500m Row

The 500m row is a short conditioning effort on a rowing machine - also called an erg. It trains power and stamina in your legs, back, and arms, with your quadriceps and lats doing most of the work and your glutes, hamstrings, and mid-back helping out. You cover 500 meters as fast or as steady as your fitness allows.

Sit on the seat with your feet strapped firmly into the pedals. Bend your knees and slide forward until your shins are roughly vertical. Take a loose overhand grip on the handle, arms straight, shoulders relaxed, and let your upper body lean slightly forward from the hips. Keep your back tall rather than rounded.

Push with your legs first, keeping your arms straight. Once your legs are almost straight, lean your torso back slightly, then pull the handle into the bottom of your ribs by bending your elbows. Reverse the order on the way in: straighten your arms, hinge forward at the hips, then bend your knees and slide forward. Repeat that chain - legs, body, arms on the drive; arms, body, legs on the recovery - until the screen shows 500 meters.

Exhale as you drive back and pull; inhale as you slide forward and recover. Keep your midsection lightly braced so your lower back stays neutral. To make it easier, slow your stroke rate and focus on long, smooth pulls. To make it harder, pull harder each stroke or try to finish the 500m in fewer total strokes.

Fault: You pull with your arms before your legs push. Fix: Keep your arms straight until your legs are nearly extended, then lean back and pull.

Fault: Your back rounds at the front of the stroke. Fix: Sit tall, brace your midsection lightly, and hinge from the hips instead of slouching.

Fault: You slam into the front of the machine or reach too far forward. Fix: Stop when your shins are vertical and keep your arms relaxed and extended at the catch.

Fault: You grip the handle too tightly or pull it up toward your neck. Fix: Hold the handle with a relaxed grip and pull it to the lower ribs, keeping your elbows close to your sides.