Nobody trains the row. Everyone trains running, almost everyone trains wall balls, and there's always someone who spends weeks dragging the sled. The row ends up at the bottom of the list, because it looks like the easy station: you sit down, you pull, and four minutes later it's done.
But the row is the fifth station. You get there with four kilometres in your legs, the sled is behind you, the burpee broad jumps have already taken your breath away, and you still have half the race ahead. What you do over those 1000 metres doesn't decide whether you finish. It decides what state you're in when you reach the farmers carry, the sandbag lunges and the wall balls.
This article is the companion to the one we already wrote about the SkiErg, and the principle is the same: the machine doesn't reward whoever pulls hardest, it rewards whoever pulls smartest.
Where the row comes in the race, and why that matters
HYROX doesn't change the order. It's eight 1 km runs alternating with eight stations, always in the same sequence, and the row is the fifth exercise, right after the burpee broad jumps. If you want the full list, it's all in the article on the eight HYROX stations.
The position isn't an accident. The row comes exactly when your legs are no longer fresh, and it's a station that lives on legs. Anyone who gets there and tries to make up for it with their arms pays the bill two stations later.
Here's some good news: rowing is one of the few stations where the load doesn't change between divisions. Open, Pro, doubles or relay, it's 1000 metres for everyone. There's no weight to add, so it's one of the stations where the difference comes down almost entirely to technique.
The pulling sequence: legs, torso, arms
If you take just one thing from this article, take this order.
On the drive, which is the phase where you push the seat back:
- Legs. You push the footplate with your heels. Arms stay straight and the torso still. This accounts for about 60 per cent of the power.
- Torso. Only when your legs are almost straight do you open your hips and lean your torso back. About 30 per cent.
- Arms. At the end, and only at the end, you pull the handle to the base of your ribs. About 10 per cent.
On the recovery it's the exact reverse order: arms forward, torso leaning, and only then do you bend your knees. If you bend your knees first, the handle hits your legs and you have to lift it over them, which steals rhythm on every stroke.
The mistake almost everyone makes
Pulling with your arms first. It's instinctive, because the handle is in your hands and your hands seem like where the force goes. What happens is you throw away the power from your legs, and your biceps and forearms are cooked before 200 metres. And then you still have 200 metres of farmers carry to grip.
A simple test: film yourself from the side for 30 seconds. If your arms start bending before your legs are straight, that's what you need to fix this week.
Damper, drag factor, and the number that really matters
The damper is the lever on the side of the flywheel, from 1 to 10. It isn't a difficulty scale, it's an air valve: higher lets more air in, the flywheel slows down faster between pulls, and it feels heavier and slower.
At HYROX races the machines are set with the damper at 6, and you can adjust it during the station. Most people row best between 4 and 6.
What really matters isn't the damper, it's the drag factor, the number the machine itself calculates and shows in the monitor menu. Damper 6 on a clean machine doesn't give the same drag factor as on a dusty one. On HYROX rowers, a comfortable reference is between 110 and 130.
Rule of thumb for race day: sit down, look at the damper, and if it's well above 6, lower it. Don't waste time looking for the drag factor mid-race. That's something you work on in training, not in competition.
What pace you should run the 1000 metres at
This is where the second half of the race is won or lost. The benchmark is to row at around 90 to 92 per cent of your best pace for a standalone 1000 metres. Never at 100 per cent. The five seconds you gain here cost thirty or more on the wall balls.
| Race goal | Pace per 500 m | Row time |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1h10 | 1:35 to 1:40 | 3:15 to 3:20 |
| Under 1h20 | 1:38 to 1:42 | 3:20 to 3:25 |
| Under 1h30 | 1:45 to 1:52 | 3:30 to 3:45 |
| Under 1h45 | 1:55 to 2:05 | 3:50 to 4:10 |
| Under 2h00 | 2:05 to 2:15 | 4:10 to 4:30 |
The pace per 500 m is the big number on the monitor. That's the one you follow, not the total time.
How to split the 1000 metres
A split that works well for most people:
- First 250 m: a stroke rate of 24 to 26 strokes per minute. You're not really rowing here, you're getting your breath back after the burpees. Controlled pace.
- From 250 to 750: you go up to 28 to 30 strokes per minute and lock in the 500 m pace you chose from the table. This block is the whole article.
- Last 250 m: you can open up to 32 or more, if you have it. If not, hold steady. It's not worth blowing up just to reach the next station two seconds sooner.
What you should not do is the opposite: go out flat out, watch your pace drop metre by metre, and end up dragging yourself. Steady paces, or speeding up slightly at the end, always beat fading paces.
Benchmark times: where do you fit in?
It's there to help you place yourself, not to judge yourself. These are typical race values, with legs already tired, not fresh rowing times.
| Level | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| Elite | 3:15 to 3:30 | 3:30 to 3:50 |
| Competitive | 3:40 to 4:10 | 4:00 to 4:30 |
| Recreational | 4:20 to 5:00 | 4:45 to 5:30 |
If it's your first race, your goal isn't your row time. It's getting off the machine still able to walk straight.
The mistake that burns your hands on the farmers carry
Lots of people grip the handle far harder than they need to, white knuckles, thumb pressing. There's no need. The handle needs to be held securely, not crushed. You pull with your legs and back, and your hands just have to keep contact.
This matters because the station after the row is the farmers carry, 200 metres, which is all grip. Anyone who burns out their forearms on the rower reaches the farmers carry dropping the weights two or three times, and every drop costs far more than the seconds they thought they were saving.
Same logic for your back: if you row with a rounded trunk, you'll reach the sandbag lunges with your lower back already complaining, and you still have 100 metres of lunges with a bag on your shoulders.
How to train the row, in three sessions a week
You don't need more than this, and it fits into any training week. If you don't have a training structure yet, the HYROX training plan explains how to build the rest.
| Session | What you do | What it's for |
|---|---|---|
| Technique | 10 min at a cadence of 20 | Making the sequence automatic |
| Intervals | 4 x 500 m at target pace | Setting your race pace |
| Transition | 400 m run, 1000 m row, 400 m run | Rowing on tired legs |
The third is the one almost nobody does and the one that pays off most. Rowing fresh is nothing like rowing after four kilometres.
The transition: the twenty seconds nobody trains
Getting on and off the machine counts as race time. Two simple things:
- As you get on, adjust your feet before you sit down, if you can. Losing fifteen seconds tightening the straps is common and avoidable.
- When you finish, let go of the handle carefully and stand up in two stages. Standing up suddenly after 1000 metres makes everyone feel dizzy, and that's where seconds are lost standing still next to the machine.
If you want to know how the whole day goes, from check-in to the finish line, it's all in the article on what happens at the race.
Where to train this in Figueira da Foz
At Revolution you have the rower, SkiErg, sled and the rest of the HYROX kit, plus workouts designed for anyone aiming at a race. You don't need any rowing experience: the first thing we do is watch you pull and fix the sequence.
The timetable shows you the week's classes, and the prices are all out in the open, with no hidden fees.
Want to give it a go?
The first class is free and needs no experience at all. You come in, warm up with us, and one of the coaches watches your rowing technique while you train. If you want to carry on afterwards, we'll talk about it. If not, you've learned to row better and it cost you nothing.
Book through the contact page and tell us which day suits you.
