Your First Month on the Erg: A 4-Week Beginner Plan

The first month on a rowing machine is about building habits, learning the stroke and finding out what easy feels like. You are not trying to row fast. You are trying to turn up three times a week, row smoothly and finish each session feeling you could have done a bit more.

This plan builds from 10 minutes of rowing to 25 minutes over four weeks.

Set up the machine

Set up properly before your first row.

• Damper. Start around 3 to 5, then check the drag factor on the monitor if you have a Concept2 (More Options, then Display Drag Factor on the PM5). As a rule of thumb, many home rowers sit around 110 to 130. See drag factor explained.
• Feet. Adjust the foot-stretcher so the strap crosses the widest part of your foot, with your heels able to lift slightly.
• Seat and space. Make sure there is room to slide the full length without hitting a wall.
• Monitor. Show pace per 500m and stroke rate.

If you are still choosing a machine, our best rowing machine for beginners guide and the main best rowing machine guide cover the options.

The stroke in four parts

Learn the order first. Speed comes later.

1. Catch. Shins roughly vertical, arms straight, back tall, shoulders relaxed.
2. Drive. Push with the legs first, then swing the body back, then draw the handle to your lower ribs.
3. Finish. Legs flat, leaning back slightly, handle at the ribs, wrists flat.
4. Recovery. Arms away first, then body forward, then the knees bend and the seat slides up. Take it slowly.

The drive is legs, body, arms. The recovery is the reverse. If you get stuck, see common rowing technique faults.

How to read the targets

• Pace is the time per 500m on the monitor. Lower is faster.
• Rate is strokes per minute, written r18 for 18 strokes a minute. See the stroke rate guide.
• RPE is effort on a scale of 1 to 10. RPE 3 to 4 means you can hold a full conversation.
• Rest means light paddling or sitting still. 3x4:00/1:00 means row 4 minutes three times, with 1 minute’s rest after each.

In your first month you do not need target paces. Row at an effort that feels like RPE 3 to 4. If you want a rule of thumb, many beginners row steady sessions at somewhere between 2:20 and 2:50 per 500m, but it varies a lot.

Warm-up and cool-down

Do a short warm-up before each session: 3 to 5 minutes of very easy rowing, rate 16 to 18, building a little in the last minute. After each session, paddle gently for 3 minutes and stretch hamstrings, hips and lower back if that helps.

The times in the tables below do not include warm-up or cool-down.

Week 1: Learn the stroke

Focus: short, smooth rows. If your technique falls apart, stop and rest. Do not chase a number.

Day	Session	Detail	Target
Mon	Technique	10 minutes continuous, pausing for 20 seconds to reset if needed	r16–18, RPE 2–3
Tue	Rest	Off the erg	–
Wed	Short pieces	3x4:00/1:00	r18, RPE 3
Thu	Rest	Off the erg	–
Fri	Rest	Off the erg	–
Sat	Steady row	12 minutes continuous	r18–20, RPE 3
Sun	Rest	A walk is fine	–

Week 2: Build the base

Focus: a little more time on the erg. Keep the stroke long and the recovery slow.

Day	Session	Detail	Target
Mon	Steady row	15 minutes continuous	r18–20, RPE 3
Tue	Rest	Off the erg	–
Wed	Short pieces	3x6:00/1:00	r18–20, RPE 3–4
Thu	Rest	Off the erg	–
Fri	Rest	Off the erg	–
Sat	Steady row	15 minutes continuous, with a short break halfway if you need one	r18–20, RPE 3–4
Sun	Rest	Off the erg	–

Common first-month problems

• Sore hands. Some tenderness is normal. Check you are not gripping the handle too tightly. Hold it in your fingers with loose thumbs, rather than clenching it in your palms.
• Tired lower back. This often means you are leaning too far back at the finish or pulling with your back before your legs have pushed. Re-read the order of the drive.
• Breathless and tired by minute three. You are going too fast. Slow the pace until you could speak a full sentence.
• Missing a session. Carry on with the next one. Do not squeeze in extra rowing to catch up.

What to track

Write down after each session, in a notebook or the training log from our free rowing resources page:

• Total time and average pace.
• Stroke rate.
• Drag factor.
• RPE, and a note on how it felt.

You will see the same effort slowly produce faster splits. Do not chase that, but enjoy it when it appears.

Where next

Once you are comfortable with 25 to 30 minutes, you could look at your first test. Read how to do a 2k erg test when you are ready, and use heart rate zones for rowing if you want to monitor easy sessions. If your goal is weight management, see rowing for weight loss. The training hub and plans pages list every option.