The Dog Days of Summer Challenge Starts August 1

So you’ve decided to do the Dog Days of Summer challenge! This Concept2 Challenge calls for completing an increasing number of meters in each of the four weeks of August, starting with 10k the first week and ending with 40k during week four. If you’re looking for advice on how to approach an increasing meter goal each week, here are some strategies for getting those meters done.

All in a day! This starts reasonably, with a single 10k workout in week 1. In week 2, you’ll be doing 20k—pretty close to a half marathon. By the fourth week, 40k is nearly a full marathon (42,195 m). This is doable in one sitting—you’ll be building up to it gradually—but may not be for everyone. Read on.

All in 10ks 10k (or 20k on the BikeErg*) is a good workout that can generally be completed within an hour. So, you could simply do one 10k the first week, two in the second week, three in the third, and four in the fourth week.

Break it up, please! The nice thing about this challenge is that you can break up your meters in any way you wish, on any erg you wish. If you’d prefer to keep your sessions under 5000 meters—no problem. You’ll just have to do a few double sessions in the last week to get in eight 5k workouts.

Double sessions With all the choices for getting your meters in, you may wish to break up your workouts even more, doing two sessions per day, on different types of ergs—or on the water or the snow. You might row 5k on the water in the morning, and then go to the gym after work for 3k on the SkiErg (or 6k on the BikeErg). At this rate, you’d finish the last, longest week, in just four days of workouts.

Tips for the Longer Workouts

Break up your longer sessions with any of the following variations:

• After you are warmed up, take 10 hard strokes (or pulls or pedal pushes) every minute, or every 250 meters. Or choose an interval that works for you!
• Alternate a minute of hard work with a minute easy work.
• Hop off the erg every five minutes and do 10 pushups or 10 air squats or 10 ab exercises of your choice.

Share it with a friend:

• Rotate with a friend, switching from one erg to another.
• If you only have one erg, take turns and do another exercise while your partner ergs.

Change it up:

• Take your erg(s) to a new place—maybe outdoors or to a window with a better view.
• Do you always use the same erg? Try a different one. Use our online erg finder to locate machines near you.
• Depending on the hemisphere you’re in, try skiing on snow or rowing on the water to accumulate meters!

Try new workouts:

• Get workout ideas and inspiration by using our WOD feature.
• Try one of our Best Rowing Machine Workouts.