30-DAY RISK FREE TRIAL
The leg burn, the fiery core, the lactic build-up, the sense of accomplishment: rowing makes you feel alive. Rowers need no convincing that rowing is one of the best, most effective workouts you can do. It’s full-body, no-impact, convenient, fast, calorie-burning, self-motivating — and it beats the treadmill every day of the week.
But no matter how much you love to catch, drive, and finish, repeating the same motion over and over again can get a little stale. So how do you keep the vibe alive? Variety is the spice of life. If you’re starting to find your home rower boring, there are plenty of ways to add some zing to your workout.
If working out for the sake of working out isn’t enough to get you hyped on your daily row, do some self-reflecting and explore what motivates you. Some rowers might find working towards a speed or pace goal worthy of their effort. Others might aspire to push their distance or row for a longer duration of time.
Whatever gets your engine firing, it’s always gratifying to see your progress. If you’re using Aviron, your rows are tracked on our Metrics Monitor, which shows you how fast and strong you’ve become over time. We also post challenges to keep you pushing the envelope and help you stay motivated. Plus, by participating, you can win sweet prizes. (Motivation and swag? Win, win.)
This is your brain on competition: when you win, your brain’s reward center switches on, and the pleasure center of your brain (the hypothalamus) is flooded by happy, feel-good chemicals (dopamine.) Of course, once you experience this sensation, you’ll want to feel it again … and again. Whether rowing against yourself for a new personal best or against another rower, competition adds fuel to your daily row.
At Aviron, we love some friendly sport. Our leader boards show how your row stacks up next to other rowers. If you want to test your metal against pros, you can take on the likes of elite skier, Karl Kuss and other Olympians in pre-recorded sessions. You can also take on your friends by challenging them to a race. Better start training.
— the virtual world, that is. Gamified workouts bring a whole new dimension to the phrase “work hard, play hard.” And they have real scientific benefits. Studies show that “gamification improves not only attitudes towards and enjoyment of exercise but also shapes behavior in terms of increase in exercise activity.” (Your mom was wrong: Video games can be healthy.)
On Aviron, you can catch, drive, and save-the-world-from-zombies. If battling the undead isn’t enough incentive, maybe an onslaught of bugs is motivation to get you rowing for your life. One thing is for sure: If there is any way to banish boring rowing workouts, it’s rowing to survive a robot apocalypse. (A good skill to have in case Google really does become sentient.)
What’s more important: The journey or the destination? Science shows that it’s actually the company. There’s no ‘I’ in rower, after all. When rowing, it’s easy to get hyper-focused on personal outcomes, fit gains, or perfecting our form. But studies have found that exercising in a group yields incredible benefits:
Birds of a feather flock together. The Aviron community is something special. (Our Facebook and Discord group might be the best place on the internet.) Get to know your feller rowers and sweat together in our group workout lobby. You can join live workouts 24/7.
Life is busy. Work is long. Days are short. Sometimes it’s not that you need to make rowing more fun, it’s that you need to multi-task. There’s no shame in double-dipping your exercise and your leisure time. You can have your row and your Real Housewives too. Plus, if you’re working towards a big distance goal, a salacious distraction (Might I suggest Yellowstone?) could be the key to breaking your PR.
Using Aviron, you can get a full body workout while streaming Netflix, YouTube, Prime Video, Disney+, and Hulu.
Turning your row into a HIIT workout will keep you on your toes. HIIT is exactly what it sounds like: high-intensity movements done in intervals. In other words, it’s a period of hard work followed by a short rest period.
You can turn rowing into a HIIT workout in a few ways:
Timed sprints. For example, rowing for 60 seconds hard, taking a 30-second break, and then repeating for 15 minutes.
Distance sprints. You could row 500m, followed by one-minute rest, and repeat five times.
Mixed training. Rowers do more than just row. You can use your rower for non-rowing movements, like pike-to-planks, lunges, bicep curls, or reverse crunches. Create a circuit by mixing in a rowing interval followed by a series of non-rowing exercises and then repeating. Need some strength training inspo? Aviron rowers have access to coached programs by Training Tall that cover everything from core work to strength training to mobility.
Aviron Guided Programs. No need to pre-plan your HIIT workout. Designed by pro trainers and athletes, Guided Programs take you on and off the machine for a full body workout.
A workout is only a good workout if you’ve had fun while doing it. If your home rower is getting boring, set some goals, watch your favorite show, race your bestie, and if all else fails, melt a snow monster on your quest to save the world.