Full disclosure: this isn’t going to compare the Hydrow home rowing system to a Concept 2 rower, which is probably what most readers of Breaking Muscle are most familiar with.

They are two completely different systems and we will include them both in a comparison roundup before Christmas. This is a review of a standalone home training system and not an adjunct to anything else.

What that means is that I assessed how the Hydrow shapes up as a total package assuming that it would be the center of an at-home training regimen.

I went into this with an open mind although I have a couple of confessions to make: I don’t like bikes or treadmills because as a cyclist, and a sometime runner, I prefer to do those things in the real world and am not limited by the land or weather around me.

Rowing uses 84% of your body’s musculature, far more than most other aerobic exercise modalities.

– Eric Stevens, Breaking Muscle

And, I think the best bang for your buck is always going to get as close to possible to a total body solution; rowing fits the bill on all counts.

Frankly, most of us are never going to have a boat or scull or access to a suitable waterway, not to mention the necessary skill or ability to maneuver one on our own. While you don’t need much skill or instruction to ride a bike or run, rowing is an acquired skill which also adds to its appeal.

Great Fitness Technology Comes at a Price

The Hydrow is rowing’s answer to Peloton bikes in so far as the way it is designed and where it might fit in the industry. Yet, I have seen a lot of commentary about the pricing of a Hydrow rower when compared to a Concept 2 or a NordicTrack RW600.

It is true that you can get cheaper indoor rowers but Hydrow is one of the emerging hybrid technology creations that are taking the fitness world by storm, making it part of a new category of devices.

It’s not surprise that the Hydrow comes with a 22-inch screen, an electromagnetic resistance mechanism and, most importantly, networked software and an infrastructure to support perfectly timed row-along workouts with top-notch instructors on the water. It’s slick design and high production values on the hardware, software, and content.

It’s goes without saying, the software that supports Hydrow is an engineering lift in itself and shouldn’t be discounted as if you’re logging into a YouTube channel. It’s a fully-functioning SaaS (software as a service) application built to scale for a large audience. If the weight of the software wasn’t enough, the hardware itself is about 145 lbs and measures 86x25x47 inches.

The Hydrow may be glossy but it is also surprisingly solid; the aluminum and steel frame can hold a 375 lb person whereas NordicTrack maxes out at 250 lbs and a Peloton bike maxes out at 297 lbs.

Would it be nice if the Hydrow hit the 500 lb limit of a Model D? Sure but kudos to the Hydrow engineers for going that extra mile over their direct competition.

Getting Better at Rowing Tips:

1. Don’t grip too hard
2. Drive with your legs
3. Drive straight back
4. Don’t let your butt go solo
5. Don’t pull with your arms
6. Keep your elbows relaxed
7. Don’t shrug your shoulders up
8. Sit up tall at all times
9. Don’t re-bend your knees too soon
10. Focus on steady movement

The Hydrow’s 22-inch screen is clear and sharp, even with direct light on it. It swivels so that if you decided to switch to floor exercises, you can still see the screen, and it comes with a great software interface.

Again, some users have remarked about the similarity to the Peloton interface but frankly that’s nitpicking because most fitness apps these days are pretty close in terms of how you move through screens, find workouts, pick instructors and search. And a good thing, too, because it works.

If you know how to lift weights properly, you know how to row.

– Ellen Tomek, Olympic Rower

It’s also worth pointing out that Hydrow, the company, has raised $52 million in investment and the money is all up there on the screen and in the design of the product. The user experience is peerless and everything, from the seat design to the feel of the resistance, feels like a premium product.

Your instructors are on the water, your pacing and their pacing has to synchronize, your experience of rowing is enhanced by the visuals, and the controls never get in the way or seem superfluous. This is a well-thought out product and has few weaknesses.

If there was one fear that I had about committing to the Hydrow it was the potential liabilities of long-term maintenance. This is not a product that you can take apart and oil and fix yourself. Time will tell how that pans out for users but it’s not unusual to feel that pang of fear when you have invested heavinly in something like this.

Home Workouts Go Better with Help

If you are one of those people who is disciplined or advanced enough to do things on your own then the Hydrow may be frustrating to you in so far as it is best consumed as a guided experience.

You can’t ignore the screen or the software and go it alone. Participation in the community isn’t a must but you get absorbed into what other people are doing as you see their activity in rows with you or in a nice little feed that shows who has finished a row and how they performed.

It’s optional to share but it does work on an visceral level, engaging you and making you feel like you’re part of a group of fellow enthusiasts. You can filter the results by age and gender and it can be quite a motivational factor.

However, the best part of it all is the instructors. You have real rowers, you have one or two person sculls, and proficient rowing on a body of water with bridges and boats and real world scenery.

In one workout, I saw the instructor have to adjust after getting too close to the walls of a tunnel under a bridge. You do feel like you are part of an experience on the water, even when you are as cynical as I am.

However, what really struck me was the fact that you are forced into maintaining good technique because of the intimacy of the instruction. Your instructor is right there in front of you, a skilled rower, and you can’t flail around or mess up your own form unless you turn off the sound and close your eyes.

Every row is different and can be a zen experience, as much as they are a challenge. The emphasis on form and consistency are a constant challenge, even to the best rowers.

If you have experienced rowing in a typical box gym without that follow along instruction, the experience on Hydrow is a revelation, feeling as close to being on the water as possible.

I am sure for actual rowers, that may seem an exagerration but I can only talk about how it made me feel as someone who hasn’t rowed on water but is now itching to try it out at some point.

I don’t know if indoor bikes and treadmills offer that same level of immersion. I was handed the Hydrow experience as a reviewer on these pages and I have become a believer.

The post Hydrow Review – Total Body Home Happiness appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Now, Crosby feels rowing has arrived and he’s certainly not alone in this sentiment. From CrossFit to rowing-only classes to HIIT training studios, rowing has made its triumphant entrance to the forefront of sport and fitness.

Josh Crosby, world-class rower

Rowing is efficient, available to most everyone, and currently enjoying a wave of popularity. Even the hit show House of Cards featured the rowing machine as a frequent guest star. But rowing is hardly a new concept, so why all of the recent hype?

Well, if ever something needed such a boost of confidence and attention, it’s rowing. In an age where technology tends to gain the public’s attention, rowing is an exception to the rule. Rowing is old school. It isn’t easy, glamorous, or even necessarily fun. In fact, it can be flat out tedious, monotonous, and grueling.

“From CrossFit to rowing-only classes to HIIT training studios, rowing has made its triumphant entrance to the forefront of sport and fitness.”

But Crosby is right – rowing is here. Perhaps historically the least popular piece of equipment in the gym has now become the homecoming queen of the fitness club. This is great for those of us who like to get our rowing on, but the question remains, why is rowing all the rage? And what can that tell you about why you might try it?

Because the Sport of Rowing Has Grown

Rowing was once considered an exclusive and elite sport. For the most part, rowing was a male-dominated and upper-class sport. Now, rowing is a booming sport at universities and rowing clubs nationwide. Thanks to title IX, women’s rowing has also exploded. In the 1981-82 season, only 43 NCAA women’s programs offered rowing. Now, 142 do. Boathouses are also now widely available in most major metropolitan areas.

Because Rowing Is for Everyone

Power cleans, hills sprints, and cage fighting are great workouts, but aren’t for the everybody. But rowing is. Rowing is low-impact and fluid, and it isn’t limited by age, gender, or even athleticism. Not many people in their seventies are doing CrossFit or playing football, but many still have the capacity to row.

Because Rowing for Fitness Is as Efficient as It Gets

When performed properly, rowing looks smooth and almost effortless. Don’t be fooled – rowing is hard. Rowing uses 84% of your body’s musculature, far more than most other aerobic exercise modalities.

In addition to using a lot of muscle power, rowing is an efficient calorie burn as well. According to a Harvard study, vigorous rowing burns up to 12.5 calories per minute. In this day and age where time-starved people are increasingly looking for the most efficient means of exercise, rowing is a great option.

“Rowing uses 84% of your body’s musculature, far more than most other aerobic exercise modalities.”

How You Can Get Started and What to Expect

Rowing is likely already available at gyms and fitness studios near you. For the most part, you just need to show up and get started. Unlike rowing on the water, indoor rowing doesn’t require special gear or much physical preparation. Just find a class or a rower at your gym, and give it a whirl.

That said, I highly recommend getting proper instruction – your body, back, and ego will thank you. Here’s how you can get started:

• Find a rowing class. New York has indoor rowing studios like Cityrow and Row House NYC. LA has studios like iROW and Crosby’s own Indo-Row. Rowing-only classes are now popping up everywhere and many clubs offer fusion classes like spin/row. You can also join a group exercise studio like CrossFit or Orangetheory Fitness that features rowing.
• Find a rower and plug in your smartphone. Nick Sheedy, founder of Live Rowing, has developed an app – what he feels is the perfect marriage between an old-school fitness modality and a new-school utilization of technology. Sheedy said, “We saw an opportunity to social connect a worldwide community that was extremely fragmented with a mobile app.” With Sheedy’s technology, which is currently in the beta stage, rowers from around the globe can compete with each other. All they need is a Concept2 rower and a smart phone.
• Hire a coach. When I first started rowing, I got smoked by senior citizens. Rowing isn’t just guts and grit. It happens to be technical, as well. You cannot muscle your way through it and expect to do well. Figuring out the order, timing, and power distribution of the rowing stroke takes a breakdown of technique, and a good coach will help you find yours.

Here’s a tip: Take a video of yourself rowing and compare that with Crosby’s instructional video and see where you need fine tuning.

Yes, Rowing Is For You

Yes, rowing is here. Time will tell if rowing belongs in the fad or trend category, but given its rich history, rowing isn’t going anywhere any time soon. If you’re in the need for an efficient, low impact, monster calorie-crushing workout, look no further than rowing – get your row on today!

More on rowing:

• Tips and Drills from Olympic Medalist Magda Fularczyk
• A Short Biomechanical Evaluation of Two Rowing Training Methods
• 12 Weeks to Faster Rowing Times
• New On Breaking Muscle Today

References:

1. “Rowing increases in Popularity,” NCAA.com May 27. 2012.

2. “Live Indoor Rowing“.

3. “Calories burned in 30 minutes for people of three different weights,” Harvard Health Publications. July, 2004. 

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post Rowing Is Here and It’s For Everyone appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

The study used ten elite Australian rowers, all but one of them male. Each rower performed his own warmup and then either launched into a 1,000 meter time trial on the Concept 2 ergometer, or performed a PAP activity first. The PAP activity involved strapping into a Concept 2 and then pulling against an immovable handle for 5 seconds. These sorts of exercises are referred to as isometric training. The isometric PAP activity was performed for 5 total sets of 5 seconds each, with 15 seconds rest in-between. Then the rowers were given 1 minute to rest before starting their 1,000 meter time trials.

The results: pulling on that immovable handle made a difference. It wasn’t statistically significant, but the PAP activity resulted in better 1,000 meter times by about 1.4 seconds. At the 500 meter mark, the PAP activity was even more useful, providing a 1.7 second advantage. Of the ten rowers, eight recorded a faster time with the PAP activity. Five of them would have won a race with their non-PAP self by ten meters or more – that’s more than the length of a single scull boat. Since we are talking about elite rowers, every second and every meter is precious. By the way, the average 1,000 meter time was 2:52. That is absolutely sick.

My conclusion: PAP is helpful – sometimes very helpful. Perhaps it prepares the nervous system for exerting maximal force? While not technically PAP, I have seen this phenomenon first hand. I have personally set a squat PR by “walking out” of the rack with more than the PR attempt, then resting, then setting the PR. I have seen athletes perform heavy dumbbell snatches repeatedly by first performing snatch pulls with an even heavier dumbbell.

I think PAP works, and I hope the fitness community will seek to fully understand it. Have you ever used PAP or something similar to improve performance?

References:

1. Feros, Simon, et. al. The Effect of Including a Series of Isometric Conditioning Contractions to the Rowing Warm-Up on 1,000-M Rowing Ergometer Time Trial Performance. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 26:12, 3326-3334, Dec 2012.

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post Isometric Exercises Just Prior to Rowing Improve Sprint Times appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Years ago when I first started training in CrossFit, I hated rowing. In actuality I just didn’t know how to do it correctly, so I was horribly inefficient and therefore unhappy with both my experience of rowing and my performance.

After a couple years of whining I decided it was high time to get over myself and learn how to row. I started training with Josh Crosby in his indoor rowing classes and everything changed. I learned the technique inside and out, my conditioning went through the roof, and I was having a lot of fun. I actually, dare I say, fell in love with rowing.

For those of you still in the hate phase of your love-hate relationship with rowing, here is what I call The 17 Commandments of Rowing. Really, this is a list of tips that, if you follow, will have you be a more efficient, less injured, and happier rower.

The 17 Commandments of Rowing

1. Don’t grip too hard – Don’t hold on so hard to the handle. Keep enough grip to not lose the handle, but also not so much that you wear out your hands, have achy forearms, and tear up your palms.

2. Drive with your legs – Rowing is mostly about your legs. Despite your natural instincts, your legs are far stronger than your arms and should be doing the vast majority of the work. Your quads and booty should be toasted after a hard rowing workout.

3. Imagine you’re doing a clean – If you don’t know how to perform this lift properly, don’t imagine this. Imagining doing a clean won’t help in that case.

4. Legs, hips, arms, arms, hips, legs – This is the sequence of rowing. If you reorganize this list, it doesn’t work.

5. Drive straight back – If you feel yourself lift off the seat, or tragically, you pop off the seat and land on the rail, it is because you are pushing UP instead of back. Push straight back.

6. Don’t let your butt go solo – Don’t shoot your butt back first. Keep your core engaged throughout the stroke; the angle of your back should not change as you drive with your legs. Said another way, the handle should travel in sync with your seat for the initial leg drive portion of the stroke.

7. Don’t pull with your arms – Keep your elbows straight as you drive your legs. It’s about your legs, not your arms. As soon as your arms bend, you’ve lost the ability to translate power from your legs.

8. Keep your elbows relaxed – Don’t lift up your elbows at your sides. Don’t artificially tuck them in, either. Keep them relaxed at a natural angle and don’t make chicken wings.

9. Don’t shrug your shoulders up – Don’t pull your shoulders UP into your ears as you drive back in the stroke. Instead, imagine you are pulling your shoulder blades together behind you.

10. Pull the handle to the bottom of your ribs – For the ladies, you want to pull the handle to the bottom of your sports bra. For the men, pretend you’re wearing a sports bra.

11. Sit up tall at all times – Hinge at the hips and keep good posture, like a good morning or a deadlift. Lift your chest up. Don’t let your lower back or shoulders collapse. Be relaxed, but with good posture.

12. Imagine your upper body like a pendulum – Okay, maybe an upside down pendulum. More like a needle ticking back and forth between 11:00 and 1:00 on a clock face. At the “catch” or beginning of the stroke, right before you drive back, you should be leaned forward at the 1:00 position. At the “finish” or far end of the stroke, when your legs are fully extended, you should lean back to the 11:00 position.

13. Feel the connection through your feet – The whole way through the drive you should feel a solid connection between the balls of your feet and the footplates.

14. Don’t re-bend your knees too soon – As you start to return forward in your stroke, your knees need to remain straight until the handle is above your mid-shin. Hinge at the hips, sit up tall, and wait (just like with a deadlift) until the bar has passed your knees to re-bend them.

15. Don’t slam the seat into your heels – As you continue to move forward and return to the start of the stroke, you should stop when your shins are perpendicular to the ground and your heels are curled up off the footplates, but your seat should never run into your feet.

16. Breathe properly – Exhale as you drive back; inhale as you recover forward.

17. Focus on consistent steady movement – You are the master of the numbers on the computer screen, not the victim of them. Steady consistent movement will be more efficient. Remember you are on the “water” – smooth movement is rewarded. Smooth movement is fast and efficient. Jerky movements make waves and flip boats.

The truth is, when you increase your proficiency and technique at rowing; when you pump up the music, close your eyes, and drive off hard, imagining your boat lifting up out of the water, and that the air from the fan is the ocean breeze; when you imagine yourself in sync with a boatful of unstoppable forces, and you are the master of the moment…well, when that happens, rowing is pretty awesome. Hopefully these tips help YOU find that moment.

Photos provided by Miguel Tapia Images and CrossFit LA.

The post The 17 Commandments of Rowing – My Journey From Hate To Happiness appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Rowing biomechanics can differ greatly depending upon the type of race and discipline, but the key differences and similarities, in on-water rowing and indoor rowing is now a growing field of research.

If you have ever experienced on-water rowing as a sport or a training method, you immediately notice the difference in rowing on a body of water versus an indoor rowing machine.

Rowing biomechanics can differ greatly depending upon the type of race and discipline, but the key differences and similarities, in on-water rowing and indoor rowing is now a growing field of research.

New research in the Applied Mechanics and Materials Journal, examined differences in the biomechanics of on-water rowing and rowing on a Concept2 indoor rowing machine.

Researchers tested the differences between motor control patterns and rowing technique. They also assessed handle positions, seat and trunk mechanics, and shell acceleration in single scull, on both machines and on-water rowers.

Researchers found a 60-80% similarity between erg rowing and water rowing. However, they noted some critical differences.

These included; drive length (the Concept2 erg was 10%-12% shorter than the drive length on the water rower), stroke rate (the on-water rowing had a 10-15% higher strike rate than on Concept2 erg), and leg drive (the Concept2 erg was 4-6% longer than the on-water rower.

Overall, researchers reported significant differences in the two rowing methods. Researchers advise athletes, that rowing machines are an excellent training method for rowing athletes and general fitness enthusiasts.

However, researchers warn that indoor rowing is significantly different, and does not replicate or replace on water rowing.

The post A Short Biomechanical Evaluation of Two Rowing Training Methods appeared first on Breaking Muscle.