Try This: Father’s Day Workout for Rowers

Fathers get no respect when it comes to their special day.

Tools and ties, yes. But do a keyword search for “Father’s Day workout” and the term isn’t even searched enough to rank as something that’s highly sought after. Never mind a father’s day workout on the rowing machine, which we think is the best kind of workout for dads, obvi.

We’re here to change that.

We put our heads together with our certified instructors and came up with 4 brand new rowing workouts (or SkiErg or BikeErg) that would be great ways to celebrate dad on Father’s Day, or any other time. Because every day is a great day to lift up the big guy, right?

Three of these sweat fests are interval workouts that will have you on and off the rowing machine. The fourth is a chance to see what you can do with a challenging rowing-only workout. That’s just how some dads like to roll with their Father’s Day workout, and we’re cool with that.

Try them and see what you think, then post your thoughts and results in the comments.

A NOTE BEFORE WE BEGIN: These workouts assume that everyone rowing has some experience on the machine. As always, let your fitness and your gut be your guide.  The rowing machine meets you where you are and takes you as far as you want to go. That means that YOU can decide every day how hard you want to work.

If this will be your or dad’s first rowing workout, or one of them, be sure he checks with his doctor before beginning any new physical activity.

Bring on the Father’s Day Workout!

Father’s Day Workout #1

This workout, a descending ladder of push-ups mixed with rowing, one comes courtesy of Certified Instructor Jake Ballestrini of ErgX Fitness in Uncasville, CT.

“Growing up, my dad always used to base one’s strength on how many push-ups you could do in a row,” Jake says. “So this screams Father’s Day to me.”

PUSH-PULL

Do a descending ladder of 15 down to 1 push-ups, with a 200-meter row in between each set of push-ups.

That means that you will first do 15 push-ups then row 200 meters. Then do 14 push-ups, row 200 meters, and so on until you get down to 1 push up and 200 meters.

For those of you counting at home that means you will do a total of 3000ish meters of rowing and a whooooole lot of push-ups (120 to be exact). Adjust as needed as fatigue sets in by making the push-ups easier.  Form first always, so if you need to drop to your knees, do your push-ups with your hands on a box or off a wall, do that.

Ain’t no shame in scaling, and this one will catch up with you!

It’s a great workout for any time of year, though, because push-ups are a perfect complement to the pulling motion of rowing. Yay for muscle balance!

FATHER’S DAY WORKOUT #2

Here’s a workout they love at Elite Athletic Development / CrossFit Arlington Heights in Arlington Heights, IL. Certified Rowing Instructor Karen Inman dreamed up this CrossFit-style workout. It’s a bit more advanced than the first workout and it follows a theme we love to do with holiday and birthday workouts: Include the month and date in the class design.

KEEPIN’ IT 1600

Buy In: 1600m Row or SkiErg (double the meters on the BikeErg)
+
16 Dad (Man) Makers
* 6 Sculling Sit-Ups or regular every 4 Man Makers
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Cash Out: 1600m Row or SkiErg (Double the meters on the BikeErg)

Father’s Day Workout #3

Do IT For Dad

Six rounds:

Row 600m (double the meters on the BikeErg)

16 KB swings

20 Thrusters / squats

19 Sit-ups

Father’s Day Workout #4

This one isn’t Father’s-Day specific, but it will DEFINITELY give dad a good chance to sweat. From the cauldron of Master Instructor Heather Alschuler.

Mountain Climb

Set your monitor for variable intervals and enter the distance you’d like to go for each one, with 30 seconds rest time.

Row 100m at 20 strokes per minute

Rest 30 seconds

Row 200m at 22spm

Rest: 30

Row 300m at 24

Rest: 30

Row 400m at 26

Rest: 30

Row 300m at 24

Rest: 30

Row 200m at 22

Rest: 30

Row 100m at 20

Finished and feeling like you want more? Try adding one more mountain climb and repeat the entire set once again.

How did you do?

Did you try the workouts? How did you like them? Let us know in the comments, we’re seriously curious!

Need more workouts?

Want even more? Grab our FREE #GetFlywheelFit workout set. You get 11 classic UCanRow2 workouts that will get you burning fat and building strength. No more thinking about what kind of workout to do!