Get on your nearest rowing machine and give this fitness challenge a shot.
Last updated on October 24th, 2024
As November rolls around, many of us are shifting our exercise indoors thanks to the cooler temperatures and snowy weather.
- Others are looking to increase their activity levels to combat the extra calories from leftover Halloween candy, Thanksgiving meals, and the quickly approaching holiday season.
If you relate to either of these scenarios, “Rowvember” could be the solution.
Rowvember is an annual fitness challenge run by Dark Horse Rowing to promote indoor rowing for health and fitness.
With an array of lengths and formats, each day will be a challenge.
[Related: Best Rowing Machines]
Origins
Dark Horse Rowing was founded by former collegiate rower Shane Farmer, who is certainly no stranger to the world of CrossFit.
- He competed at the CrossFit Games with Team CrossFit Invictus and was a member of the CrossFit seminar staff as an instructor for the CrossFit Rowing Course.
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Entering its sixth year, Rowvember is Dark Horse Rowing’s way of giving back to the indoor rowing community by offering free programming to anyone interested.
With a no-cost introduction to the training regiment, Farmer hopes to attract new people to the world of indoor rowing.
Is Rowvember for Me?
If your only experience with a rower is in CrossFit class, you are missing many of the benefits of the machine.
- In a typical CrossFit class, the rower is used to keep your heart rate elevated in the middle of a workout and is often seen as a bridge between movements. It’s not an exercise CrossFitters spend a lot of time practicing or thinking about.
If you’ve spent much time in a CrossFit gym, you have likely heard something along the lines of “I’d like to hit 185 for this complex” or “I’m going to try and go unbroken on the toes-to-bar.”
- How often have you heard, “I’m going to row a 1,600 each round”?
Even if you’ve been doing CrossFit for years, it’s unlikely you have ever done more than 2000m of rowing in a single sitting.
- Pro tip: Dark Horse Rowing offers plenty of free technique and training advice on YouTube and Instagram.
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For the CrossFitters out there, Farmer hopes you sign up for Rowvember to see how versatile the rowing machine can be as a training tool. You can use them to learn how to expend effort over extended periods, as a pacing tool, and even as a machine for rest or recovery days.
What to Expect
The goal of Rowvember is to give athletes exposure to the rower in a mix of rowing workouts over the course of the month.
- As the majority of participants are new to rower-specific workouts, Farmer’s approach is to develop workouts that fall between really hard or nothing at all.
One of Farmer’s recommendations for those completing Rowvember is to do it with friends – admitting that sitting on a rower can be boring at times.
- Getting a crew together to row during open gym can help pass the time, insert some laughs, and add some accountability or motivation on days you aren’t feeling up for it.
There is also a community tab built into the Dark Horse Rowing app specifically for Rowvember participants to help along the way.
- Even if you don’t have access to a Concept2 rower, you can still join Rowvember; workouts are designed to be rower agnostic, so anyone with a rower can join.
If you only have access to a SkiErg or a BikeErg, the programming can easily convert to those machines as well.
- Note: Meters convert 1:1 from rower to SkiErg and 2:1 on the BikeErg.
Try Your Best
Farmer recognizes that going from zero to 100 may not be possible for everyone, and he encourages people to take a rest day when needed.
To make sure that it’s an enjoyable challenge for everyone, prizes will be based on a random draw of participants, not total meters rowed.
- Thanks to a partnership recently announced with Concept2, one lucky rower will win an Erg of their choice, and two others will receive a gift package (U.S. residents only).
Are you up for the challenge? Rowvember is an easy way to introduce yourself to the world of rowing. Grab some friends and a rower and see what you can do for the month of November.
What do you have to lose?
The worst-case scenario is you get better at rowing and can have a subtle flex when you are first off the rower the next time it’s programmed.
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Featured image: @DarkHorseRowing / Instagram