The humble rowing machine was once the least used of the cardio machines. However, thanks to the launch of some awesome pieces of kit and several boutique classes, rowing has been firmly thrust into the limelight.
According to data from review-discovery platform BrandRated, searches for ‘indoor rowing’ have seen a 990% uplift since last year’s lockdown (July 2020 and July 2021), while searches for ‘at-home rowing machines’ have also seen staggering increases.
This might be down to the evolution of the machines themselves. The latest to hit the market, the Hydrow, gives users Live Outdoor Reality (LOR). It launched in the US in 2019 (in the UK in March 2021) and was named one of TIME Magazine’s Best Inventions of 2020.
So, what makes rowing such an appealing fitness concept now? Well, for starters, it works 85% of your muscles from nine major muscle groups.
It’s also suitable for all ages (11 plus) and is a highly efficient fat-burning exercise, burning over 300 calories per 30 minutes of rowing. It’s great for core strength and flexibility and thanks to it being a low-impact activity, it doesn’t put pressure on your joints.
‘When we started the Go Row Indoor programme in 2016/17 the aim was to make indoor rowing the new spin,’ says Clare Holman, Rowing Master Trainer for British Rowing’s Go Row Indoor programme (britishrowing.org).
‘Over in the States they have loads of rowing clubs and classes, like CityRow and OrangeTheory. It’s taken a while to pick up in the UK, but over the last couple of years there’s been a real increase in demand for at-home rowers and boutique rowing classes.’
And it’s not just the rowing machines that are evolving.
Boutique rowing studio The Engine Room launched into a Grade II-listed church in London in 2018. Its classes are a mix of bodyweight, strength, weights and rowing.
Following hot on its heels was Rowbots in Fitzrovia in 2019 with a second site in The City earlier this year. Rowbots reported a 50% month-on-month growth in attendees pre-Covid as people lapped up the 50-minute full-intensity interval training sessions designed to build inner strength and resilience.
Both are akin to the iconic spin classes loved by urbanites thanks to industrial décor and a backdrop of pulsing neon lights and banging tunes.
Rowing classes can also now be found at boutique fitness studios including Milo And The Bull (which has three different rowing-based workouts) and Core Collective (choose from Row/Strength and Row/Sweat classes).
‘The rowing machine is a really practical piece of kit,’ says Clare. ‘From an indoor perspective it’s one of the most underrated pieces of gym machinery.
‘Everyone uses it as a warm-up tool because it uses your whole body, but no one thinks to use it for a full-body workout, which is crazy as you can use it for everything from a HIIT session to an endurance 10k.’
Clare thinks a lot of people don’t actually know how to use the rowing machine properly, which might be why they have avoided it.
‘Whereas you don’t really need to be taught how to run or cycle, there is a technique to the rowing machine to get a more effective workout,’ she explains. ‘There are two phases to the stroke. The drive phase and the recovery.
She says: ‘The drive uses the legs, body and arms. To achieve a powerful drive you need to get 60 per cent of the work from the legs, 30 per cent from the body and the final 10 per cent comes from the arms.
‘The recovery back along the slide also shouldn’t be rushed. The movement is a cross between a squat and a deadlift on the machine and you’re using big muscles including hamstrings, glutes, and quads.
When the body comes in it’s an isometric contraction with your core and extensor muscles in your back, then the pull muscles in your back and the biceps finish it off.’
Rowing doesn’t need any special clothing and according to Clare rowing athletes have some of the highest levels of VO2.
A higher VO2max means that your body is better at taking oxygen from the air and delivering it to your muscles and endurance athletes are constantly trying to improve their VO2max.
’In the Olympics, they race a 2k,’ adds Clare. ’It’s not a sprint and it’s not a jog. It’s somewhere in the middle, which makes it a fine balance of aerobic and anaerobic training.’
‘You can get an amazing workout in just 20 minutes’
One woman who knows how rewarding rowing can be is Dani Hansen. The 27-year-old has won multiple medals in the World Championships and Paralympics (she was born with Erb’s palsy).
‘I didn’t start rowing until the age of 18, when I was recruited at university without ever having done it before,’ she says. ‘I love everything about it, the intensity, working together as a team, and the feeling of leaving it all out on the water.’
Based in Boston, Massachusetts, Dani (pictured above) is also a Hydrow instructor. ‘As we prepare to compete in the Paralympics, rowing indoors is a huge component of our overall training,’ she says. ‘When I’m not actively training, I’m on the water filming workouts with Hydrow.
‘I think people have a tendency to categorise on-water and indoor rowing as two separate things, but the motion required for both is virtually the same. Indoor rowing requires the same exact full-body movement as on-water rowing but offers a little more stability than you’d get in a boat.
‘It’s also super-convenient because indoor rowing eliminates the barriers that come with rowing on the water, like getting your boat and oars ready, so you just get straight to the workout.’
Dani is quick to back-up Clare’s points about rowing being an incredibly efficient workout.
‘Even if you only have 20 minutes, you’re still getting an amazing workout, which is perfect for people short on time,’ she adds. ‘You can also choose what kind of workout you’d like: cardio, strength, aerobic, or anaerobic. There’s a lot of versatility.’
Three of the best ways to get out on the water from the comfort of your own living room
The Hydrow
I tested this Live Outdoor Reality machine, which aims to bring you the experience of rowing on water in the comfort of your home.
I found it a great way to get an effective workout quickly. I’m one of those people who uses rowing for a warm-up, but I usually get bored and would never consider it for a full-body workout.
Yet thanks to a 22” screen and the Live Outdoor Reality recordings, I felt totally immersed in each workout.
Classes are streamed live, so this week, I visited South Carolina for a Hip-Hop Sweat workout, Loch Ness for a steady row and Miami Beach for a 10min Rage Row.
The result? I worked muscles I didn’t even know I had.
Hydrow, £2,295; monthly membership, £38. hydrow.co.uk
Technogym Skillrow
As the official supplier to the Tokyo Olympic Games, the Technogym Skillrow is designed to improve anaerobic power, aerobic capacity and neuromuscular abilities. It simulates the act of rowing on water thanks to the pull resistance following the natural curve of the stroke in the water, making the movement more fluid.
By downloading the Skillrow app you can access the exercise routines or create a customised training plan on your phone or tablet. It also allows you to receive feedback on your performance or compete against others with the real time display of training data.
Skillrow, £3,490; premium app access, Free for a month, £7.99 thereafter. technogym.com
Echelon Smart Rower
The Echelon Rower has an ergonomic design that doesn’t dominate your home space because it’s foldable and has built-in wheels. The machine has on-handle buttons, which provide 32 resistance levels to limit the disruption to your stroke.
It offers live and on-demand rowing classes, plus scenic rows on waterways around the world, through the app, which attaches to the machine as the screen.
There are also heaps of other workouts including Zumba, kickboxing, yoga, stretching, Pilates, HIIT and strength classes to give your workout a 360 approach.
Echelon Rower, £1,199; monthly membership, £24.99. echelonfit.uk
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