The Do's and Don'ts of Rowing Machine Workouts

The do’s and don’ts of rowing machine workouts come down to four habits: warm up, drive with your legs, take the slide slowly and build up one thing at a time. The biggest don’t is setting the damper to 10 and hauling with your arms, which tires you out and loads your lower back.

The checklist

Do	Don’t
Warm up for 5 to 10 minutes	Start your hardest effort on the first stroke
Set the damper around 3 to 5	Assume 10 is a better workout
Drive legs, then body, then arms	Pull with the arms first
Spend twice as long on the recovery as the drive	Rush up the slide
Decide what the session is for	Row flat out every time
Keep a record of each session	Rely on how you remember it
Change one thing a week	Add time, pace and sessions together

Do these

Warm up properly

Spend 5 to 10 minutes getting ready. A simple version is 3 minutes of easy rowing, then 10 strokes at half pressure, 10 at three-quarter pressure and 3 firm strokes. Our page on the ultimate rowing warm-up has a fuller routine for hard sessions.

Keep your back long

Sit tall with your shoulders low. Hinge from the hips at the catch so your lower back stays long, and finish with a slight lean back and an open chest. Film 10 strokes from the side on your phone to check: you want to be slightly past upright at the finish, not slumped or lying back.

Drive with your legs

The order on the drive is legs, then body, then arms. Reverse it on the way back: arms, body, then legs. If the handle moves before your legs have finished pushing, pause at the catch and row 10 strokes thinking only “legs”. Our how to use a rowing machine guide breaks the stroke down step by step.

Plan the session

Decide before you sit down. A steady 30 minutes should let you speak in short sentences. Intervals should be hard but repeatable, with the last one as fast as the first. A test is a true maximum, and once every few weeks is plenty. Our training plans give you ready-made sessions, and the top 3 cardio workouts for rowing include two interval sets.

Break it up if you are new

Try 5 minutes of rowing and 1 minute of rest, repeated 4 times. That is 20 minutes of work you can actually finish. Drop to 3 repeats if your technique falls apart in the last block, as tired strokes teach bad habits.

Cool down

Row easy for 3 to 5 minutes until your breathing settles. Then stretch your hamstrings, quads, hip flexors, back and shoulders, holding each for around 30 seconds. It helps you wind down, though it will not guarantee you avoid soreness.

Write it down

Record distance or time, average pace and how it felt. If your pace for the same 20 minutes is improving by the 4-week mark, the training is working. If not, you have the numbers to work out why.

Don’t do these

Don’t set the damper to 10 and assume more is better

Concept2 suggests starting around 3 to 5 and focusing on technique. It compares the damper to bicycle gearing: a higher setting lets in more air and feels heavier, but how hard you pull sets the intensity. Set too high, it can tire your muscles before your heart and lungs. Our page on drag factor explains why that number matters more than the lever position.

Don’t rush the slide

Concept2’s target is a 1:2 ratio, so the recovery takes twice as long as the drive. At 20 strokes per minute each stroke lasts 3 seconds, so aim for about 1 second on the drive and 2 seconds back. If the stroke rate climbs but your pace stays the same, you are rushing. Slow the slide and let the rate drop.

Don’t ignore pain

Muscle fatigue is normal. Sharp pain, or pain that builds as you row, is not. Stop the session and get it checked by a GP or physio if it lasts. Our most common rowing injuries guide covers the usual problem areas.

Don’t skimp on foot set-up

Set the footplate so the strap sits across the widest part of your foot, and pull it snug. If your heels lift a long way off the plate at the catch, the setting may be wrong, so move it one notch and row 5 minutes easy before you judge it.

Don’t increase everything at once

Change one thing a week, and do it in this order: time, then pace, then number of sessions. For example, move from 20 to 25 minutes this week, and hold the same pace. Jumping from 2 sessions to 5 is the kind of change that ends in a sore back.

Don’t hang off the handle

Hold it lightly with flat wrists. Think of hooking your fingers around it instead of squeezing. A hard grip tires your forearms and leads to blisters, and it does nothing for your pace.

A 30-minute session done properly

Block	Time	What to do
Set-up	1 minute	Feet strapped in, damper at 3 to 5, monitor on, water in reach
Warm-up	6 minutes	Easy rowing, then the half and three-quarter pressure strokes
Main work	20 minutes	Steady at rate 20, able to speak in short sentences
Cool-down	3 minutes	Very easy rowing, then stretch

Once that feels comfortable, swap the main work for 4 x 4 minutes at a firmer pace with 1 minute easy between them, which fits the same 20-minute block.