HIIT Rowing Machine Workout
When it comes to working the muscles of your upper and lower body while also getting a great cardio workout, the rowing machine stands in a class of its own. By combining rowing with high intensity interval training, you can make it even better. HIIT rowing workouts will supercharge your fat burn, maximize the benefits to your heart and lungs and ramp up your post training metabolism so that you’re still burning calories 24 hours later. Here’s a HIIT workout that you can bust out in less than 8 minutes, including the warm up and cool down!
HIIT Overview
High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is a form of cardio exercise that involves doing repeated rounds of short sharp work followed by even shorter periods of rest. One of the most popular forms of HIIT, and one that is ideally suited for rowing workouts, is known as the Tabata Protocol. It has you performing a 2 minute warmup, then doing a 20 second all-out sprint. This is followed by a 10 second rest. This is repeated for 8 rounds. A final 2-minute warm down completes the workout.
HIIT workouts bring on what is known as the Enhanced Post Exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC) effect. As a result of the high demands of the workout, your body will have an increased demand for oxygen for as many as 24 hours after the workout. This increased oxygen uptake increases the body’s metabolism. That means that you’ll still be burning calories from your 6am rowing workout while you're on the couch watching TV at 6pm that night!
HIIT Rowing Workout
Here’s how to do our HIIT rowing workout:
Get on the rowing machine and start rowing with a 2-minute warm up.
From 1 minute 30, build up the intensity until, at the 2 minute mark you are rowing at full intensity.
Row as intensely as you can for 20 seconds.
Stop rowing for exactly 10 seconds.
Row intensely for another 20 seconds.
Continue this pattern for 8 rounds.
Finish with a medium intensity 2-minute warm down.
Your entire HIIT rowing workout will take you just 8 minutes - and that includes 4 minutes of warm up and cool down. Yet, if you do it intensely enough you will feel totally exhausted at the end of it. You’ll get more benefit in terms of calorie burn and cardio health benefits than a whole hour’s worth of steady state exercise.
Perform this HIIT rowing workout 3 times per week on alternate days.
Wrap Up
HIIT rowing is miles ahead of the slow, steady way that most people go about their cardio workouts. But don’t get me wrong - this is an intense form of exercise. Be prepared to work harder than you have for a long time. But you can also be assured in the knowledge that your workout will be over before most of your gym contemporaries have finished their warm up.
