Workouts

Endurance / engine

Aerobic sessions on the rower, bike and run for triathletes, runners and hybrid athletes: easy base work, threshold intervals and tests to come back to.

Engine sessions11

Zone 230 minEasy Thirty30 minutes on the rower at a conversational paceZone 260 minLong and Slow60 minutes across four machines, 15 minutes eachZone 145 minRecovery Spin45 minutes on the bike, easier than you thinkIntervals20 minThreshold Tens10 rounds of 1 minute hard, 1 minute easyIntervals25 minTempo Twenty5 rounds of 4 minutes at threshold, 1 minute easyIntervals30 minSprint Day8 x 200m all-out with full recoveryFor time15 min capThe MileOne mile, flat outFor time30 min cap5K Test5,000m row for timeSteady60 minThe Hour60 minutes mixed modal at a moderate paceAMRAP45 minMixed Modal Cruise45 minutes rotating three machines, steadyFor time40 min capRun It Off5km at a steady pace you could hold all race

How to use them

Base

Easy Thirty, Long and Slow and Recovery Spin. Most of your aerobic work should feel this easy.

Threshold

Threshold Tens and Tempo Twenty raise the pace you can hold before it falls apart.

Top end and tests

Sprint Day for speed, then The Mile, the 5K Test and The Hour to measure progress.

How to use engine work

Most of your aerobic training should be easy. A common split is about 80% at an easy effort and 20% harder, and the easy part is what lets you absorb the hard part.

Finding easy. Zone 2 is an effort where you can talk in full sentences. If you use a heart rate monitor, it is roughly 60 to 70% of your maximum. Work out your zones and expect easy to feel slower than you think it should.

Threshold. Threshold work sits around the effort you could hold for about an hour: hard, but controlled and repeatable. One session a week, such as Threshold Tens or Tempo Twenty, is enough for most people.

A sample week:

  • Two easy sessions of 30 to 60 minutes on whichever machine you like.
  • One threshold session.
  • One short session of sprints or a time trial, every other week.

Testing. Retest a 5km row, a mile or The Hour every six to eight weeks, on the same machine and at the same time of day. Further or faster at the same heart rate is the sign it is working. The rowing pace calculator helps plan splits.

Mistakes to avoid.

  • Making easy days moderate. They end up too hard to recover from and too easy to build fitness.
  • Training on only one machine. Mixing the rower, bike and run spreads the load across your joints.
  • Testing without a warm-up, which makes the first kilometre a guess.

Questions

How to log a score →
What is Zone 2 training?
Steady aerobic work at an effort where you could still hold a conversation, usually around 60 to 70% of your maximum heart rate. It builds the base that harder sessions sit on. Work out your heart rate zones.
How often should I do threshold work?
Once or twice a week for most people, with plenty of easy work around it. Threshold Tens and Tempo Twenty are good places to start.
How do I know if my engine is improving?
Retest a time trial every couple of months: the 5K row, the mile or The Hour. If you go further or faster at the same effort, it is working. The rowing pace calculator helps you plan splits.

Log them in Fiz

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