Winter base training for kayakers — 12 weeks on a rowing machine
Three months of winter base for paddlers. Mostly long, easy rowing that builds the aerobic engine you need for full days on the river, with one harder session a week. Start in December, finish in March ready for the pre-season block.
- Duration
- 12 weeks
- Sessions
- 36
- Total rowing
- 19 h
- Frequency
- 3× a week
The first session is an 8-minute calibration: three rising stroke-rate steps. Roowy uses it to set your stroke-rate targets and resistance for the rest of the plan.
- warm-up
- work
- recovery
- cool-down
Week 1
| Session | Intensity | Resistance | — |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calibration 8 min | Hard | 40–56% | |
| Base 32 min | Steady | 40% | |
| Easy 32 min | Easy | 28% |
Week 2
| Session | Intensity | Resistance | — |
|---|---|---|---|
| Threshold 30 min | Threshold | 54% | |
| Easy 35 min | Easy | 28% | |
| Base 35 min | Steady | 40% |
Week 3
| Session | Intensity | Resistance | — |
|---|---|---|---|
| Easy 37 min | Easy | 28% | |
| Threshold 30 min | Threshold | 54% | |
| Easy 37 min | Easy | 28% |
Week 4lighter week
| Session | Intensity | Resistance | — |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base 22 min | Steady | 40% | |
| Easy 22 min | Easy | 28% | |
| Threshold 18 min | Threshold | 54% |
Week 5
| Session | Intensity | Resistance | — |
|---|---|---|---|
| Easy 35 min | Easy | 28% | |
| Base 35 min | Steady | 40% | |
| Easy 35 min | Easy | 28% |
Week 6
| Session | Intensity | Resistance | — |
|---|---|---|---|
| Threshold 36 min | Threshold | 54% | |
| Easy 38 min | Easy | 28% | |
| Base 38 min | Steady | 40% |
Week 7
| Session | Intensity | Resistance | — |
|---|---|---|---|
| Easy 40 min | Easy | 28% | |
| Threshold 36 min | Threshold | 54% | |
| Easy 40 min | Easy | 28% |
Week 8lighter week
| Session | Intensity | Resistance | — |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base 22 min | Steady | 40% | |
| Easy 22 min | Easy | 28% | |
| Threshold 18 min | Threshold | 54% |
Week 9
| Session | Intensity | Resistance | — |
|---|---|---|---|
| Easy 38 min | Easy | 28% | |
| Base 38 min | Steady | 40% | |
| Easy 38 min | Easy | 28% |
Week 10
| Session | Intensity | Resistance | — |
|---|---|---|---|
| Threshold 36 min | Threshold | 54% | |
| Easy 40 min | Easy | 28% | |
| Base 40 min | Steady | 40% |
Week 11
| Session | Intensity | Resistance | — |
|---|---|---|---|
| Easy 40 min | Easy | 28% | |
| Threshold 36 min | Threshold | 54% | |
| Easy 40 min | Easy | 28% |
Week 12lighter week
| Session | Intensity | Resistance | — |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base 22 min | Steady | 40% | |
| Easy 22 min | Easy | 28% | |
| Threshold 18 min | Threshold | 54% |
Resistance is in % of your rower’s range — 0% is its lightest setting, 100% its heaviest. Numbers here assume the level you picked; in the app they adjust after calibration.
Why mostly easy?
About 80% of the sessions are easy (UT2, UT1) and about 20% are hard. This polarised split is how endurance athletes have trained for decades: the easy volume builds the engine, the few hard sessions sharpen it, and you recover in between. Every fourth week is lighter so the progress sticks.
Intensity levels and stroke rate
| Easy | UT2 | conversational | 18–22 SPM |
| Steady | UT1 | focused | 22–24 SPM |
| Threshold | AT | hard but sustainable | 24–28 SPM |
| Hard | TR | intervals, very hard | 28–32 SPM |
Typical ranges. Roowy anchors them to your own threshold from calibration and to your machine — some magnetic rowers don’t count strokes below ~22 SPM, so the exact numbers appear in the workout, not in the plan.