🏋️‍♂️ 5 Best rowing workouts for a serious cardio burn

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Here’s what we’ve got for you today:

• Beginner-friendly rowing plans

• The top triceps workouts using dumbbells

• Debating the validity of long-length partial reps

Cardio

Keep Rowin’ Rowin’ Rowin’

Indoor rowing machines can provide a joint-friendly full-body workout, and it never takes long to get your heart rate going. You may not be able to row crew at Cambridge, but you can still push your body to the limits with the five rowing workouts we curated below. Each is designed to give beginners a push in the right direction.

However, being a beginner rower doesn’t mean you get to kick back as your own personal coxswain with a zinced-up nose and a Mai Tai in each hand. The workouts are still hard, but they’re gentler and more accessible than some of the extreme rowing circuits that exist. You don’t need all day to hit these workouts, but make sure you budget enough time to squeegee the sweat out from under the erg.

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Exercise Tips

Three Heads Are Better Than One

Much like the mythical dog Cerberus, the hound guarding the gates to Hades, the backs of your arms possess three (potentially) immense heads in the form of your triceps. And with summer right around the corner, you can pump up those tris with the five dumbbell workouts we’ve put together below.

Training your arms with dumbbells is a tried and true method of putting on serious size. That’s because dumbbells sit right in the sweet spot between loading enough weight and keeping the muscle working in isolation. Bangers like dumbbell skull crushers and rolling triceps extensions can get you started, while kickbacks will help push you to fatigue. Your arms are like your mother’s hair in the ‘80s — they can never be too big.

Muscle Growth

The Case Against Long-Length Partials

In its simplest terms, long-length partials (LLPs) are half reps performed at a point when the muscle is in a stretched position. (Think the bottom half of a biceps curl.) They’re also believed to be a key technique in building muscle from countless talking heads around the internet. 

But what about full-range-of-motion movements? Aren’t those the bread and butter of all training systems? BarBend writer Jake Dickson is on a rampage and wants you to know why lengthened partials, hot or not, are way overrated.

Sometimes, something that works well for a niche function isn’t always that good when applied in a more global system (like putting all your money into crypto). LLPs might be incredibly useful in the right scenario, but that scenario isn’t “all muscle growth all the time.”

Not every muscle works well with LLPs, and avoiding full-range-of-motion exercises can cause serious shrinkage. Don’t give up your training philosophy yet, but maybe temper your enthusiasm by reading up on the pitfalls of partial-rep training.

Everything Else

Fall Into the Trap

• Sometimes loved, sometimes reviled, the trap bar is just like life itself — exactly what you make of it. Learn to love this underrated gym equipment by reading our breakdown of the trap bar deadlift.

• The final weightlifting qualifier for the upcoming Paris Olympics is in the books. See who punched their ticket and who won’t be eating pain au chocolat this summer.

• Reigning Arnold Classic and World’s Strongest Man winner Mitchell Hooper sits down with hypertrophy specialist Mike Israetel to have a rap session about the differences between training for size and strength.