SkiErg and Rowing Strategy

The two erg stations

Two of your eight stations are seated or standing machine work: the SkiErg (1000 m, station 1) and the rower (1000 m, station 5). Both are scored on distance, both reward efficient power-per-stroke, and both are deceptively low-impact at exactly the moment your legs need a break from running. That makes them the cheapest places on the course to bank time without blowing your heart rate through the roof.

The catch is that they sit at opposite ends of the race. The SkiErg arrives fresh, after only one easy kilometer, so the temptation is to overcook it. The row arrives at the midpoint, after a sled-heavy front half, when your legs are already wrecked. Same machines, completely different tactical context.

Why the opening SkiErg sets the tone

Station 1 is the single most over-paced effort in the sport. Adrenaline is high, the legs are fresh, and a 1:50 SkiErg pace feels suspiciously sustainable for the first 300 m. It is not. The SkiErg recruits lats, triceps and trunk hard, and going out 5 seconds per 500 too fast spikes your heart rate into the red before you have even reached station 2 (sled push), which is the most leg-crushing effort on the course.

Treat the opening ski as a controlled tempo, not a sprint. Your job here is to arrive at the sled with a heart rate you can recover, not to win a non-existent prize for the fastest erg. Pick a split you could hold for 1200 m, then hold it for 1000.

Target split ranges and stroke rate

Express both ergs as a /500 m pace. As a rule of thumb, your race SkiErg split should sit roughly 8 to 12 seconds per 500 slower than your fresh 1000 m time trial, and your race row split about 5 to 8 seconds slower than a fresh row, because the row lands on tired legs.

On stroke rate, resist the urge to flail. The SkiErg runs efficiently at 30 to 38 strokes per minute; the rower wants a lower, more powerful 24 to 30. Higher rate at the same split just means you are leaking power and burning oxygen.

• Open division men: ski ~2:05-2:15/500, row ~2:00-2:10/500.
• Open division women: ski ~2:25-2:40/500, row ~2:15-2:25/500.
• Competitive/Pro men: ski ~1:50-2:00/500, row ~1:48-1:56/500.
• Competitive/Pro women: ski ~2:10-2:20/500, row ~2:00-2:10/500.

Technique: drive sequence, damper

SkiErg power comes from a hinge, not arms. Reach tall, then crunch the trunk and drive the hips down while the arms pull past the thighs — think of slamming a door with your bodyweight. Finish with hands by your hips, then let the recovery be passive: rise tall again on the way up. Athletes who pull with arms alone fade by 600 m.

On the rower, the sequence is legs, then back, then arms, reversed on the recovery (arms, back, legs). Roughly 60 percent of the power is in the leg drive. Set the SkiErg damper around 6 to 8 and the rower around 4 to 6 for most athletes — a lower drag factor keeps your rate honest and your shoulders fresher for the wall balls still to come.

Pacing the mid-race row

The row is a recovery weapon, but only if you pace it negatively. Come off the burpee broad jumps with your heart rate sky-high and use the first 200 m to actively bring it down — sit a couple of seconds slower than target, breathe in rhythm with the stroke, and let the legs reload.

From 300 m onward, settle into your target split and hold it metronomically. Save any push for the final 200 m, where a controlled lift of 3 to 4 seconds per 500 costs almost nothing because the carry station is next and the running legs get a moment more. A flat or slightly negative split here is worth 10 to 15 seconds versus a fast-start fade.

Transitioning off the erg onto jelly legs

Standing up off the rower and running is its own skill. Blood has pooled in your legs, your heart rate has dropped, and the first 100 m of compromised running feels like wading. Don't fight it — take three or four deliberate breaths as you unstrap, walk the first two steps, then build into running cadence rather than launching.

Practice this directly: finish a row at race split, then immediately run 400 m. Do it enough that the wobble stops surprising you. The same applies stepping off the SkiErg into the sled — drop the handles, shake the arms once, and march straight into the sled rather than standing around resetting your heart rate.

Training the ergs

Build erg fitness with interval work that mirrors the demand. A staple session: 6 x 500 m on the rower at goal race split with 1:30 rest, then immediately into 200 m of running off the last rep. Another: 5 x 750 m SkiErg at 3 to 4 seconds slower than target with 90 seconds rest, focused purely on holding stroke rate and hinge mechanics.

Once a week, run a compromised-erg session: 1 km run, 1000 m SkiErg, 1 km run, 1000 m row, all near race pace. This teaches your nervous system to find an efficient split when the legs are already taxed — which is the only context that matters on race day.

Benchmark times by division

Use these full-station benchmarks to know whether the ergs are a strength or a leak in your race. They assume race-day fatigue, not a fresh time trial.

If you are well outside these on the row but on target for the ski, your problem is almost always pacing the entry off the burpee broad jumps, not fitness. If both ergs lag, build the engine with the intervals above before chasing technique tweaks.

• Open men: SkiErg 1000 m ~4:15-4:30, row 1000 m ~4:00-4:20.
• Open women: SkiErg 1000 m ~4:50-5:20, row 1000 m ~4:30-4:50.
• Competitive men: SkiErg ~3:40-4:00, row ~3:36-3:52.
• Competitive/Pro women: SkiErg ~4:20-4:40, row ~4:00-4:20.
• Elite men: SkiErg sub-3:40, row sub-3:36.