Rowing looks easy. You sit down, grab the handle, and pull until your heart rate climbs. But honestly, most people at the gym are doing it wrong. I see it every single day—people lunging forward with their lower backs or flailing their arms like they’re trying to start a lawnmower in a hurricane. If you want to know how to do rowing machine workouts without ending up at the physical therapist's office, you have to stop thinking of it as an upper-body exercise. It’s a leg movement. Period.
The rowing machine, or ergometer (just call it the "erg" if you want to sound like you know what you’re doing), is one of the few pieces of equipment that hits 86% of your muscles. That sounds like marketing fluff, but researchers at the English Institute of Sport actually crunched the numbers. It’s a full-body symphony. When you get the rhythm right, it feels like gliding. When you get it wrong? It feels like a jerky, exhausting slog that leaves your lower back screaming and your results plateauing.
The Sequence That Actually Matters
Most beginners try to move everything at once. They pull the handle while pushing their legs and leaning back in one messy blur. That is a recipe for a herniated disc. To understand how to do rowing machine strokes effectively, you have to master the "Legs, Body, Arms" sequence. It’s a specific order of operations. Think of it like a dance.
First comes the Drive. You start at "The Catch," which is the front of the machine. Your shins should be vertical. Don't over-compress; if your heels are lifting way off the footplates, you’ve gone too far. From here, you explode with your legs. This is 60% of the power. You aren't pulling with your arms yet. You're just holding the handle with straight arms while your quads do the heavy lifting. Once your legs are almost straight, you swing your torso back—that’s the "Body" part (about 30% of the power). Finally, you pull the handle to your chest with your arms. That’s only 10% of the work.
The recovery is just the reverse. Arms away, hinge the hips, then fold the legs. If you find yourself lifting the handle over your knees on the way back in, you’re rushing the legs. Stop it. Let your hands pass your knees before you even think about bending them. It feels weirdly slow at first. It should.
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Why Your Damper Setting Is Probably Too High
Go to any commercial gym and look at the side of the Concept2 rower. The damper—that little lever on the fan cage—is almost always set to 10. People think higher resistance equals a better workout. They’re wrong.
Setting the damper to 10 is like trying to ride a bicycle in the hardest possible gear while going uphill. It doesn’t make you faster; it just makes the stroke "heavy" and increases the load on your spine. Professional rowers, the ones who spend hours on these machines, usually keep the damper between 3 and 5. This creates a "drag factor" that more closely mimics the feel of a sleek racing shell on actual water.
If you want to get better at how to do rowing machine sprints, focus on how fast you move the air, not how much resistance you’re fighting. Speed comes from the power of your leg drive. If you can’t maintain a snappy, powerful stroke at a level 4, cranking it to 10 is just masking poor technique with brute force. You’ll burn out in three minutes and wonder why your splits are so slow.
Common Form Fails and Fixes
Let’s talk about "The Rainbow." This is when your hands travel in a big arc over your knees because you’re bending your legs too early on the recovery. Your handle should move in a relatively straight, horizontal line.
Then there’s "The Luggage Lean." You see people leaning so far back at the end of the stroke they’re practically lying down. Why? You aren't gaining extra power; you're just straining your hip flexors and making it harder to get back to the start. Aim for an 11 o’clock position at the start and a 1 o’clock position at the finish. Anything more is wasted energy.
- Death Grip: Don’t white-knuckle the handle. Use a hook grip with your fingers. Your thumbs should rest loosely. Tension in the hands leads to tension in the neck.
- Flying Elbows: Keep your elbows tucked naturally. Don’t chicken-wing them out to the sides.
- The Slump: Sit tall. Imagine a string pulling the top of your head toward the ceiling. If you slouch, your lungs can't fully expand, and your power evaporates.
Understanding the Data on the Monitor
The "Split" is the only number that really matters for performance. It tells you how long it would take you to row 500 meters at your current pace. If your split says 2:00, you’re on track for a 2,000-meter time of 8 minutes.
Stroke rate (SPM) is another story. Beginners often think a higher stroke rate means they’re working harder. Not necessarily. You can row at 35 strokes per minute and be incredibly inefficient, or you can row at 20 strokes per minute with massive power and go much faster. For most steady-state workouts, stay between 18 and 22 SPM. Save the high-30s for the final sprint of a race.
Focus on the "Force Curve" if your machine has that setting. It’s a graph that shows how you’re applying power. You want a smooth, hay-bale-shaped curve. If there’s a sharp peak at the start and then it drops off, you’re "jerking" the handle. If the peak is at the end, you’re using too much arm and not enough leg. A smooth curve means you’re transitioning power seamlessly from your feet through your core to the handle.
The Mental Game of the Erg
Rowing is boring. There, I said it. Unlike a treadmill where you can watch a movie, or a bike where you can sort of zone out, the rowing machine demands constant technical focus. If your mind wanders, your form falls apart.
Dr. Stephen Seiler, a renowned exercise physiologist, often talks about the "internal load" of training. On a rower, that load is high because the feedback is instantaneous. Every stroke is a new chance to be perfect or a new chance to mess up. That’s why it’s such an effective tool for mental toughness. You can’t coast on a rower. The moment you stop pushing, the fan slows down. The machine is an honest mirror of your effort.
How to Do Rowing Machine Workouts for Different Goals
If you're looking for weight loss, don't just sit there for 40 minutes at a medium pace. Try "intervals." Row 500 meters hard, rest for a minute, and repeat that six times. The high-intensity nature of the movement triggers a massive metabolic response.
For endurance, focus on "UT2" training. This is a pace where you can still hold a broken conversation. It builds the mitochondrial density in your muscles without frying your central nervous system. You should be able to do these sessions for 30 to 45 minutes, focusing entirely on the rhythm.
A Sample Starter Routine
- Warm-up (5 minutes): Start with just the arms, then add the back swing, then half-slides with the legs, finally full strokes.
- The "10 for 10" Drill: Row 10 strokes focusing only on your leg drive. Then 10 strokes focusing on a tall posture. Then 10 strokes focusing on a quick "hands away" recovery.
- The Main Set: 4 rounds of 5 minutes at a steady pace (20 SPM), with 2 minutes of light paddling in between.
- Cool-down: 3 minutes of very easy rowing, letting the heart rate drop gradually.
Foot Straps and Footwear
Check your shoes. If you’re wearing those big, squishy running shoes with the massive foam heels, you’re losing power. That foam compresses every time you push, acting like a shock absorber for the energy that should be going into the machine. Flat shoes—like Converse, Vans, or specialized lifting shoes—are much better. Some people even row in socks, though most gyms frown on that.
The strap should go across the widest part of your foot (usually where your laces start). If it’s too high or too low, you won't be able to pivot your ankle properly. This small adjustment can fix a lot of "shin splint" issues people complain about after rowing.
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Actionable Steps for Your Next Session
Stop treating the rower like a torture device and start treating it like a skill. Before you even strap in next time, do these three things:
- Adjust the damper to 3 or 4. Trust the process. You'll feel like you're pulling through water, not mud.
- Say the rhythm out loud. "Legs, body, arms... arms, body, legs." It sounds silly, but it builds the neuromuscular pathway.
- Film yourself. Set your phone up on a water bottle and record one minute of your rowing. Compare it to a video of an Olympic rower. You’ll immediately see if you’re "rainbowing" your knees or leaning too far back.
Consistency beats intensity every single time. Master the sequence at a low stroke rate before you try to go fast. Once the mechanics become muscle memory, your aerobic capacity will skyrocket, and your back will stay healthy. Get the sequence right, keep the chest up, and drive through the heels. That is the secret to making the machine work for you instead of against you.