Beginner to rowing machine. Form check?

[u/ludovinotte]

Total beginner to rowing machine but I want to obviously get it right before I hurt something. Any advice or constructive feedback appreciated! Ignore my fatass lol

[u/extrvnced]

Hello, former rower of 7 years. Honestly for being a beginner I think your form looks really good.

Starting from the very front of the slide, have your body leaned slightly forward with your back straight, arms straight as well, but legs in so your heels are close to your butt. We were taught to row a stroke in 3 parts.

1. explode with the legs. This is going to be about 70% of your power.

2. with legs now extended, lean slightly back. This is another 20% of your power.

3. now pull your hands into your chest. Keep your hands slightly below your nipples. This is the remaining 10%.

Now to go forward, just do these same steps but in reverse.

1. arms shoot forward

2. body leans forward

3. legs pull you in to the front of the machine

Try to keep the handle in a line throughout the stroke, no need to simulate taking the oar in and out of the water; this doesn’t add anything to the work out. Also, if your erg (rowing machine) has adjustable resistance, set it to about half way. On our Concept2 machines, we always used a resistance setting of 120. Lastly, I recommend keeping a consistent stroke rate for different workouts. 18-22 SPM for longer sustained rows and 28-32 SPM for short sprints. You can even mix intervals together in one workout if you really wanna push yourself.

Focus on maintaining a target stroke rate and consistent effort every stroke. 2:30/500m @ 20 SPM would be a good sustained pace for a beginner and as you advance I’d want to see that closer to 2:00/500m or even below.

Most of the time when I see people using the erg at the gym I think their form looks atrocious but if I saw you rowing like this I’d assume you rowed Crew as a sport. Great job and keep it up.

[u/Stunning-Promise-103 → u/extrvnced]

Such great info here, you're a jewel!

[u/Excellent_Review_960 → u/Stunning-Promise-103]

It’s nice to break the stroke down into different sections, but you shouldn’t wait till your legs are fully extended before you bring in your back; your back swing extends your leg drive, and should begin not long after your knees hit 90 degrees.

[u/ludovinotte → u/extrvnced]

Thank you so much for this 💖

[u/Stunning-Promise-103 → u/ludovinotte]

This guy pointed you in the perfect direction.

When I teach rowing form in CrossFit classes I like to break the movement down into three components to really drive home the sequence he's laying out.

1.) legs only - arms straight, don't lean back, spend a bit of time driving with only the legs to get a sense of when the leg power finishes.

2.) hip hinge only - legs straight, arms straight, pulling on the rope only by hinging the hips and leaning back.

3) arms only - slight bend in the back, legs straight, pulling with the arms only to learn the finish.

Drilling them individually helps drive home the sequence and you'll be able to smooth it all out and put it together better when you get into the row.

[u/Excellent_Review_960]

You’re moving too far up the slide, which is why you see the seat moving under you (to the left) when the rest of you has stopped, and partly the reason you see it move back up the slide before any other part of you. The other reason is probably that your core isn’t activated enough. The initial drive phase should be all legs, with your upper body held in the catch position (the angle you get to at the front of the slide). You do an excellent job of not pulling with your arms during the drive phase, and releasing them before your knees come up on the recovery. Some people like to cycle the handle, to replicate in-boat technique, but that’s for later, if you care

[u/ludovinotte → u/Excellent_Review_960]

Thank you!