The SkiErg is Concept2's vertical ergometer built around double poling — the classic cross-country skiing movement. The pull comes not from your arms but from your abs, lats, and triceps, firing in sequence as the trunk leans forward. A beginner needs nothing more than damper 3–5 and three short sessions a week. A steady amateur pace burns roughly 550–750 kcal per hour. The classic distance is 1000m: the world record is 2:41.7, and a solid amateur benchmark is around four minutes.
In the corner of most gyms hangs the one cardio machine nobody quite knows what to do with: two handles on cords, a monitor, and zero instructions — bolted to a wall. That's the SkiErg, "the one that's like skiing." It comes from Concept2, the same company that builds the planet's default rowing machine, and it uses the same fan and the same monitor — except the whole machine has been stood upright and the entire job handed to your upper body and core. Here's how it works, what it actually trains, and how to go from your first pull to a race-day station.
What is a SkiErg — and how is it different from a rowing machine?
The SkiErg was born in the same workshop as the rowing erg — at Concept2. The origin story is a touching one: the first prototype was built in 2005 for the daughter of one of the founders, who was recovering from a leg injury and needed a machine that loaded everything except the injured leg. In 2009 it went into mass production.
The key differences from the rowing machine fit in one table:
| Rowing machine | SkiErg | |
|---|---|---|
| Position | Seated | Standing |
| Main engine | Legs (~45% of power) | Core and upper body |
| Movement | Pulling toward you | Driving down |
| Knee load | Cyclic bending | Minimal |
| Footprint | ~2.5 m of floor | Mounts on a wall |
Same fan with a 1–10 damper, same PM5 monitor, same splits and watts. If you've already read our rowing machine guide, you speak half of the SkiErg's language already.
SkiErg muscles worked: the three-stage rocket
Electromyography shows that double poling is a sequential chain of three links — researchers compare it to a three-stage rocket:
- Stage 1 — abs and hip flexors. The movement starts not with the arms but with a "fall" of the trunk: the rectus and oblique abdominals pull the body into a forward lean.
- Stage 2 — lats and pecs. They pick up the momentum and drive the handles down.
- Stage 3 — triceps. They finish the final third of the pull, straightening the arms along the thighs.
The legs work too — a rise onto the toes at the start, a spring in the knees — but the main load lives above the waist. That's exactly the SkiErg's benefit as a partner to rowing and running: it loads what those two leave in the shadows — abs, lats, triceps, and the shoulder girdle. It's also a big part of why the SkiErg feels so hard at first: these muscles almost never get to be the engine of a cardio workout, and suddenly they're the whole crew.
An honest caveat: science has never measured exact percentage contributions per muscle for the SkiErg. What's known is the firing sequence and the main muscle groups — the tidy figures floating around the internet ("40% back, 30% abs") are made up.
- 1Abs and hip flexorsstage 1
The stroke starts with the torso "falling": your core pulls the body into the hinge, arms just transmit force.
- 2Lats and cheststage 2
They pick up the torso momentum and drive the handles down — the main engine of the pull.
- 3Tricepsstage 3
Finish the last third: arms extend past the thighs — "hat to pocket".
How to use a SkiErg properly: double poling step by step
Concept2's official technique fits into five points:
- Stance: feet shoulder-width apart, half a step back from the machine, arms bent to about 90° just above eye level.
- Start the pull with your trunk: switch on the abs and "drop" the chest and shoulders down — the arms merely transmit the force. The coaches' cue is "hat to pocket": the handles travel from head height down along the thighs.
- Hinge, don't squat: the working joint is the hip hinge — hips back, back straight; the knees bend after, never first.
- Recovery twice as slow as the pull — the same 1:2 ratio as on the rowing machine: the way back up is where the body "loads" for the next drive.
- Damper 3–5 for beginners. A damper setting cranked to 10 doesn't make the workout more serious — it makes the movement slow and strength-based, breaking your technique and your rhythm. (On a Concept2 the damper controls the drag factor — how heavy each stroke feels.)
The two classic mistakes: pulling with the arms alone (triceps dead within two minutes and a split that refuses to move) and squatting instead of hinging (the load leaves the abs and lands in the knees).
For your first week, train with the "silent hands" rule: imagine your hands are hooks and your belly does the pulling. If your abs are sore after the session and your arms aren't — the technique has clicked into place.
SkiErg calories burned per hour
The monitor calculates calories from power in watts — the same formula the rowing machine uses. Realistic reference points for steady work:
- easy, conversational pace — around 550–650 kcal per hour;
- solid moderate effort — 650–750 kcal per hour;
- interval work — higher, but you can't hold it for anywhere near an hour.
One nuance matters here: at the same perceived effort, most people produce more watts on a rowing machine, because the legs are helping. So "the SkiErg burns fewer calories" isn't quite true — it burns exactly as much per watt; the watts are simply harder to make with the upper body alone. For weight loss that makes it an honest but not the highest-yield choice — and, as with any cardio, the results are decided by consistency and your overall calorie deficit.
What's a good 500m and 1000m SkiErg time?
The SkiErg's classic distance is 1000m. Reference points from the Concept2 rankings — keeping in mind these are self-reported results from people who actually train on the machine, so the bar sits higher than "average person off the street":
| Level | 1000m, men | 1000m, women |
|---|---|---|
| World record | 2:41.7 | 3:22.6 |
| Top 50 of the rankings | under 3:14 | under 4:08 |
| Rankings median | ~3:53 | ~4:50 |
| Solid race amateur | 4:00–5:00 | 4:15–5:15 |
Over 500m, the rankings median is about 1:48 for men and 2:12 for women.
For a first test, cover 1000m at an even pace — no sprinting — write the time down, and come back to it after six weeks on the plan below. Beginner progress on the SkiErg is fast: technique surrenders seconds far more willingly than strength does.
The SkiErg station at Hyrox
If you've heard of the SkiErg at all in the past couple of years, it was almost certainly because of fitness racing. At Hyrox, it's station number one: a 1 km run, then straight onto the SkiErg for 1000 m — with seven more stations and seven more runs still ahead of you. (In Russia, a similar series called CRACE has been running since 2023, with the SkiErg opening the list there too.)
Station time benchmarks from analyses of mass race results: elite — 3:15–3:50, competitive amateurs — 3:45–4:30, recreational racers — 4:30–5:30.
Station tactics, drawn from the same data:
- Don't sprint the first 250m — the single most common mistake: the arms give out by halfway, and there are still seven stations to go.
- Even splits, or a slight push toward the end — faster overall than "fire off and fade."
- Damper 5–7 on race day — more powerful than your training setting, but not maxed out.
SkiErg training plan for beginners: 6 weeks from Concept2
This is the manufacturer's official beginner program, compressed to its essence. Throughout: a 5-minute warm-up and cool-down, 2–3 sessions a week.
- Weeks 1–2 — technique. Alternate 1 minute of work / 1 minute of rest; 10–15 easy minutes of "30 seconds moderate / 30 easy"; 250m repeats with a minute's pause. The goal is silent hands and a trunk-led hinge.
- Weeks 3–4 — building volume. 6×(1 minute hard / 30 seconds easy); 4×500m with 2 minutes' rest; steady 1500–2000m pieces; a 1000-750-500-250 pyramid.
- Week 5 — power. 5×(2 minutes / 30 seconds); 2×2000m; a 250-500-750-500-250 pyramid.
- Week 6 — test. Taper, then 1000m for time.
After that, train by your goals: long, steady sessions at a calm heart rate — the same logic as zone 2 cardio — plus one interval workout a week. Going all-out every day is something the SkiErg forgives no more readily than any other machine.
Who gets the most out of it: people with sensitive knees and ankles (zero impact), runners riding out leg injuries — you can work on it even seated — and anyone who wants a strong upper body and core without touching a barbell. Be careful with problem shoulders or lower-back pain when hinging: start with a short range of motion and a low damper, and if there's pain, bring in a specialist.
- 1Techniqueweeks 1–2
1/1 min alternations, easy 10–15 min pieces, 250 m repeats. The "silent hands" rule.
- 2Volumeweeks 3–4
6×(1 min hard / 30 s easy), 4×500 m, steady 1,500–2,000 m, a 1000-750-500-250 pyramid.
- 3Powerweek 5
5×(2 min / 30 s), 2×2,000 m, a 250-500-750-500-250 pyramid.
- 4Testweek 6
Taper and a timed 1,000 m — your baseline.
Frequently asked questions
What's the ski machine at the gym called?
It's a SkiErg (sometimes written "ski erg"), also known as a ski ergometer or upper-body ergometer. The original is made by Concept2 — fan resistance and a PM5 monitor; magnetic-resistance clones exist, and the movement mechanics are the same.
Is the SkiErg a good workout for weight loss?
As good as any cardio: 550–750 kcal per hour at a steady pace is a respectable burn, but the outcome is decided by your weekly total and your diet. The SkiErg's edge is that it doesn't load the knees — so you can train more often and for longer.
What damper setting should I use on a Concept2 SkiErg?
Beginners: 3–5. That imitates a normal ski "glide"; damper 10 turns cardio into a strength pull and wrecks technique. Experienced racers set 5–7 in competition.
Can you use the SkiErg every day — and what results should you expect?
Light, short sessions — yes: it's kind to the joints. But the upper body doesn't recover instantly, and two hard workouts back to back will quickly run into fried lats and triceps. The working formula is 3–4 sessions a week, one or two of them hard.
SkiErg vs rowing machine — which is better?
Different emphases: the rower is more legs and more watts, the SkiErg is upper body, core, and standing work. For general fitness the rower yields slightly more; for unloading the legs and building up the upper body, the SkiErg wins. The ideal is both in rotation — we also have a rowing machine workout plan.
Why is the SkiErg so hard — and is it normal that my arms burn?
In the first weeks, yes: the triceps and lats are doing work they've never been asked to do, and the upper body simply produces fewer watts than the legs — so the same effort feels heavier. But if your arms are dying while your abs feel nothing at all, you're pulling with your arms: go back to the technique in section three.
The bottom line
- The SkiErg is Concept2's vertical ergometer: the same machinery as the rowing erg, but the engine is your abs, lats, and triceps rather than your legs.
- The technique is a "three-stage rocket": trunk lean → lats → triceps; the arms only transmit the force.
- For beginners: damper 3–5, 2–3 sessions a week, six weeks on the plan — then a 1000m test.
- 1000m reference points: the record is 2:41.7, the rankings medians are ~3:53 (men) and ~4:50 (women), and a solid race amateur lands at 4:00–5:00.
- At Hyrox the SkiErg is station number one: don't sprint the first 250m, hold an even split, damper 5–7.
- Who it was built for: sensitive knees, running injuries, an underpowered upper body — the SkiErg was literally invented for training with one leg switched off.
Sources
- Concept2. SkiErg: product page; SkiErg Technique; Getting Started With The SkiErg; Beginner's SkiErg Training Program; 8 Great SkiErg Workouts; The Evolution of the Concept2 SkiErg. Official manufacturer materials.
- Concept2 Logbook. SkiErg Rankings 2025: 500m/1000m; SkiErg World Sprints results. log.concept2.com.
- Holmberg H.C. et al. Biomechanical analysis of double poling in elite cross-country skiers. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2005;37(5):807–818.
- Hegge A.M. et al. Gender differences in power production, energetic capacity and efficiency of elite cross-country skiers during whole-body, upper-body, and arm poling. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 2016;116(2):291–300.
- Hyresult; HyroxDataLab; Rox Lyfe. Analyses of the Hyrox SkiErg station based on mass race results.
- CRACE (cracerun.ru). The Russian fitness-race series, 2023–2026.
This article is for informational purposes and does not replace medical advice.
