Stop Programming Your PM5 by Hand

The problem everyone knows about

You want to do 8x500m intervals with 3:30 rest. On the Concept2 PM5, here's what that takes:

1. Navigate to Menu → Select Workout → New Workout
2. Choose Intervals: Distance
3. Set distance to 500m using the arrow and +/- buttons
4. Set rest time to 3:30
5. Set number of intervals to 8
6. Start rowing

That's the simple version. It gets worse.

Variable intervals — like a pyramid of 250m, 500m, 750m, 1000m, 750m, 500m, 250m — require programming each segment individually. Seven separate distance entries, each with its own rest time. All through the PM5's five buttons.

Fat-finger one setting? Start over.

What the PM5 can't do

The PM5 is an excellent monitor for tracking your strokes. But as a workout programmer, it has real limitations:

• 30 interval maximum (50 with a USB logbook)
• No mixed intervals. You can't combine distance-based and time-based segments in one workout.
• No target paces. The PM5 shows your current pace but won't display what pace you should be hitting.
• No coaching cues. There's no way to add notes like "build stroke rate" or "settle into rhythm."

These aren't bugs. The PM5 was designed in an era before smartphones. It does what it does well. But structured training demands more than it can offer.

The ErgData situation

Concept2's own app, ErgData, can push custom workouts to the PM5 via Bluetooth. It's free. It should be the obvious solution.

The problem: it's unreliable. A March 2025 update broke Apple Watch heart rate connectivity. As of this writing, the iOS version sits at a 2.0-star rating. Users report that undefined rest intervals fail to sync — defined rest works, undefined rest doesn't.

For an official app from the company that makes the hardware, that's a rough spot.

How BLE workout loading works

The PM5 speaks a protocol called CSAFE over Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). An app connects to the PM5, sends commands to configure the workout (distance, time, intervals, targets), and the PM5 executes it.

One important technical detail: all real-time data from the PM5 must be read via BLE notifications, not BLE reads. Direct reads return junk data. This is a common mistake developers make when building PM5 integrations, and it's why some third-party apps show incorrect or missing data.

The PM5 also only allows one BLE connection at a time. If ErgData is connected, nothing else can connect. If you're using a different app, ErgData can't connect. This is a hardware limitation, not a software choice.

What RowCraft does differently

You pick a workout. You connect to your PM5. You start rowing.

No button mashing. No programming intervals by hand. The workout loads to your PM5 over Bluetooth, including:

• Every segment — warmup, work intervals, rest periods, cooldown
• Target paces personalized to your FTP
• Stroke rate targets per segment
• Coaching cues that display during the workout

A workout like "4x2000m at 95% FTP with 5:00 rest" takes two taps in the app. On the PM5 alone, that's a multi-step process through nested menus — and you still won't get pace targets.

The real value isn't convenience

Saving 60 seconds of button-pressing is nice. But the bigger problem with manual programming is that it discourages complex workouts.

When programming is painful, you default to simple sessions. 30 minutes at a steady pace. Maybe 5x500m. The friction pushes you toward the easy-to-program option, not the training-optimal one.

Structured plans like the Pete Plan rotate through 8x500m, 6x750m, 4x1000m, distance pyramids, and steady distance — all in a single week. Each session targets a different energy system. Programming those by hand every session is tedious enough that most people just don't do it.

Remove the friction and the training gets better. That's the point. Browse the full plan library to see what's available.