Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Hard

The 2K row is a challenging aerobic piece that takes 8-10 minutes for average athletes, creating significant leg fatigue. The devil presses (burpee to double dumbbell press) immediately after require full-body power when already taxed. While 50/35 lbs isn't heavy in isolation, doing 30 reps of this complex movement under rowing fatigue makes this a demanding couplet with no built-in rest.

Benchmark Times for Row to Hell

• Elite: <10:30
• Advanced: 11:30-12:30
• Intermediate: 13:30-14:30
• Beginner: >22:53

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Endurance (8/10): The 2000m row is a significant aerobic challenge, and when combined with devil presses, creates sustained cardiovascular demand over 15-20 minutes of work.
• Stamina (7/10): Maintaining output on the rower and completing 30 devil presses requires considerable muscular endurance, especially in the posterior chain and shoulders.
• Flexibility (5/10): Devil presses demand good hip and shoulder mobility. The rowing stroke requires decent ankle, hip, and thoracic mobility.
• Strength (4/10): Devil presses with moderate loads (50/35 lbs) require decent strength, but not maximal. The rowing is more technique and endurance focused.
• Power (4/10): Devil presses have an explosive component in the drive. Rowing power output matters but is submaximal for this distance.
• Speed (3/10): Steady pacing on the row is crucial. Devil presses are typically performed deliberately rather than cycled quickly.

Movements

• Devil Press
• Row

Scaling Options

Row: Reduce to 1500m or 1000m. Keep consistent pace rather than interval efforts. Devil Press: Scale weight to 35/25 lbs or 25/15 lbs. Can substitute dumbbell ground-to-overhead if burpee is limiting factor. Option to reduce total reps to 20-24 reps. For newer athletes, consider breaking workout into 500m row chunks with Devil Presses between.

Scaling Explanation

Scale if unable to maintain sub-2:15/500m row pace or if Devil Press weight causes breakdown in form after 8-10 reps. Priority is maintaining steady output on row and full range of motion on Devil Press. Target time is 12-18 minutes. Scale load/volume if workout will take over 20 minutes. Athletes should feel challenged but able to maintain consistent movement throughout.

Intended Stimulus

Moderate-length aerobic workout (12-18 minutes) with oxidative system focus and glycolytic spike at the end. Tests aerobic capacity and ability to maintain output when fatigued. Row tests steady-state endurance while Devil Presses challenge total body strength-endurance under fatigue.

Coach Insight

Row: Start at 24-26 spm and hold consistent split. Don't sprint first 500m. Aim to negative split the row (faster second 1000m). Devil Press: Break sets early (6-5-5-5-5-4 or 5x6). Keep dumbbell close to body on burpee. Full extension at top of press. Common mistake is rushing burpee portion and losing power on press. Rest 10-15 seconds between sets to maintain quality.

Benchmark Notes

Row to Hell combines a 2,000-meter row with 30 devil presses using 2x50/35 lb dumbbells. The old explanation calculated about 9:15 for elite work, then stored a sub-7 top threshold. The male curve uses about 10 minutes for L10, 15 minutes for L5, and 24 minutes for L1.

Modality Profile

Row is monostructural (M) cardio. Devil Press is a weightlifting (W) movement as it uses dumbbells. With two movements split across two modalities, this results in a 50/50 M/W split.

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