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Exercise library / Rowing Machine

Rowing Machine

Suggestions, not prescriptions. Exercises here pass automated checks. They have not been clinically reviewed, and no exercise is right for everyone. Adjust to your comfort and ability.

A full-body cardio machine movement in which each stroke drives with the legs, swings the torso back and pulls the handle to the ribs, training the legs, back and arms in one continuous cycle.

Main focus
Cardio and endurance
Level
Starting
Equipment
Bodyweight
Load
Your body weight
Stability
Supported by a seat, bench or wall
Before you start
  • Warm up first with a minute or two of easy walking or marching in place, and cool down the same way after.
  • Wear flat, closed shoes with a good grip, or go barefoot on a non-slip floor if that feels steady to you.
  • Clear the floor around you. Keep a sturdy chair, counter or wall within reach for any move you do standing.
  • Build up slowly. Add repetitions or minutes over weeks, not days. If you take a break, work back up gradually.

Talk with a doctor or physical therapist before you start if you have not been active for some time, if you have a health condition or a worry about exercise, if you have fallen or fear falling, or if a clinician has told you to limit activity. This library is general information, not medical advice.

What you need

No special equipment. A clear space and shoes or bare feet with a good grip.

How to do it

  1. Sit on the rower, strap your feet into the footplates and take the handle with an overhand grip.
  2. Slide forward into the catch: shins vertical, torso leaning slightly ahead of the hips, arms straight out toward the flywheel.
  3. Drive through your legs first, pushing the seat back until your knees are almost straight.
  4. Swing your torso back past vertical, then pull the handle in to your lower ribs with your elbows travelling past your sides.
  5. Reverse the order on the recovery — arms away, torso forward, then bend the knees — and slide back to the catch for the next stroke.
  6. Continue for the desired time, distance or number of strokes.

How much

To start: Begin with 5 to 10 minutes at an easy to moderate effort. Add a few minutes each week as it feels easy.

As it gets easier: Work toward 20 to 30 minutes at a moderate effort, building over weeks. Add intervals only after steady work feels easy.

How it should feel: Moderate effort means you are breathing harder but can still talk, and could not sing.

Make it easier

Use the other ways to do this movement below.

Make it harder

Use the other ways to do this movement below.

Tips

  • Keep the order: legs, then body, then arms on the drive, and arms, body, legs on the recovery. Breaking the arms early wastes the strongest part of the stroke.
  • Row with a flat back and a braced core — rounding the lower back at the catch is what turns rowing into a back ache instead of conditioning.
  • Let the handle travel in a straight, level line to the lower ribs, and make the recovery about twice as slow as the drive rather than rushing back to the catch.

Safety

  • Warm up first, and keep your breathing steady. Breathe out on the effort and in as you ease off. Do not hold your breath.
  • Move with control. Do not lock your joints straight at the end of a movement.
  • Choose a version, load and number of repetitions you can finish with good form. The last few should feel hard but not shaky.

When to stop

  • Stop and rest if you feel dizzy or lightheaded, sick to your stomach, or unusually short of breath.
  • Stop if you feel sharp, sudden or joint pain. Muscles working hard is expected. Pain is a signal to stop.
  • Stop and sit down if you feel unsteady and cannot settle yourself right away.
  • Call your local emergency number for chest pain or pressure, fainting, or sudden weakness, numbness or trouble speaking.
  • After any of these, do not repeat the exercise until you have talked with a doctor or physical therapist.

Other ways to do this movement

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Where this comes from

Steps and tips are from an open exercise dataset named below. Starting amounts, equipment and safety notes are Fitafter50's general guidance. Nothing here is clinically reviewed.

Steps and tips: Exercise data by RepDB (repdb.co). License: RepDB Free Tier License v1.0: personal or commercial use inside applications, visible attribution, no redistribution as a dataset or API. All credits.

    This is general information, not medical advice. It does not diagnose anything or tell you whether an exercise is right for you. Adjust to your comfort and ability.