Proper Breathing When Using a Rowing Machine

Proper breathing when using a rowing machine means breathing out on the drive and in on the recovery, in time with your stroke, and never holding your breath. At higher rates, add a second breath per stroke. The exact timing matters less than keeping a steady rhythm you can hold when you’re tired.

The exception is the last few strokes of a sprint, when you’ll breathe as fast as you need to. Keep your face and shoulders relaxed and don’t worry about the pattern.

The starting pattern

1. At the catch, your lungs are full, or close to it.
2. On the drive, breathe out steadily as you push with your legs and pull.
3. At the finish, your lungs are nearly empty.
4. On the recovery, breathe in as you slide forward.

Concept2’s advice fits this well: relax on the slide and use the recovery to breathe. Its low stroke rate article lists breathing among the fundamentals to work on at low rates, along with posture, head position and grip.

Some rowers prefer a variation, such as breathing in just before the catch and out through the drive. That’s fine. Try one pattern for a few sessions and keep what feels smooth.

How long you actually have

The stroke rate sets the time available, and a little arithmetic shows why the pattern has to change.

Stroke rate	Time per stroke	Drive	Recovery	Breaths per stroke
18	3.3 seconds	1.1 seconds	2.2 seconds	1
20	3 seconds	1 second	2 seconds	1
22	2.7 seconds	0.9 seconds	1.8 seconds	1
28	2.1 seconds	Under 1 second	Around 1 second	1 or 2
32	1.9 seconds	Under 1 second	Around 1 second	2
36	1.7 seconds	Under 1 second	Under 1 second	2, fast

The first three rows use Concept2’s 1:2 target for drive to recovery. At higher rates the recovery shortens, so the lower rows are approximate. The breath counts are a rule of thumb, and yours may differ.

At rate 20 you’ve got a relaxed 2 seconds to breathe in. At rate 32 you don’t, so try a short extra breath on the recovery. One way to do it is a full breath out on the drive, then a quick in-out-in on the slide.

Match your breathing to the session

Session	Breathing	Talk test
Easy steady, rate 18 to 22	1 breath per stroke, nose or mouth	Short sentences
Firm steady, rate 22 to 26	1 breath, deeper, through the mouth	A few words at a time
Hard intervals	1 or 2 breaths, with a full breath out	Single words
Sprints	2 fast breaths, face relaxed	None, and only hold this briefly

Concept2 defines steady state as a rate you can breathe and talk through, which makes the talk test a useful check. If you’re gasping in the first minute of an interval, you went out too fast. Our guide to 2k erg pacing shows how to spread the effort.

Don’t hold your breath

Some older advice tells rowers to hold their breath at the catch or finish to “brace”. We don’t recommend it. Holding your breath raises tension, breaks your rhythm and can leave you light-headed. If you notice you’ve been doing it, breathe out fully and pick up the pattern on the next stroke.

Posture gives your lungs room

Slumping at the finish or rounding forward at the catch restricts your ribs. At the finish, your ribs should feel free to expand and your shoulders shouldn’t creep up towards your ears. Keep your head level and look straight ahead. If that position hurts, see rowing with a bad neck. Our rowing posture guide lists 5 ways to fix a collapsed position.

A 20-minute breathing drill

Use a steady row at a pace you can hold comfortably.

Time	Rate	Focus
0 to 5 minutes	18	Out on the drive, in on the recovery
5 to 10 minutes	22	Same pattern, with no rushing
10 to 15 minutes	22	5 stronger strokes every minute, staying in rhythm
15 to 20 minutes	18	Row easy and notice how your breathing settles

If the pattern slips when you get tired, drop the rate by 2 strokes per minute and rebuild it.

Common breathing mistakes

Mistake	How you’d know	Fix
Holding your breath	A gasp at the finish	Breathe out as soon as the drive starts
Shallow breathing	Tight chest, raised shoulders	Breathe out fully, and the next breath takes care of itself
Rushing to fit a breath in	Stroke rate creeping up	Slow the slide, or add a second breath
Starting too fast	Gasping in the first 2 minutes	As a rule of thumb, open 2 seconds per 500 m slower

Fitness changes how it feels

As your aerobic fitness improves, the same pace feels easier and your breathing settles. Our page on VO2 max and rowing explains the limit on how much oxygen you can use, and breath control covers the extra skills for sprinting. If your arms give out before your lungs, rowing with weak arms shows how to build upper-body strength.

If something feels wrong

Stop if you feel dizzy or faint, have chest pain or can’t catch your breath. If it happens more than once, get it checked by your GP before you carry on rowing. For help with the stroke itself, read how to use a rowing machine.