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Exercises

Warm up for rowing: hinges, easy strokes and pieces that build to race pace

Published October 24, 2026

Row or bike easy for 3-5 minutes, building from legs-only strokes to full strokes. Then spend 2 minutes on mobility: 10 leg swings each way per leg, 4 walkouts and 5 cossack squats per side. Prepare the hinge and trunk with 12 band good mornings, 12 band pull-throughs, 8 dead bugs per side and 15 band pull-aparts. Finish back on the erg or in the boat with 3-4 short pieces of 10-20 strokes that climb to race pace. About 10-12 minutes in total.

  1. Rowing Machine Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes, Lats
  2. Leg Swings Hamstrings, Glutes
  3. Walkout Abs, Shoulders, Chest
  4. Band Good Morning Hamstrings, Lower Back
  5. Band Pull-Through Glutes
  6. Dead Bug Abs
  7. Band Pull-Apart Shoulders, Upper Back

Easy rowing or cycling: 3-5 minutes

The best raise for rowing is easy rowing. Start with legs only, add the body swing, then the arms, and keep the rate low. A bike works too if the erg is taken.

Raise and technique build

Rowing Machine

Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes, Lats

Easy strokes warm you up and rehearse the sequence of legs, body and arms at the same time.

How to do it

  1. Strap your feet in and sit tall with the handle at arm's length.
  2. Push with your legs first, then swing your torso back, then pull the handle to your lower ribs.
  3. Return in reverse order: arms, body, then knees, and keep the stroke rate low.

Cues

  • Legs, body, arms
  • Arms, body, legs on the way back

Common mistakes

  • Pulling with the arms before the legs finish: let the leg drive lead every stroke.

Swap for: Ski Erg, Stationary Bike

Build a session with Rowing Machine

Raise, alternative

Stationary Bike

Quads, Hamstrings

If the erg is busy or you are on the water later, a few easy minutes on the bike warm the legs.

How to do it

  1. Set the seat so your knee keeps a small bend when the pedal is lowest.
  2. Pedal at an easy pace you could hold a conversation at.
  3. Raise the resistance a little in the last minute.

Cues

  • Easy for the first minutes
  • Smooth circles

Common mistakes

  • Starting hard: the first minutes should feel almost too easy.

Swap for: Air Bike, Rowing Machine

Build a session with Stationary Bike

Hips and hamstrings: 2 minutes

The catch needs deep hip flexion and long hamstrings. These three drills take the hips through more range than the stroke uses, so you can reach the catch without rounding.

Hip mobility

Leg Swings

Hamstrings, Glutes

Forward swings loosen the hamstrings and hip flexors that limit how far you can reach at the catch.

How to do it

  1. Stand side-on to a wall or post and rest one hand on it.
  2. Swing your outside leg forward and back like a pendulum, letting the range grow each rep.
  3. Do all reps on one leg, then turn around and switch.

Cues

  • Loose leg, still torso
  • Let the range grow

Common mistakes

  • Rounding your back to kick higher: only go as high as your torso can stay upright.

Swap for: Walkout, Cossack Squat

Build a session with Leg Swings

Hamstrings and shoulders

Walkout

Abs, Shoulders, Chest

It moves the back of the legs and loads the shoulders gently in a few reps.

How to do it

  1. Stand tall, hinge at your hips and put your palms on the floor, bending your knees as much as you need.
  2. Walk your hands forward until you reach a high plank.
  3. Walk your hands back toward your feet and roll up to standing.

Cues

  • Hands walk, feet stay
  • Hips level in the plank

Common mistakes

  • Letting the hips sag at the front: brace your belly before you walk back.

Swap for: Bear Crawl, Plank to Push-Up

Build a session with Walkout

Hip and adductor mobility

Cossack Squat

Quads, Adductors

Opening the inner thighs and hips makes the compressed catch position easier.

How to do it

  1. Stand with your feet about twice shoulder width, toes turned slightly out.
  2. Shift your weight to one side and sit down into that knee while the other leg straightens, toes up.
  3. Push back to center and sink to the other side.

Cues

  • Heel of the bent leg stays down
  • Chest proud

Common mistakes

  • Dropping deeper than your hips allow: stop where your heel starts to lift, and go a little lower each rep.

Swap for: Dumbbell Lateral Lunge, Kettlebell Lateral Lunge

Build a session with Cossack Squat

Hinge, trunk and upper back: 3 minutes

The drive is a hinge: hips and back open together while the trunk stays braced. Band hinges wake up the glutes and hamstrings, dead bugs teach the brace, and pull-aparts set the shoulders for the finish.

Hinge pattern

Band Good Morning

Hamstrings, Lower Back

A banded hinge reminds the hips and hamstrings of their job in the drive, with a light load.

How to do it

  1. Stand on a band with your feet hip-distance apart and loop the other end behind your neck.
  2. Soften your knees and push your hips back, lowering your chest toward the floor with a flat back.
  3. Drive your hips forward to stand tall.

Cues

  • Hips back, flat back
  • Stand by squeezing the glutes

Common mistakes

  • Rounding your back to go lower: stop where your hamstrings say stop.

Swap for: Good Morning, Band Pull-Through

Build a session with Band Good Morning

Glute activation

Band Pull-Through

Glutes

Pulling the band through with a hip snap gets the glutes ready to finish each drive.

How to do it

  1. Anchor a band low behind you, face away, and hold the band between your legs.
  2. Hinge your hips back and let the band pull your hands back through your legs.
  3. Drive your hips forward to stand, squeezing your glutes at the top.

Cues

  • Hinge, don't squat
  • Hips finish the rep

Common mistakes

  • Pulling with the arms: your arms just hold the band while your hips do the work.

Swap for: Band Good Morning, Kettlebell Swing

Build a session with Band Pull-Through

Trunk brace

Dead Bug

Abs

It trains the trunk to stay still while arms and legs move, which links the leg drive to the handle.

How to do it

  1. Lie face up, arms pointing at the ceiling and your knees bent at 90 degrees over your hips.
  2. Press your lower back into the floor, then slowly reach one arm overhead and the opposite leg out long.
  3. Return and switch sides.

Cues

  • Lower back stays down
  • Exhale as you reach

Common mistakes

  • Arching away from the floor as the leg goes out: shorten the reach until your back stays flat.

Swap for: Plank, Plate Hollow Hold

Build a session with Dead Bug

Upper back

Band Pull-Apart

Shoulders, Upper Back

It wakes up the muscles that hold your shoulders down and back at the finish.

How to do it

  1. Hold a light band in front of your chest with straight arms and hands shoulder width apart.
  2. Spread your hands outward until the band touches your chest, pinching your shoulder blades.
  3. Let the band pull your arms back in slowly.

Cues

  • Shoulder blades meet
  • Arms stay long

Common mistakes

  • Arching your lower back to finish the rep: use a lighter band and keep your ribs down.

Swap for: Band Face Pull, Band Rear Delt Fly, Band Scapular Retraction

Build a session with Band Pull-Apart

Power primers and race-pace pieces

On gym days, a few kettlebell swings rehearse the same hip snap that drives the stroke. Before racing, finish with short pieces that build to race pace.

Hip power primer

Kettlebell Swing

Glutes, Hamstrings

On gym days, a few crisp swings rehearse the hip snap that powers the stroke.

How to do it

  1. Stand with the kettlebell a foot in front of you, hinge and grab the handle.
  2. Hike it back between your legs, then snap your hips forward so the bell floats to chest height.
  3. Let it fall back into the hinge and repeat.

Cues

  • Hips snap, arms float
  • Stand tall at the top

Common mistakes

  • Lifting with the arms and squatting: the bell rises from the hip snap, and the knees bend only a little.

Swap for: Dumbbell Swing, Band Pull-Through

Build a session with Kettlebell Swing

Put them together: example sessions

Each session below picks from the exercises above for one situation, with the sets, reps, rest and RIR filled in. Open one in the session builder to change a pick, price it from a recent set, and add it to RIRLift.

Session 1

Before an erg session

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts3× a week
  • Working sets27 a week
  • Per workout~10 min
  • EquipmentRowing Machine, Resistance Bands

You train on the rowing machine and want to start your main piece ready.

Easy strokes that build, then mobility and band work, then back on the erg for the main set. Every block stays light.

Erg Warm-Up
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Rowing MachineSeconds. Legs only, then add body, then arms, then full strokes. 4 × 60 4 0 s
Leg SwingsPer leg. 1 × 10 4 0 s
Walkout 1 × 4 4 15 s
Band Good Morning 1 × 12 3 15 s
Dead BugPer side. 1 × 8 3 15 s
Band Pull-Apart 1 × 15 3 15 s
How to run it
Do it before every erg workout.
How to progress
Shorten the easy rowing once the band work comes easily.
Open in the session builder

Session 2

Before a race or 2k test

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts1× a week
  • Working sets13 a week
  • Per workout~15 min
  • EquipmentRowing Machine, Resistance Bands

You are racing or testing and need to be at race pace from the start.

Adds hip activation and race-pace pieces, so the first strokes of the race are not the first hard ones.

Race Warm-Up
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Rowing MachineSeconds. Build gently. 5 × 60 4 0 s
Leg SwingsPer leg. 1 × 10 4 0 s
Cossack SquatPer side. 1 × 5 4 15 s
Band Pull-Through 2 × 12 3 15 s
Dead BugPer side. 1 × 8 3 15 s
Rowing MachineStrokes at race pace. 3 × 10–20 2 1 min
How to run it
Start 20-25 minutes before the race, finishing a few minutes before the start.
How to progress
Keep the pieces short; add one more only if you still feel flat.
Open in the session builder

Session 3

Before a rowing strength session

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets22 a week
  • Per workout~15 min
  • EquipmentExercise Bike, Resistance Bands, Kettlebells

You lift for rowing twice a week and want the hinge ready.

Uses the bike to save the legs, then hinge drills and kettlebell swings with a ramp-up set into the main work.

Gym Warm-Up
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Stationary BikeSeconds. 4 × 60 4 0 s
Walkout 1 × 5 4 15 s
Band Good Morning 1 × 12 3 15 s
Band Pull-Through 1 × 12 3 15 s
Band Pull-Apart 1 × 15 3 15 s
Kettlebell Swing1 warm-up set first 3 × 10–12 3 1 min
How to run it
Use it at the start of each rowing strength session.
How to progress
Increase the kettlebell once every swing stays crisp.
Open in the session builder

Make it fit you

Questions

How do you warm up for rowing?

Row easy, building from legs only to full strokes, loosen the hips and hamstrings, wake up the hinge and trunk with a band, then row a few short pieces that build to race pace.

Is indoor rowing a good warm-up?

Yes. Easy rowing warms the whole body and is a good raise before most training, not only rowing.

How long should a rowing warm-up be?

About ten minutes for training. Before a race or 2k test, plan on 20-25 minutes with race-pace pieces.

What are good dynamic warm-up exercises for rowing?

Leg swings, walkouts, cossack squats, band good mornings, band pull-throughs and dead bugs.

Should I stretch before rowing?

Use moving drills before you row and save longer held stretches for afterward.