Tiffany White remembers when she first started indoor rowing. “I went to do a 30 minute row and broke down 6 times!”

Tiffany has gone on to maintain an indoor rowing practice and regularly competes in competitions, but says that every day is still a challenge.

“I can do it now, sure, but I still don’t do a 30-minute workout every week, I can tell you that much!”

A perfect match

Tiffany got her first crack at indoor rowing through her local CrossFit gym in 2013. She now trains three days a week using an online workout that was developed by her coach.

“I loved CrossFit. There were guys there dead lifting 200kg, but there were also different levels to build your fitness.”

Indoor rowing particularly appealed.

“The idea of indoor rowing is to maintain or better your stroke rate,” says Tiffany. “It’s a sport that you can do individually but at the same time you can be part of a team. There’s that camaraderie.”

Feel the rhythm

Kathleen Hextell, Participation Consultant at Rowing Australia, agrees. “Indoor rowing so accessible. Anyone can do it. It’s social and individual. It’s also a full body workout.”

“You can row for one minute or a full marathon. It’s up to you,” says Kathleen.

“No matter your ability, there’s no discrimination. You can modify it, which makes it easy for everyone to jump on. It’s also rhythmical. It can actually be very relaxing and you can get into a nice rhythm. Just put your headphones on.”

Join Team VSA

Tiffany White is the captain of an online ‘Concept 2’ rowing group that has been set up just for veterans.

She’s just opened up the group for all veterans under the name ‘Veteran Sport Australia – Indoor Rowing’. And she thinks every veteran that’s interested should join.

“I find Concept 2 machines to be the best,” says Tiffany. “They’re the most common indoor rower. There’s an app and a log book online. All you have to do is hit a couple of buttons. You only need an email address to get started.”

Competition, if you want it

“There’s access to indoor rowing competitions in every State if you’re interested,” says Rowing Australia’s Kathleen Hextell.

She’s not wrong.

The State Championships in Western Australia were held earlier this month and the NSW Championships are scheduled for 21 September. The Australian Championships are on 27 October.

Championships are a lot of fun and are open to all ages. At indoor rowing events, the crowd can stand right next to and in front of the rowers, creating a killer atmosphere that gets everybody’s heart racing.

“There are people in their 80’s and 90’s that are competing. It’s incredible!” says Tiffany, who has competed in three NSW Championships in addition to winning a gold medal at last year’s Invictus Games.

If you do choose to compete though, just make sure your rower is weighed down.

“Last year at the NSW Championships the front of the rower jumped right off the ground when I tested it,” says White. “Next time I was up they specifically put another sandbag down for me!”

Getting involved

Make sure you sign up to the Veteran Sport Australia Concept 2 Team, even if you only have a go at indoor rowing every now and then at the gym.

It’s easy, free and you can get involved in regular online challenges. Just sign up and join the Veteran Sports Australia team:

https://log.concept2.com/login

The next online challenge for the Veteran Sport Australia team is from 15 September to 15 October.

Get involved!