It's been frustrating how slow of a warm-up we're having where I live. I can handle running in cold but I'm waiting for the snow and ice to be completely gone from the sidewalks before I go running outside. So, I'm using my rower while I wait for my chance to go running, and I feel like it's been helping my muscle development (more for tone than strength, I suppose). It seems to have made my calves noticeably larger since I got it a couple months ago.

Anyway, I was wondering what benefits you've seen through rowing. I myself am hoping it will improve my running sprint speed (which has always been slow in relation to my long-distance running ability) and jumping ability. For what it's worth, my rowing workout is usually about 30 minutes long and is at about a 900 Cal/hr rate.

To gain speed, you need to train that attribute specifically, that being sprint mechanics/form and power.

Training specificity always applies.

it won't much help with those things. your quads getting stronger will help your vertical leap a bit, but that is mostly in the calves. more than anything else, it will increase your VO2 faster than any other exercise. It's also great for getting that nicely tapered, triangle back.

Is this need for more ' speed ' related to some sport ?

So, when you say ' sprint ' do you like a mean a 10+ second or so time frame or something of a ' sprint-like ' nature of longer duration ?

I play ultimate frisbee. I don't play competitively per se, but many of us who play play to win. Given the nature of the sport, it helps to have endurance to keep one's speed up all game but it also helps to have fast 5-10 second sprinting ability as well as a good vertical. It wouldn't be too helpful to be an awesome sprinter and jumper in the first ten minutes of the game and then get tired, nor would it be good to last the whole game at the same mediocre speed. I imagine that it's the same sort of fitness that would best suit a soccer player.

Well, I have more personal experience with another ' stop & go ' sport - hockey. But, I'd say that the energy system demands for both sports ( hockey and soccer ) are pretty similar. I also happen to own a Concept 2 rower btw........so I speak from experience.

In terms of working on your improving the overall efficiency of your energy systems I've found that doing different forms of interval training on the rower can be of help.

For example, to work the energy system you need for those 10 +/- sprints you could do sprint intervals of 10 - 20 seconds going as hard as you can - ' flat out ' - followed by rest interval about 3 - 4 times as long in duration ( i.e 20 seconds of work.....60+ seconds of rest ). You want to make sure get all your breath back before you start your next work interval. So, you could try a a 5 minute warm-up, 15 - 20 minutes of work/rest intervals and a 5 minute cool down.

Another workout you could do is along the same 5 minute warm-up, 15 - 20 minutes of work/rest intervals and a 5 minute cool down model ( longer if you can handle it ), except you can make your intervals last about 1+ ( 1 - 2 ) minutes long and your rest intervals a bit shorter at 2 x as long ( i.e 2+ minutes ). Again, go hard for those 1-2 work interval minutes. Also, there is no need to get your all of your breath back during these rest intervals.

And to work on some endurance, you can do an interval session where you go hard on work intervals of 5 minutes or so and then do a recover interval for a period of about half that time of 2-3 minutes. You could easily do a 45 - 60 minute workout using this approach...I've done variations of this one many times.

And, it goes without saying, that you'd want to supplement this cardio training with some resistance, quickness, speed and agility training in the gym.

the rower can be used for a lot of things but at your pace/time its probably increasing your heart strength and vo2max more than anything else.

some other ideas..
intervals: short time on, slightly longer time off, example 1:30 on full pressure, two minutes off, repeat 6-8x-increases lactic acid tolerance, breaks down muscle, strength gain

long term steady state: 40 minutes to an hour, moderate heart rate. just put on a movie and chill..work should be light enough to be able to hold a conversation. this burns a ton of calories and fat, flushes lactic acid out of your muscles, feel great afterwards