When most people sit on a rowing machine, they either guess a pace, chase the split on screen, or just row until it feels hard enough. That works for a while. Then progress stalls, some days feel strangely easy, and others feel impossible.

Row Nation’s Gear system is designed to solve that problem.

Instead of guessing, you run one short test, set your training gears, and use those gears to guide watts and stroke rate across every workout. The Gear Calculator does the hard maths. Your job is to show up, row to the plan, and notice how it feels.

This guide explains how the Gear system works, how to do the test, and how our premium programmes use gears to scale to any fitness level.

Why we use watts and gears

Watts measure how much power you are putting into the flywheel. That makes watts a direct view of work done, not just how fast the virtual boat would move.

Using watts with clear gears gives you three key advantages:

• Consistency across days
  140 watts on Monday is the same as 140 watts on Thursday. You are no longer guessing what moderate or hard should feel like from session to session.
• Personal targets at your current level
  Your gears are built from your own test result. A beginner and a former athlete can follow the same programme structure, but the watt targets scale to their reality.
• Better control of effort
  Each gear has a watt range, a stroke rate cap, and a description of how it should feel. That makes it easier to spot when you are drifting too hard or too easy and adjust in real time.

The result is training that is structured, repeatable, and grounded in your actual capacity.

Step 1 - Choose your test

The Gear Calculator is built around one simple idea:

Use a short, controlled test at 24 strokes per minute as your anchor, then build gears from that.

You can choose between two options.

Quick start - two minute test at 24 strokes per minute

This is your fastest way to get moving.

• Only two minutes of harder work
• Simple enough for most people to complete
• Good enough to begin any Row Nation programme
• Ideal if your priority is to start today

For most people, this is the right entry point.

Accurate start - four minute test at 24 strokes per minute

This gives you a stronger anchor and more precise targets.

• Slightly longer, so it smooths out pacing errors
• Gives a clearer signal across different fitness levels
• More accurate guide for your Gear targets
• Still short, clear, and repeatable every few weeks

Choose this if you already have some fitness, or if you want a tighter baseline from day one.

How to run the test properly

Regardless of whether you choose 2 minutes or 4 minutes, the setup is the same.

1. Warm up for 5 to 10 minutes at an easy, relaxed pace.
2. Set your stroke rate to 24 strokes per minute and aim to keep it steady.
3. Row the full test at a hard but sustainable effort. You should finish breathing heavily, but not completely destroyed.
4. When the test ends, note your average watts on the screen.
5. Go to https://www.rownation.co/gear-calculator and enter that average watts number.

The calculator uses this single number as your anchor to build out your Gear table.

Step 2 - Turn your test into Gear targets

Once you enter your average watts at https://www.rownation.co/gear-calculator, the Gear Calculator generates a table that includes:

• Gear number (Gear 1 to Gear 5)
• Target watts and a suggested range
• Stroke rate cap
• A brief description of how each gear should feel

For example, based on a two minute test anchored at 180 watts, your gears might look something like:

• Gear 1 - around 95 watts, rate 18 to 20
  • Easy and conversational, used for warm ups, cool downs, and very light recovery
• Gear 2 - around 115 watts, rate 20 to 22
  • Steady aerobic work, where you can still talk in full sentences
• Gear 3 - around 140 watts, rate 22 to 24
  • Hard but repeatable, where you know you are working but still under control
• Gear 4 - around 165 watts, rate 24 to 28
  • Very hard, close to race pace, usually in shorter intervals
• Gear 5 - around 200 watts and up, rate 28 to 36
  • All out sprints up to about 30 to 45 seconds

Your exact numbers will change based on your test result. The structure stays the same: each gear has a clear watt target, a rate cap, and a defined feel.

Using your gears inside a session

Once your table is set, your job is to match the programme with your gears.

When a session calls for Gear 2

Row in your Gear 2 watt range, keep below the stroke rate cap, and check that it feels like steady aerobic work. You should be working, but still able to talk.

If your stroke rate keeps creeping above the cap, lengthen your stroke and relax the recovery. If you are constantly above the watt range, ease off slightly and settle into the middle of the band.

When the plan says Gear 3 with lifts to Gear 4

• Sit in Gear 3 for the main block.
• When the plan asks for a lift, push watts into your Gear 4 range and allow the rate to rise, without going over the cap.
• After the lift, drop back into Gear 3, not all the way down to Gear 1.

This builds strength endurance and control at higher power, without losing efficiency or form.

When the session is long

For continuous rows of 30 minutes or more, use this simple adjustment:

• Subtract about 10 watts from your Gear 2 target
• Keep your stroke rate toward the lower end of the cap range

That small change makes longer rows more sustainable while still sitting comfortably above an easy spin.

Knowing when to change gear

The gears are not only numbers. They are also a language for how the effort should feel.

You should move down one gear if:

• Your breathing has clearly shifted up a level and no longer matches the description
• You cannot hold solid technique at the top of the watt range
• Your stroke rate keeps climbing above the cap just to stay on target

You might be ready to push more time in higher gears or to retest your anchor if:

• Gear 2 feels like a warm up even on longer sessions
• Gear 3 intervals feel controlled, with a lot left in reserve
• Your general fitness in other areas has clearly improved over several weeks

Retesting every 6 to 8 weeks is usually enough. You get fresh numbers without obsessing over small daily swings. When you do retest, go back to https://www.rownation.co/gear-calculator, plug in your new value, and update your Gear table.

How Row Nation premium programmes use gears

All Row Nation premium programmes are built on the Gear system from the ground up. Instead of telling you to row at a certain split or a vague effort like medium, each session is written in Gears so the same plan can scale across different fitness levels.

Here is how that works in practice.

One test, many programmes

You run the Gear test once using https://www.rownation.co/gear-calculator, set your targets, and from that point:

• Foundations, flow, power, race prep, and mixed conditioning sessions can all reference the same Gear table.
• Every time you see Gear 2, Gear 3, or Gear 4 in a session, you know exactly what that means in watts and in stroke rate.

There is no need to recalculate for every plan. The language stays stable, the numbers update when you retest.

Same programme, individual intensity

Because the sessions are written in Gears, a newer rower and a very fit rower can follow the exact same premium programme side by side:

• The newer rower’s Gear 3 might sit at 130 watts.
• The experienced rower’s Gear 3 might sit at 230 watts.

The relative effort is similar for both. The training stress is right for each person, delivered through the same structure.

Progression built on time in gear

Our premium programmes progress in clear, predictable ways, for example:

• Increasing the total time you spend in Gear 3 and Gear 4
• Reducing rest between hard intervals at the same gear
• Shifting some Gear 2 volume into blocks that float between Gear 2 and Gear 3

You do not have to keep rowing harder just to feel exhausted. The structure itself drives progression by changing how much time you spend in each gear and how your body has to organise effort.

Clear intent for every block

Within our programmes:

• Gear 1 and Gear 2 support technique, aerobic base, and longer steady sessions.
• Gear 3 and most of Gear 4 are used for strength endurance and performance work.
• Top Gear 4 and Gear 5 are reserved for short, sharp efforts where you need speed and power, not just grind.

When you open a premium session, you can see exactly what the coach is targeting. Your Gear table translates that intent into specific watts and rates for you.

Built in safety valve

Every programme expects you to adjust on the day:

• If a Gear 3 block feels like Gear 4
• If your stroke rate keeps drifting above the cap just to stay on target
• If your technique starts to fall apart

The rule is simple: drop down one gear, keep your form, and finish the block with quality. You still get the intended stimulus without carrying extra fatigue or risk into your next sessions.

Why the Gear test stays short

You do not need an all out 2k race or a maximum 20 minute effort to train well. Shorter tests have real advantages:

• Easier to repeat under normal life fatigue
• Less intimidating for new or returning rowers
• Still strongly linked to your sustainable power and sprint capacity
• Simple to schedule inside a regular week without derailing recovery

That matters if you are a busy adult using rowing to support health, performance in other sports, or general fitness.

Bringing it all together

The Row Nation Gear system is designed to make structured training accessible:

• One short test at https://www.rownation.co/gear-calculator to set your anchor
• A clear Gear table that turns watts and stroke rate into a simple language
• Premium programmes written in that language so every session has a clear intent

Set your watts once, train by your gears, and retest occasionally as you get fitter. The structure helps you focus on how sessions feel, not on what to guess next.

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