The Rowing Intervals is a intermediate-friendly machine strength exercise that targets the quadriceps, lats and middle back, with the glutes, hamstrings, biceps and abdominals working alongside. Here's how to do it right — and what to stop doing.
Primary musclesQuads, Lats, Middle Back
Secondary musclesGlutes, Hamstrings, Biceps, Abs
EquipmentMachine
LevelIntermediate
TypeStrength
3D demo in the EGON app
01 Execution
How to do the Rowing Intervals
Strap your feet in and set the damper to a moderate setting so the stroke stays quick rather than heavy.
Row easy for a few minutes, then settle at the catch with shins vertical, arms straight and shoulders ahead of the hips.
Start the work bout by driving the legs down hard while the arms stay straight until the legs are almost flat.
Swing the back open from the hips and pull the handle in to the bottom of the ribs to finish the stroke.
Send the hands away first, hinge the body forward, then let the knees bend and slide back to the catch.
Hold that sequence for the full work bout, then drop to light paddling for the recovery and repeat.
02 The payoff
Why it earns its spot
Trains anaerobic work capacity at a power output continuous rowing never reaches.
Loads upper and lower body in the same interval, which running and cycling intervals do not.
Stays non-impact, so repeated hard efforts cost the joints far less than sprint running.
03 Don't do this
Common mistakes
Opening the back at the same time as the legs, which strains the lower back and leaks power out of the drive.
Rushing the recovery to match the drive, which shortens the next stroke and burns you out before the bout ends.
Chasing stroke rate instead of split, so the rate climbs while the pace on the monitor gets slower.
Sitting still through the rest, which slows waste clearance and leaves the legs heavy for the next effort.
EGON Put it on record
Track it in EGON.
Log every set of the Rowing Intervals, get your PRs detected automatically, earn aura for the work — and climb five leagues of statues, from Stone to Ego.
