Rowing Machine

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.

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.

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.

Muscles

Primary: Lats, Quadriceps

Secondary: Biceps, Erector spinae, Glutes (max), Hamstrings, Rhomboids, Traps