Rowing Pace Calculator

Updated November 10, 2026

How to use your numbers

Every workout on a rowing machine is set by two numbers: the split (how long each 500 meters takes, shown big in the middle of the monitor) and the stroke rate (strokes per minute, or spm). The calculator turns one test result into both, for each kind of session.

1. Enter your latest test. A 2k is the standard, but a 500 m, 5k or 30-minute result works too: the calculator converts it to a 2k first.
2. Find the zone your workout asks for. Long, easy rows sit in the first zone; hard intervals in the last two.
3. Row inside the split range at the stroke rate shown. If you can't hold the slower end of the range, your test result is out of date or you are tired: slow down rather than force it.
4. Test again every six to eight weeks and put the new result in. Your zones move as you get fitter.

The zones are a fixed number of seconds from your 2k pace, as Concept2 publishes them. That suits most rowers. If your 2k is under about 6:30, the easy zone may feel too easy; if it is over about 9:30, too hard. Either way, check your heart rate against the range for each zone and go by that.

The training zones explained

No monitor, or one you don't trust?

Many home rowers don't show an accurate split, and magnetic and water machines read differently from a Concept2. Row by stroke rate and feel instead: each zone above has a "no monitor" line, and the stroke rate works on any machine that counts strokes, or with a watch.

Never done a test?

You don't need a 2k to start. After a ten-minute easy warm-up, row 500 meters at a hard effort you could only just keep up to the end, and enter that time with "500 m" chosen. The calculator works out a 2k from it. Once you have rowed for a few weeks, do a real 2k or 5k and use that instead: it gives more accurate zones.

Rowing pace chart

Split ranges for each zone by 2k time, from 6:00 to 10:30. Find your 2k on the left; print it and keep it by the rower.

Where the numbers come from

• Split and watts: watts = 2.80 / (split / 500)³, with the split in seconds. From Concept2's watts calculator.
• Calories: calories per hour = 4 x watts / 1.1639 + 300, the formula the Concept2 monitor uses for a 175 lb rower. The 300 is a fixed base rate the monitor adds whatever the effort. From Concept2's monitor instructions.
• Calories for your weight: monitor calories per hour - 300 + 1.714 x your weight in pounds. From Concept2's calorie calculator.
• Easy endurance, steady state and threshold paces: Concept2's pace guide is set against your 5k pace (UT2 5k + 18 to 22 seconds, UT1 + 14 to 18, threshold + 6 to 10); we convert it to your 2k with Paul's Law. It sits inside the "20 to 30 seconds above race pace" Concept2's coach gives for endurance rows. From Concept2's marathon training plan.
• Long intervals and race pace: long intervals 3 to 5 seconds and repetitions 4 to 6 seconds slower than 2k pace; intervals 3 to 6 seconds faster. From Larry Gluckman, Concept2's coach in residence.
• Stroke rates and the talk test: easy 18 to 22 ("can hold a conversation"), medium 22 to 26 ("can speak in shorter sentences"). From British Rowing's Go Row Indoor plan.
• Zone names and the harder rates: UT2, UT1, AT, TR and AN follow the international federation's training categories. From World Rowing's training programme.
• Race and interval rates: 30 to 36 strokes a minute for intervals and racing up to 2,000 m. From Concept2's stroke rate guide.
• Heart rate: zones as a share of maximum heart rate (220 minus your age is a starting point). From Concept2's heart rate guide.
• Predicted times: Paul's Law, a rule of thumb from experienced rowers: about 5 seconds slower per 500 m each time the distance doubles. It is not tested science, so treat predictions as targets. From Paul Smith on rec.sport.rowing, 2004.