Quick Start: Your First Team Workout

Modified on Mon, 6 May at 12:46 PM

Here we'll walk you through how to get started with RowHero, starting from the initial download, going all the way to completing your first team workout.

What is RowHero?

RowHero is the world's best service to collect erg data for your team and turn that data into speed. It creates a workout summary report for each athlete that highlights opportunities for growth across fitness, technique, and pacing. Then it combines all this information into reports for you to see how well your team performed.

RowHero Set Up

Download RowHero from the App Store (iOS) or the Play Store (Android).

Then you need to create an account. Pick the case below that matches your situation:

Option 1: Your Team Isn't Created Yet

You can create your team as part of the sign-up flow. Launch the app to see the screen below.

Tap on Sign Up For Free Speed. Then tap the A Coach button. (Note: if you are an athlete, too, tap on Both. You can always access Athlete mode later on even if you don't choose Both right now.)

Name your team. If you want to have multiple teams for one organization, use the name of the organization instead. For example: SPQR Rowing Club instead of Varsity Women.

(Optional) Add a team photo. Then tap on Create Team.

Your team is created. Welcome to RowHero! Next you'll set up your profile after tapping Create Profile.

Option 2: Someone Else Created Your Team

Your sign-up process will be very similar to Option 1, but you won't create the team as part of the sign-up.

Launch the app to see the screen below.

Tap on Skip, My Team Is Set Up.

Congrats! It's as easy as that. Tap Create Profile to create your account.

Finally, you'll provide a user name, password, and few other details to sign up, and you'll land on the Team Home Screen.

Adding Your First Athlete

Congratulations! You've set up your account.

Rowers

The next step is to add an athlete to your roster. You can follow along with this video or read the steps below.

First, you should be on your Team Home screen and see the button that says Add Rowers. If you don't see that, tap on the picture in the top left corner of the app and tap on your team to get back to the home screen.

Next, tap on Add Rowers. That takes you to the Roster tab where you have a few options.

Either share a link or a code. The link works best for most cases and will even when athletes don't have the app installed. It takes them first to the App Store or Play Store. After setting up their account, they'll join your team.

If you are rolling out RowHero in person and can't easily send the link to everyone, use the join code instead.

IMPORTANT: When you send the link, you can get more buy-in from your athletes if you include what RowHero is, how you intend to use it, and how to get started. Use the template below as a starting point.

EXTRA IMPORTANT: Even if you don't use the template below, be sure to send them the Rowers' Quick Start: Your First Workout guide so they know how to perform a workout using RowHero before arriving in the erg room.

Hi team,

This season we are using an app called RowHero to give you access to your erg workout data. This data will provide personalized feedback on where each of you can get faster.

Our goal is for you to use the workout summary reports to learn where you can better for the next practice. As coaches, we will help you with the “how.” If we do it right, it will make us faster both on and off the water where it counts.

Before our first practice, please download the RowHero app on your phone (iOS, Android). Then join our team by using the following link (make sure you open the link on your phone):

[FILL IN LINK HERE]

Most importantly, please watch the 2-minute Getting Started video before our first workout so you are prepared to use this tool quickly and effectively. You are responsible for making sure your workouts are uploaded successfully.

If you get stuck, the Quick Start guide should have you covered.

Thanks,

[YOUR NAME]

Coxswains and Coaches

Coxswains have a valuable role to play in RowHero. They provide your first line of defense for troubleshooting and will make sure you get the data from every piece, even if rowers forget their phones or run out of battery.

We recommend adding them as coaches so they can see the data and add missing data.

To add a coach, go back to the Team Home screen and tap on the gear icon to access Team Settings.

Scroll down until you see the section labeled Coaches. If you are a team admin, you'll see a button on the right side of the screen where you can add coaches. Tap that button.

Type in the name of the coach you want to add and tap the plus button to add them.

Then tap on the Save Team button to save your changes.

Running Your First Team Workout

You've got some momentum--now is the time to get your first team workout recorded. Check out the walkthrough video below or follow the step-by-step immediately afterward.

Workout Scheduling

For the best experience, we recommend you schedule your workout ahead of time.

To do this, go back to your team's Home screen (tap the photo in the top left to access the main menu), and then tap on your team.

Then tap the + button in the top right. You'll see the New Team Workout Screen below.

Fill in the details of the workout:

Title. The name of the workout. This will show up to athletes when selecting a workout to perform. Make sure this is clear and succinct.
Starts. The first date athletes are able to perform this workout.
Ends. The last date athletes are able to perform this workout.
Description. Includes workout instructions or parameters to follow. Athletes can see this mid-piece if they choose.

Tap the Save Workout button. Athletes will now be able to see this workout on their home page when the current date is between the Starts and Ends dates.

(To see what it looks like from the athlete perspective, check out the Rowers' Quick Start: Your First Workout guide.)

Performing the Workout

Before you start your workout, address your athletes with your expectations of how to use RowHero:

Athletes are responsible for making sure their data is recorded by bringing their phones with enough charge. If they forget their phone or have run out of battery, they need to talk to a coxswain to record it on their behalf.
Coxswains are responsible for identifying athletes who may have missed recording data and will enter it on their behalf.

If you scheduled the workout, athletes will see it immediately on their home screen and start connecting their app to the PM5.

Rowers who went through the Getting Started Guide will know how to connect, but you may find:

Rowers who don't know how to connect.
Rowers who encounter an issue connecting with their PM5.

For #1, other rowers or coxswains should be able to help. (See Team Workout Roles & Responsibilities.)

For #2, the simplest fix when you encounter a monitor that doesn't work (PM5 shows an error or the PM5 doesn't show up in RowHero to connect to) is to reset it by holding the "Menu" button on the PM5 for 3 - 5 seconds. (See the Troubleshooting section of the Rower's Getting Started Guide.)

If the erg still does not connect, it is likely that the firmware needs to be updated. This should be done after the workout. (See Updating Your Firmware.)

Once athletes are connected, start the workout like normal. All data is recorded and sent to your phone. Refresh the Team Home Screen until you see the workout in progress, and tap on View Results to see the results coming in.

Post-Workout Steps

Celebrate Success

The end of every workout is an opportunity to celebrate achievements with your team. Depending on your focus—PRs, improvement from the last workout, negative splitting, consistency, etc.—you can easily use the RowHero interface to find who met the workout goal.

All-time PRs are represented by a gold medal next to the rower's name on the Team Rankings screen. Season PRs are represented by a silver medal.

You can rank athletes by any number of stats by tapping on the blue button that says Average Split in the middle of the screen.

Export Your Workout

If you need to manipulate the team data past what RowHero provides, you can export your workout to Excel by tapping on the Export to Excel button on the Team Rankings screen.

You have several options which impact which fields are used. (See Excel Workout Export.)

Once complete, tap the Export button, and you'll be emailed a copy of the splits.

PM5 Upgrades

If you have any PM5s that had errors or did not connect with RowHero, mark them that they need an upgrade. We recommend a piece of tape to make them easy to identify.

To upgrade your PM5s, see Updating Your Firmware.

Rinse and Repeat

As with any new system, it's important to debrief with your coaches and coxswains on what went well and what didn't go well, so you can improve it for next time. If you encounter a situation that isn't addressed by this article and need some help, please get in touch with us so we can offer up more best practices.

You've now successfully completed your first team workout with RowHero, and we wish you continued success with growing the next generation of rowers!