7 Finest Rowing Machines of 2025, Per Olympians
Indoor rowing doesn’t have fairly the identical allure of being in a skiff on a river (sigh, if solely), however the perfect rowing machine will nonetheless provide you with a nice exercise proper at residence. Between sensible rowers with streaming capabilities and budget-friendly workhorses, there are many high-quality choices available on the market. We spoke with health consultants to be taught extra about the perfect ones to contemplate and the best way to discover the precise sort of rowing machine for you.
Our high picks
- Finest Total: Concept2 Mannequin D Indoor Rower, $1,500
- Finest Splurge: Peloton Row, $3,295
- Finest Price range Choose: Sunny Well being & Health Magnetic Rowing Machine, $230
- Finest for Small Areas: Hydrow Wave Rower, $1,695
- Finest for Inexperienced persons: NordicTrack RW900 Rower, $2,299
- Finest Water Resistance: WaterRower Authentic Rowing Machine, $1,199
- Finest Aesthetics: Ergatta Rower, $2,499
On this article
Store the perfect rowing machines
We talked to coaches and authorized trainers, then checked out SELF Licensed opinions and previous House Health Awards to search out wonderful residence rowers that mimic the sensation of being on the water. “On the finish of the day, the perfect rowing machine for you is the one which retains you coming again for extra,” Dani Hansen, a Paralympian and Hydrow coach, tells SELF. Learn on to search out choices that’ll do exactly that.
Finest Total: Concept2 Indoor Rower Mannequin D
If there’s one rower to rule all of them, it’s the House Health Award–successful Concept2 RowErg. Its design is size-inclusive, sturdy, and simple to place collectively upon arrival. Whether or not you’re a professional or a newcomer, you’ll greater than doubtless love utilizing this machine. Working example: Retired Olympic rower and World Rowing champion Eric Murray used a Concept2 to coach whereas competing, and now, as an Asensei on-line rowing coach, he trains different individuals on it.
“Concept2 is the usual bearer for all severe rowers world wide; it’s completely old skool,” Alison Townley, a two-time Olympian in rowing and board member for the Nationwide Rowing Basis, tells SELF. Like many professional rowers, she appreciates how streamlined this machine is, with a efficiency monitor that measures time, tempo, stroke charge, distance, and watts.
One other bonus? Its spectacular longevity. “Many machines are nonetheless going 20, 30, and extra years later, and Concept2’s customer support is unparalleled within the uncommon case you do have a difficulty,” Sarah Fuhrmann, writer of 101 Finest Rowing Exercises and proprietor of UCanRow2, tells SELF.
Weight: 57 kilos | Dimensions: 24 x 96 x 14 inches | Display screen show: LCD monitor | Max weight capability: 500 kilos | Membership and app choices: This rower pairs with ErgData, Concept2’s free app that lets you observe progress and create interval exercises. You can too pair it with over 40 third-party apps, together with Asensei, FIIT, and Hydrow.
Finest Splurge: Peloton Row
The SELF Licensed and House Health Award–successful Peloton Row is a wonderful rower for constructing your expertise and confidence in rowing, thanks in no small half to its Type Help and Type Ranking functionalities. These options present real-time visible suggestions so you know the way—and what—to regulate, in addition to a post-class breakdown of your rowing kind and tips about the best way to enhance.
One among our testers was comparatively new to rowing and located the Row’s form-checking course of useful and simple to comply with. The Row can also be quiet (due to electronically adjustable resistance), simple to retailer upright, and encompasses a leaderboard identical to the model’s train bikes and treadmill do. It’s undeniably a dear choice, however in case you’re all in favour of enhancing your method (in addition to getting in a top-notch full-body exercise), then we predict it’s price it.
Weight: 156.50 kilos | Dimensions: 24 x 94 inches | Display screen show: 23.80-inch HD touchscreen | Max weight capability: 300 kilos | Membership and app choices: The Row, like all Peloton health gear, is suitable with the Peloton app. A month-to-month subscription to an All-Entry Peloton Membership is $44 a month, and it contains on-demand lessons, coaching packages, immersive scenic rows, and extra.
Finest Price range Choose: Sunny Well being & Health Magnetic Rowing Machine
A strong choice from Sunny Well being & Health, this magnetic rowing machine received a SELF House Health Award in 2022 for its no-frills, light-weight design. You get eight ranges of magnetic resistance, a streamlined LCD show, a comfortable ergonomic seat, and a folding mechanism that permits for straightforward storage. Don’t low cost that space-saving design—some machines are clunky and hard to retailer, doubtlessly turning them into non permanent clothes racks.
Weight: 60.90 kilos | Dimensions: 18.90 x 81.80 x 23.60 inches | Display screen show: Digital LCD display | Max weight capability: 250 kilos | Membership and app choices: This magnetic rower is suitable with the free SunnyFit House Health app, which can be utilized with or with out the machine. You’ll get coaching movies, exercises, and “World Tour” exercises that supply scenic views of areas world wide.
Finest for Small Areas: Hydrow Wave Rower
The House Health Award–successful Wave is 30% smaller and lighter than Hydrow’s customary rower, making it an incredible choice for anybody who has some room to spare, however not sufficient for an elaborate residence gymnasium setup. Our tester famous that its drag mechanism has an excellent easy glide, going as far as to name the journey downright “enjoyable.” Regardless of its smaller measurement, it nonetheless has a big HD show and lots of the similar high-tech options that include the Hydrow Rower, like Bluetooth and coronary heart charge monitor compatibility.
Weight: 102 kilos | Dimensions: 19 x 80 x 43 inches | Display screen show: 16-inch HD display | Max weight capability: 375 kilos | Membership and app choices: You’ll be able to entry the all-inclusive Hydrow membership for $44 a month, which incorporates stay and on-demand lessons for rowing, energy coaching, yoga, Pilates, and extra.
Finest for Inexperienced persons: NordicTrack RW900 Rower
“If you’re a newbie attempting to get a dangle of rowing otherwise you like the category facet, the NordicTrack route is the way in which to go,” Future coach Laura Carl tells SELF. “I like the data-driven factors it gives, and it adjusts to your degree of health—which not all ergs do,” she provides, referring to its SmartAdjust machine studying capabilities.
With a swivel HD touchscreen, the RW900 makes it simple to observe digital content material throughout your exercise, even in case you hop off the rower for some stretching, a HIIT session, or energy coaching. Need choices to progress? This extremely adjustable rower has 26 resistance ranges—which your coach can management throughout exercise lessons for you by way of iFit.
Weight: 158 kilos | Dimensions: 21.80 x 80.10 x 52.70 inches | Display screen show: 24-inch touchscreen | Max weight capability: 300 kilos | Membership and app choices: All NordicTrack gear is suitable with the iFit app, which prices $39 per 30 days. With iFit, you may have entry to stay coaching classes for rowing and different modalities, scenic exercises, and extra.
Finest Water Resistance: WaterRower Authentic Rowing Machine
For some individuals who have joint points, indoor rowing might really feel uncomfortable if the movement is simply too jerky, bodily therapist Alyssa Kuhn, DPT, tells SELF. This is the reason she loves water rowing machines just like the WaterRower. “I like to recommend this one for individuals who could also be coping with joint pains or harm historical past, because it isn’t as intense on the physique in comparison with the Concept2, [which uses air resistance],” she says.
Weight: 63.50 kilos when empty; 100.50 kilos when crammed with water | Dimensions: 22.25 x 82.25 x 20 inches | Display screen show: LCD display | Max weight capability: 700 kilos | Membership and app choices: There isn’t a membership required. But it surely’s suitable with the WaterRower Join+ app, which lets you observe your efficiency and metrics in your private system, in addition to CityRow and the SmartRow app and {hardware}.
Finest Aesthetics: Ergatta Rower
In case you have the area or just lack the need to fold up a rowing machine after every session, you might need to go for the surprisingly elegant SELF Licensed Ergatta. Its smooth design makes it look extra like upscale furnishings than a bit of train gear, but it surely additionally presents a severe problem, ACE-certified private coach Tami Smith tells SELF. The non-obligatory Ergatta family membership program makes use of “gaming-inspired programming that mixes the joys of a online game with an incredible exercise,” she explains.
Plus, our reviewer was particularly impressed by the machine’s sturdiness: “Whether or not I’m sprinting like my life is determined by it or rowing slowly, the machine has by no means shifted throughout exercises,” she wrote.
Weight: 105 when crammed with water | Dimensions: 23 x 86 x 40 inches | Display screen show: 17.30-inch HD touchscreen | Max weight capability: 500 kilos | Membership and app choices: An Ergatta membership is $39 a month and provides stay and on-demand lessons, races, game-based exercises, scenic rows, and extra.
How to decide on the perfect indoor rowing machine
Rowers will be expensive, so it’s vital to be sure you’re selecting one which’ll meet your expertise degree, health targets, and wishes, Hansen says: “Are you a newbie searching for steerage? Will rowing be your major health exercise or part of your general coaching plan? The place in your house will your rower be positioned? What forms of exercises are you searching for?” These questions might help slim down your choices. Then, there are some key design parts to concentrate to.
There are just a few totally different mechanisms that may present resistance in a rowing machine’s flywheel, Ben Walker, CPT, proprietor of Anyplace Health in Dublin, tells SELF. These embody air, water, magnetic, and hydraulic resistance. There’s no proper or flawed resistance mechanism; all of it is determined by what sort of expertise you’re searching for, SELF beforehand reported.
If noise is a matter, you might need to keep away from air rowers with followers, as they are typically louder. If worth or upkeep is a priority, take into account choosing an air-based or magnetic rower—they are typically less expensive and simpler to keep up than water rowers, which require common cleanings and refills. Simply know that every has a barely totally different sensation, so the selection might come all the way down to which really feel you like. For those who can check some rowers out at your native gymnasium earlier than making your buy, you may get a greater concept of what you want.
Do you may have room to spare, or are you searching for probably the most space-efficient machine potential? Most rowers are between six and 7 toes lengthy, and roughly two toes extensive, so be sure your exercise space can match that measurement. If having a giant piece of kit out always is unrealistic in your area, then a foldable rower is the best choice. These normally fold vertically right into a V-shape, which drastically reduces their footprint (however nonetheless requires some room to put aside).
Excessive-tech add-ons like exercise monitoring, exercise packages, and stay lessons is usually a main improve in your residence rowing routine. For those who’re all in favour of that form of expertise, search for a machine that comes with clear, giant show screens, Bluetooth connectivity in your wearables and units, or class membership choices.
Then again, in case you suppose too many bells and whistles will likely be distracting (otherwise you’re simply utilizing an indoor rower as a placeholder till you may get again out on the water), you might desire a extra stripped-down model that places the main focus in your exercise. “Solely you’ll know what it can take to develop into extra aggressive with your self and what fuels your motivation,” ACSM-certified private coach, rowing coach, and former elite rower Maria Brezler tells SELF.
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