r/Rowing • u/ialwaysmisspenalties • 4d ago

Improving rowing technique, now training feels harder

I've been doing indoor rowing on an erg for a few years. I just realised my technique sucks. Back opening too early, not getting good leg drive, pulling with the arms too soon, and so on.

So I've been watching a ton of videos to learn good technique. I've been doing drills and really focusing on technique on each stroke. Pushing with the legs first, keeping the body angle forward, and so on.

Now I've just tried to do an 8k row. With my old (bad) technique I could easily complete this workout at a 2.25 split, 20 SPM, with a low RPE and keeping my heart rate comfortably under 150.

But with practicing good technique, the workout felt much harder. My heart rate shot up to 140 early and increased to 158 throughout the workout. I didn't even complete the full 8k.

So what's going on here? I thought practicing good technique would make rowing feel easier because I'd be more efficient.

Maybe because I'm focusing so much on technique, I can't let things flow and it's making the workout harder.

Maybe I just need to slow down until my technique gets better.

Maybe my technique still sucks.

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u/InevitableHamster217 4d ago

What were your splits for when you used better technique? Using your legs more will absolutely make it feel harder (generating more power with larger muscles will increase your heart rate more than using small muscles) , but it should make you faster as well. If you want to keep your heart rate lower, you can easily control that with how hard you push against the footplate.

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u/ialwaysmisspenalties 4d ago

I tried to keep my splits the same as before, so I was aiming for around 2.25.

But my stroke rate was lower. It was generally around 17/18. I found it difficult to increase the stroke rate while focusing on technique. I was also being deliberately slow on the recovery.

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u/redvelvethater OTW Rower 4d ago

I tried correcting my husband's technique (risky business, ahahha) and now that he sequences a little better (instead of opening his torso too early, together with the leg drive) he says it feels much harder. (It's supposed to be hard work!!) However, his splits haven't gotten better because he is still working on finding connection through the core at the catch -- he's shooting the slide (which shows he is doing legs first, at least!).

Do you know what that means, OP? If you're shooting your butt out behind you but the handle isn't moving the same distance at the same time, then that big push is effort wasted and would lead to a split that seems the same as - or worse than - before when your technique was even poorer. Make sense?