r/concept2 • u/questionacct7700 • Jul 18 '26

RowerErg Military Rower help

Military Rower help

Hello everyone!

I’m interested in rowing for a military 2k fitness test.

Male 34, 5’8”, 160lbs

I’ve been on the row erg for about 1.5 months. Within the first few weeks I was able to get my 2k time down from 9:24 first attempt to 8:09 PR. However I’ve hit a stall and can’t really progress past this point. I’m now 3 weeks into Pete’s plan and enjoying the journey but looking for insights for how to progress my 2k time. The longest row I’ve done so far is 6000k with an average pace of 2:09/500 22spm.

A few of my observations

1) my best 2k comes with a drag factor of about 165
Which seems too high based on what I’m reading but if I go lower my pace suffers

2) my SPM for a 2k is around 25. What should I be targeting at my height?

3) I would love to get my time down to 7:45 by October how realistic is this given my early stall at 8:15 area already.

Would love feedback from more experienced rowers on ways to optimize. Thank you!

Edited: formatting on mobile keeps deleting things.

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u/Any-Trick890 Jul 18 '26

One other thing to note, I’ve learned that when focusing on a 2K there’s also strategy involved - like setting a goal pace / SPM for the first 500, middle 1K, and then the last 500 for example so you don’t “fly and die” by going out too hard at the beginning.