Training Pace Calculator

UT2: steady aerobic

The volume zone. UT2 sits 12-16 seconds slower than your 2k pace per 500m, at 18-20 strokes per minute. Heart rate sits around 65-75% of max. Conversational pace - you should be able to chat with the rower next to you. Most weekly mileage at any serious club lives here. UT2 builds the aerobic base that everything else sits on, including AT and 2k power. Sessions are typically 60-90 minutes continuous or in long blocks of 12-20 minutes with brief rest.

UT1: firm aerobic

The next gear up. UT1 sits 6-10 seconds slower than 2k pace, at 22-24 spm. Heart rate around 75-83% of max. Conversation gets harder but you can still string together sentences. Used in pre-race build phases and for athletes with limited training time who need to fold UT2-equivalent stimulus into shorter sessions. Sessions like 4 x 10 minutes rest 2 minutes, 3 x 20 minutes rest 3 minutes, 2 x 30 minutes rest 4 minutes are typical UT1 prescriptions.

AT: anaerobic threshold

The blood-lactate accumulation point. AT sits 3-5 seconds slower than 2k pace per 500m, at 26-28 spm. Heart rate around 85-90% of max. Hard but sustainable - you should hit the same split on rep 6 as rep 1. Sessions like 4 x 10 minutes rest 4 minutes, 6 x 4 minutes rest 2 minutes, 8 x 4 minutes rest 2 minutes. Rowers who plateau on race times usually need more AT, not more max-effort work.

TR: transport (race pace)

2k race pace, 30-34 spm. Heart rate at 90-95% of max from rep 2 onwards. Sessions like 6 x 500m rest 4 minutes, 4 x 750m rest 5 minutes, 3 x 1000m rest 6 minutes. The rest matters as much as the work - too short and the next rep degrades, too long and the system being trained shifts to creatine-phosphate recovery rather than 2k-specific endurance.

AN: anaerobic

Sharper than 2k. AN sits 3-5 seconds faster than 2k pace, at 36+ spm. Used sparingly for power and rate development. Sessions like 8 x 250m rest 3 minutes, 10 x 1 minute rest 2 minutes, 30s on 30s off x 16. AN is fragile - if your nervous system is fatigued from heavy AT work, AN sessions will not produce the intended adaptation. Race build phases typically taper AN volume in the final fortnight.

How to structure a week

A common base-phase week for a senior club rower might be 60% UT2, 25% UT1, 10% AT, 5% TR or AN. Race-prep weeks shift toward UT1, AT and TR with UT2 still anchoring weekend long sessions. Junior squads typically run 70-80% UT2 because aerobic development scales most reliably with volume at low intensity. The data-driven training guide walks through how these proportions get tracked across a season.