Some of us live in climates where we can row all winter. Some live farther north/poleward and move indoors as fall progresses. Some of us are able to spend time in warmer areas for part of the winter and row outdoors during those visits.
There is lots of information on erging throughout the year - tips for workouts and fitness. The chief issue for many is fatigue. What some might call boredom. Or inertia. The body just wants to stop. Use the workout tips to keep it up and to vary your workouts in order to keep at it. Row lighter if that feels relaxing. Turn the monitor away from you. Spend more time stretching. Add some different complementary exercises for a while.
When you get to a warmer place and can row outside, you will likely find it can be like starting over. Getting back on the water after time off takes some adjustment. I like to take it slow. Let my hands adjust to an easy hold on the handle, hang on the oar, use limited movement to square and feather, and minimize blisters. Take a shorter row the first time (or times). Let the wrists re-acquaint themselves with the motions of controlling the blade with as little effort as possible. Work up the overall body muscle use over a few rows to a longer workout. And, of course, there are details like getting used to warmer temperatures, dealing with sunlight/sunglasses, watching for obstructions in a different waterway, getting used to the ways of a different rowing club. Dock usage. Traffic patterns. Other boat traffic. Times people row and do not row. And, of course now, Covid precautions.
I like getting used to interacting with the water. It usually feels odd at first, like i should know this substance and be used to it. I have gotten along with it and rowed on it for 50 years. Yet it always feels in some ways like starting over. If i think to focus on balance and timing and symmetry, you can be sure what I find is that they all need work. I do not think I lean to the side when i ride a bike. Why do i tend to do it when I row? Like when a wake comes at me from a large pleasure boat. When i turn to check on approaching rowers or obstructions in the water. Or when i shift my attention to look at the dolphins behind or the pelicans on the mangroves or an osprey overhead. It reminds me of how I felt only a week after my last college race. Already, my body was losing the edge i had built through training. Already, trying to go back to that would require a re-introduction and a level of effort that had been natural only days before. Already, i felt like i was becoming an ordinary human being.
When i recently went south and got out on the water again, I had the feeling that one oar was finding less resistance in the water than the other one. There was a lot of debris in the water in the aftermath of Hurricane Eta that day. In some spots, it felt like i was rowing across a lawn of sticks and other floating vegetation. Was the water less full of debris on one side, so that my blade eased through it differently?
Was i pulling harder with one side, shoulder or arm, thus creating greater resistance on that side? I seemed to finish with both oars together.
In the end, i figured that i must be squaring each blade differently on some strokes. Perhaps i was not burying the blade on starboard as fully. Or over-squaring and letting the blade ride high, less in the water.
One great advantage to having coaching, or at least a rowing partner who can watch you row, is you can get feedback on technique on these odd occasions when you feel something strange is happening.
Probably me. Probably not different resistance from the water on the two sides of my shell.
At least I was not going in circles. Made it back to the dock just fine.
Happy rowing!