Page 52 - Muscle & Fitness (December 2019)

T R A I N T E S T
ROW BIG OR ROW HOME
Rowing by itself can get boring. Creating a HIIT
workout based around it eliminates that problem.
owing dates back to the
Egyptians, Greeks, and
Romans, but would it
have sustained its
R longevity had Zeus
been asked to perform
burpees between rounds?
“Are burpees involved?”
usually begins any boutique
class interrogation, and Arielle
Childs, one of the founding
coaches of NYC-based rowing
boutique Rowgatta (rowgatta
.com), quickly answered with
a resounding yes. As it turned
5 0 M U S C L E & F I T N E S S
P I L O T
out, adding that bit of HIIT to
a row class helps break up the
boredom and also burns some
extra calories in addition to
the 200 to 400 that rowing
would in a half-hour class.
“Anything in large doses
may at times become monot-
onous,” she says. “It’s why our
class is broken up into chunks
and constantly varies.”
Childs taught me quickly
that rowing can be spiced up
through intensity shifts—in
Rowgatta’s case, it was through
a timed base pace (think jog)
followed by all-out row sprints.
The combo had me reminisc-
ing about high school football
wind sprints, but this time
/ D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 9
By Jeff Tomko
without becoming hunched
over in gut-busting agony.
And despite its low-impact
reputation, the full-force push
generated by rowing rein-
forced its place as a power
move and not just a cardio
accessory. A misconception
is that it’s an arm movement,
when rowing is more leg and
hip drive, kind of almost like
a seated deadlift. At least I felt
stronger.
“If you want to get the best
workout while rowing, focus
on power,” Childs says. “So
when you row, focus on going
harder rather than faster.”
Oh, and about those burpees.
Those were lodged in between
row rounds, tucked away in a
HIIT shift consisting of squats,
thrusters, and leg raises in
30-on/30-off intervals.
And, quite frankly, after the
workout rowing provided,
they’re not so bad after all.
T H E W O R KO U T
R O W F O R I T
Can’t get to Rowgatta? Childs
challenges you to this 18-minute
rowing and HIIT workout.
E X E R C I S E S E T S R E P S
ROW* 4–8 90 SEC.
ON, 90
SEC. OFF
DUMBBELL 1–2 AMRAP
HANG CLEAN**
DUMBBELL 1–2 AMRAP
THRUSTER**
FRONT SQUAT** 1–2 AMRAP
PUSH PRESS** 1–2 AMRAP
*Row until you reach the amount of cal-
ories burned on the Concept2 monitor:
men, 17 calories; women, 13 calories.
**For the remaining time of the 90
seconds, perform as many reps as
possible for the dumbbell hang clean, S H U T T E R S T O C K
then move to the next exercise after
each rowing round.