An eight seen from above on a river, blades in the water, with the coach launch behind

Strength training and erg work for rowers Stronger through the drive.

Strength, erg and water in one app: a 12-week strength programme for your club gym, erg zones from your own 2k, your crew alongside you on the water and a plan towards your race.

500 m · a 12-week strength programme

Every phase its own blade.

Base, strength, power. Your twelve weeks lie ahead of you like a 2000 metre course: every session is a buoy, and after every workout your boat moves up.

1000 m · no squat rack needed

Built for the club gym.

Dumbbells, kettlebells, a barbell, benches and mats. You squat with a dumbbell or a kettlebell, and the erg is simply part of it.

1500 m · PM5 live

Your crew rows alongside.

Connect your PM5 and the erg becomes water. Crewmates appear as boats next to you, your target split rows along as a ghost boat.

2000 m · start together

Attention. Go.

One person starts the training, everyone gets the start signal at the same moment. After that, only your split counts.

Apps for iPhone and Android: coming soon to the App Store and Google Play

A boat with white blades ready at the pontoon in the morning mist

Made by a rower

From the crew, for the crew.

Rowing Buddy is made by Bas van Rijckevorsel: rower, web designer and videographer.

He trains twice a week in the gym of his rowing club. There are ergs, dumbbells, kettlebells, a barbell and benches, but no squat rack. So he wrote a programme that fits exactly what is there, with an explanation for every exercise. The erg, the water, the PM5, the crew and the plan towards a race came after that.

12weeks, in three phases

1-7sessions a week, over strength, erg and water

36exercises with a moving figure

24erg workouts in the erg plan

New Race preparation

Train for your race.

Put your race in the app and Rowing Buddy works your plan back from that date. Every week you see what to do and why.

You pick your races: A is your main goal, B matters, a C race you just enter or row as a hard session. From your A race the app works back: base, strength, power and taper, with recovery weeks in between.
The taper scales with how often you train. At 1 to 3 sessions a week it is just the race week, at 4 to 6 ten days and at 7 two weeks. You train shorter, not less often, and the short pieces at race pace stay.
Ill, or missed a week? With Adjust you first see what changes and what drops out. Weeks you have done and your log stay as they are, and so does your race date.
After every session one tap tells the app how hard it was, from 0 to 10. That number times the minutes is your load, so each week you see whether you are on target.

The set-up was reviewed by a club coach. Part of his advice is already in this version, such as the taper that scales and getting back in after illness. With Basic you plan towards one A race; more races, B and C races and the load chart are part of Premium.

Add your race How working back works

Your plan in the app: the Voorjaarsregatta as an A race on 30 January, 14 weeks to go, and sixteen weeks as blocks in the colour of their phase, with a B race on the way

500 The strength programme

Twelve weeks, one course.

Twelve weeks laid out as a 2000 metre course: every week is 166.7 metres, every session a buoy. Your boat moves up after every workout, its blades in the colour of your phase.

The course: 24 sessions as buoys on a 2000 metre course, in three phases of four weeks.

Example: after 11 sessions your boat is at 917 metres, in week 6. A diamond is a test session, a hatched week a recovery week.

Base

Weeks 1 to 4

Learn the movements and get your body used to training. In week 2 you row a 6 minute test, in week 3 a rep test for your strength. Week 4 is a recovery week.

Strength

Weeks 5 to 8

Lift heavier with fewer reps. Hit the top of your rep range in every set and the weight goes up. Week 8 is a recovery week.

Strength and power

Weeks 9 to 12

Strong and fast: turn your strength into a hard drive, with swings, fast reps and heavy legs. Week 12 is test week, for strength and 6 minutes on the erg.

The goblet squat in the app: a moving figure with why it makes your drive stronger (screen in Dutch)

Every exercise explained

36 exercises with a moving figure, three short cues and why it makes your drive stronger. During a session you open the explanation without stopping your rest timer.

A session in the app: the warm-up with the rowing stroke on the erg and mobility work (screen in Dutch)

Log what you lift

Kilos and reps per set, your rest on the clock. After the last set of a block the app asks how much you had left in the tank (RIR) and adjusts your weight.

Progress in the app: the goblet squat chart, from 16 to 22 kilos over four weeks (screen in Dutch)

Watch your strength grow

Your heaviest set per session for every exercise, plotted along the course. Your erg pieces, tests and records sit on the same screen.

The Today screen: choose between session B or erg workout 1, with the target split in LCD digits (screen in Dutch)

Strength, erg or water

Under Profile you set how often you train, from 1 to 7 times a week, split over strength, erg and water. Today shows what you have done this week and suggests the next session from what is still open. The app advises, you choose.

1000 The erg

Zones from your own 2k.

Five zones, from steady state to sprint, each with a stroke rate and a split per 500 metres that scales with your 2k. The bands follow the pace table in Concept2's training guide.

How it feels beats the split, especially in your first months. If it is off twice, the app suggests new zones or a new test.

Looking down at your own legs on the erg, feet strapped into the footplate

The erg plan: 24 workouts

Four phases of six workouts: Base, Build, Threshold and Race. Every fourth workout is lighter.
You choose the length: 20, 30, 45 or 60 minutes. Longer mostly means more easy metres.
Every phase ends with a test, alternating 6 minutes and 2k. In the Build phase you also row 30 minutes at rate 20.
Damper at 3 to 5, at 4 to 5 for tests. A higher damper feels heavier, but it does not make you faster.

1500 PM5 and water

Your erg becomes water.

Rowing Buddy talks to the PM5 on your Concept2 over Bluetooth. The app sets your pieces, your rest and your target split on the monitor, and at the end it fills in your result itself. Linking the PM5 and other rowing machines is part of Premium.

The water in Rowing Buddy during a 2000 metres: six boats and two ghost boats on the course, with the PM5 numbers and the standings on the right

What you see

You and the crewmates rowing right now, as boats at their real metres.
Ghost boats of your target pace and of your best time on this piece.
The PM5 numbers: split, rate, metres, time and watts, in the same digits as on the monitor.
The horn when you cross the finish.

Without a PM5, or on an iPhone

No connection, or no Premium? Just row, and afterwards enter what the PM5 says: your time and your metres. The app works out your split. On Android the link works in Chrome. An iPhone cannot use Bluetooth from a website yet; for now you use the Bluefy app for that. The Rowing Buddy apps for iPhone and Android are on their way.

Connect your meters

Not just the PM5. Connect what you have, and row with the rest of the crew on the same water.

Now, with Premium

Concept2 PM5

The app sets your workout on the monitor and reads everything live: split, rate, metres, watts and heart rate. Part of Premium.

Now

Heart rate strap

Any strap that sends standard Bluetooth heart rate, such as a Polar, Garmin or Wahoo. During strength sessions too, and with Basic as well. Your heart rate stays yours.

Now, with Premium

Other rowing machines

Rowing machines with Bluetooth FTMS, such as WaterRower and NOHrD (with ComModule), FluidRower, Domyos and Merach. You show up as a boat on the water and join the shared start. Setting a workout on the monitor only works with the PM5. Part of Premium.

Now

SpeedCoach on the water

Put your session from an NK SpeedCoach (.csv) or a .fit file from Garmin and others into your log: distance, time, split, rate and heart rate.

Start together, like at a regatta

One person picks the training and taps Start. Everyone gets the start signal at the same moment: a red light with Attention, then green, GO and the horn. The gap between Attention and GO is random, just like a real start. Go early and you see False start. After that you compare fairly from GO.

The start light in the app counting down: get ready — **Get ready**Everyone sees the same countdown.

The start light on red with the word Attention — **Attention**Red light. The start can come at any moment now.

The start light turns green with the word GO — GOGreen light and the horn. Row.

The water and start screens are examples from the app, with made-up names.

2000 The crew

Train as a crew.

Make a training once and share it with the crew. Everyone can do it, and the results sit side by side in a leaderboard. Or keep it private, and it is yours alone.

The Trainings screen: the New training button and ready-made trainings such as the 2k test and 8 x 500 metres (screen in Dutch)

Ready-made, to copy

2k test6 minute test30 minutes at rate 208 x 500 m1 minute push-upsPlank max5 km runRowers' circuit3 km race simulation

Or build your own: erg pieces, strength exercises, free tests and cardio off the erg. Do it as an extra, or instead of your next session: your boat simply moves on.

What the crew sees

Where you are on the course and how far you are in the erg plan.
Your tests and your erg records over the standard Concept2 distances.
Your results in crew trainings.
Your boat on the water, while you row.

What stays yours

Your weight, height, BMI and age.
Your sets, your heart rate and your notes.
Your own erg pieces and your private trainings.

Three scullers with bow numbers racing on a river

Premium Nutrition

Eat for the work you do.

A daily estimate of what you need in energy, carbohydrate, protein, fat and fluids, matched to that day's training. With thirty recipes, sample day menus and a log with a barcode scanner. Part of Premium.

Health first

The app never helps anyone eat too little. The safety limits come from the IOC consensus statement on REDs (2023).

Fuel the work

A rest day needs something different from a long erg or a race day. Carbohydrate follows the joint position statement of ACSM, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and Dietitians of Canada.

Private

What you eat and weigh is health information. It stays yours: your crew and your coach do not see it.

It is an estimate, not a prescription. When in doubt, talk to your doctor or a sports dietitian.

Sources

Held up against the sources.

The programme was held up against Concept2's training guide and the research. Where it differed, it was changed: the splits per zone now scale with your 2k, for example, as in Concept2's pace table.

zones and splitsO'Neill T, Skelton A. Indoor Rowing Training Guide, version 2. Concept 2 Ltd.
strength and rowingThiele D et al. Effects of strength training on physical fitness and sport-specific performance in recreational, sub-elite, and elite rowers: a systematic review with meta-analysis. J Sports Sci, 2020. doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2020.1745502
not to failureIzquierdo-Gabarren M et al. Concurrent endurance and strength training not to failure optimizes performance gains. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 2010. doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0b013e3181c67eec
strength trainingCurrier BS et al. ACSM Position Stand. Resistance training prescription for muscle function, hypertrophy, and physical performance in healthy adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 2026. doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000003897
lower backWilson F et al. 2021 consensus statement for preventing and managing low back pain in elite and subelite adult rowers. Br J Sports Med, 2021. doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2020-103385
planningNilsen TS, Daigneault T, Smith M (eds). The FISA Coaching Development Programme: Handbook, Level II. FISA, 2002, chapters 4.3 and 4.4. worldrowing.com (pdf)
taperBosquet L, Montpetit J, Arvisais D, Mujika I. Effects of tapering on performance: a meta-analysis. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 2007. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17762369
loadFoster C et al. A new approach to monitoring exercise training. J Strength Cond Res, 2001. paulogentil.com (pdf)
intensitySeiler S. What is best practice for training intensity and duration distribution in endurance athletes? Int J Sports Physiol Perform, 2010. doi.org/10.1123/ijspp.5.3.276
nutritionThomas DT, Erdman KA, Burke LM. Nutrition and athletic performance. Joint position statement. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 2016. doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000000852
energyMountjoy M et al. 2023 International Olympic Committee's consensus statement on Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs). Br J Sports Med, 2023. doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2023-106994

Many choices in a programme are coaching convention, in the official sources too: the exact stroke rates, the rest and the choice of exercises. Your club coach knows you and your crew, and can adapt the programme.

Questions

Questions from the pontoon.

How do I get into Rowing Buddy?

Create your own account at my.rowingbuddy.nl if you are 16 or older, and train on your own. Or join your crew through the personal invite link from your captain. You start with the free version; Premium comes later.

Do I need a squat rack?

No. The programme is written for a club gym with ergs, dumbbells, kettlebells, a barbell, benches and mats. You squat as a goblet squat, a Bulgarian split squat or a box squat. If something is missing, the app picks an alternative.

Does it work with my erg?

Best with a Concept2 with a PM5 monitor: the app sets your workout on the monitor and reads everything live. The PM5 link is part of Premium, and so is the link with other rowing machines with Bluetooth FTMS, such as WaterRower and NOHrD (with ComModule), FluidRower, Domyos and Merach. Whether your model has FTMS is in its specifications or manual. The connection works on Android in Chrome and, for now, on an iPhone through the Bluefy app. Without Premium or without a connection you enter your time and metres yourself afterwards. A heart rate strap connects with Basic too.

Can I connect my heart rate strap or SpeedCoach?

Yes. Any strap that sends standard Bluetooth heart rate, such as a Polar, Garmin or Wahoo, connects straight to the app, during strength sessions too. An on-water session from an NK SpeedCoach (.csv) or a .fit file goes into your log in a few taps. Only you see your heart rate.

Is there an app for iPhone and Android?

Yes, both. The iOS app is coming soon to the App Store and the Android app to Google Play. Until then Rowing Buddy runs in the browser at my.rowingbuddy.nl, on your phone too.

What does my crew see of me?

Where you are on the course, your tests and erg records, your results in crew trainings, and your boat on the water while you row. Your weight, BMI, heart rate, notes and private trainings stay yours.

Is it for beginners too?

Yes. At the start you choose beginner or experienced, and the starting weights are deliberately cautious. After your first set you adjust to how much you had left in the tank.

How often do I train with Rowing Buddy?

As often as suits you: 1 to 7 times a week. Under Profile you split those sessions over strength, erg and water, and Today keeps suggesting the next session from what is still open. The strength programme itself is twelve weeks.

Can I train towards a race?

Yes. Add your race under Profile, Races, with its date, distance and priority A, B or C. The app works your plan back from that date, with recovery weeks and a taper that scales with how often you train. How it works is on the race preparation page.

Does Rowing Buddy replace my coach?

No. It is a general programme. Your club coach knows you and your crew and can adapt it, for example lighter when you already do a lot of hard work on the water. A training from your coach goes into the app in a minute, for the whole crew.

See you on the water

Ready to row?

Apps for iPhone and Android: coming soon to the App Store and Google Play