually be a rectangle. That would indicate immediate full power application, sustaining the power all the way through the drive, and then the complete relinquishing of power as you move into the recovery. Yet, this is humanly impossible.

Instead, you want to aim for the closest alternative, a parabolic-type curve. Think of an upside-down u shape. As you drive your legs, the curve will go up to its peak point. As your body and arms come into the stroke, the curve will decrease from its peak back down to zero at the end of the stroke.

Here are two important tips:

1. Try to remove any bumps in the curve. Bumps are an indication of lost power.
2. Try to maintain a consistent and symmetrical curve. You don’t want too much power at the beginning and then it trails off dramatically at the end, or too little power at the beginning and it becomes much bigger at the end.

In order to do it correctly, think about pushing with legs then engaging the core and hips all the way through to the finish. And stay tuned for our post on rowing technique.

Did you know? The force curve is one of the most hotly debated subjects in rowing biomechanics. Coaches from around the world debate the exact shape the curve should have, but the tips provided here are agreed upon by all!