The Rhythm Of The Oar: How Rowing Became Accessible

Forbes

07-05-2025

US' Kara Kohler competes in the women's single sculls heats rowing competition at Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Centre in Vaires-sur-Marne during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on July 27, 2024. (Photo by Bertrand GUAY / AFP) (Photo by BERTRAND GUAY/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images
In a century defined by the ever-increasing speed, stillness is increasingly sold back to us as a luxury. One can find that quiet escape in all kinds of ways, from weighted blankets, that cost more than a luxury suit, to half-hour meditation sessions led by Jerry Seinfeld. But one of the oldest, simplest, and strangely ignored ways to find that meditative state is to get in a long, narrow boat and paddle silently across a still body of water.
In many ways, rowing is the original full-body workout. It employs nearly 90 percent of the body's musculature and fires up both sides of the cardiovascular-anaerobic spectrum with almost unparalleled efficiency: 70 percent aerobic, 30 percent strength. It stretches the spine, wakes up the psoas, a long-forgotten muscle, and reinforces the posterior chain—a term that refers to the muscles that keep you standing upright and moving forward. All this happens, remarkably, without impact. Studies have shown that rowing is a low impact exercise.
PARIS, FRANCE - JULY 31: Lennart van Lierop, Finn Florijn, Tone Wieten and Koen Metsemakers of Team Netherlands celebrate winning the gold medals after competing in the Rowing Men's Quadruple Sculls Final A on day five of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Vaires-Sur-Marne Nautical Stadium on July 31, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by) Getty Images
Still, despite all of its good science, rowing has long floated outside the current of modern fitness culture. That culture seems to favor either the ecstatic spin studios and circuit bootcamps or the restorative yoga. Rowing, by contrast, is repetitive, if not almost monastic. It does not work the vanity muscles. It does not take commands. It has, until recently, been nearly impossible to do at home with any semblance of aesthetic reward.
Then the pandemic followed. Within weeks, living rooms had turned into gyms, kitchens into therapy spaces, and treadmills and bikes into lifelines. In the quick recalibration of our lifestyle, the benefits of rowing machines became quickly apparent. It made a certain kind of sense: in a world of stripped control and full of anxiety, the rhythm of the stroke—catch, drive, finish, recovery—offered something alluring and meditative. I sat down to talk to Bruce Smith, a former coach of the U.S. national rowing team and the founder of a connected rowing company called Hydrow, to understand why rowing has gained so much momentum in the United States.
Bruce Smith, a former U.S. National Rowing Team coach and the founder of Hydrow. Courtesy of Hydrow
Smith sees rowing as not just a fitness phenomenon, but a life philosophy. "Rhythm is the physical expression of rowing. You have to be in perfect synchronicity. Not just with your own body, but with a bunch of other bodies. You can't fake it." He explained that in rowing at an elite level, there is no data dashboard and no audible feedback. You can't see your fellow rowers. You don't know if they are pulling harder or softer than you. You can only feel them, and you must match them. A sequence in George Clooney's The Boys in the Boat—based on the true story of Depression-era college rowers who defied the odds—captures this quality well. The characters row not to beat an opponent but to pretend they are not there, to become invisible, and dissolve into an entity that is fluid and faster than any one of them. And that, as far as I can tell, is the root of what makes rowing so trustworthy.
Rowing employs nearly 90 percent of the body's musculature and fires up both sides of the cardiovascular-anaerobic spectrum with almost unparalleled efficiency: 70 percent aerobic, 30 percent strength. Courtesy of Hydrow
The irony, of course, is that we now pursue this experience in isolation of home gyms. Rowers once trained in early-morning fog, with oars slicing through still water, but today, they row in condos, lofts, and sunrooms, accompanied not by teammates but by digital screens. Smith, whose company streams real-world footage of athletes rowing across US and international rivers and bays, doesn't see this as a contradiction. If anything, he argues, the physical act of syncing one's movement to another — even through a digital screen — still satisfies a basic human craving. "There's a meta-study from MIT. Humans are wired to feel joy when they move together. It's pre-verbal. It's neurological,' shared Smith. 'It's a form of meditation.' It's not what you'd call an aestheticized kind of meditation, but quite the opposite. Every single stroke is a real chance to get it right. And because there's a moment of pause between strokes, it's almost as if running gives you the chance to reflect while you're in mid-motion. That doesn't happen when you meditate in a more conventional way. It's not just a coincidence that the Hydrow training videos come with ambient footage of water bodies, as if to trick the nervous system into thinking you are outside.
In March 2025, Hydrow announced partnership with Soho House, the worldwide collection of high-end private members' clubs to install its rowing machines in select locations within the Soho House network, which numbers around 45 clubs globally. Courtesy of Soho House
The push for a unified sense of rhythm is now reaching beyond the confines of the home. In March 2025, Hydrow announced it has teamed up with Soho House, the worldwide collection of high-end private members' clubs (Author's note: I am a member of Soho House Portland) to install its rowing machines in select locations within the Soho House network, which numbers around 45 clubs globally. This partnership furthers the Hydrow mission to make the precision rowing experience available to as many potential converts as possible. 'We are thrilled to bring Hydrow's unparalleled on-water experience of rowing to Soho House members,' said John Stellato, President and CEO of Hydrow. As part of the offering, Soho members can also access exclusive purchase discounts, bringing the experience home should they choose to extend their ritual beyond the club walls. It's a strategic move in Hydrow's broader evolution from a niche startup to a lifestyle brand. With celebrity backers like Kevin Hart and Justin Timberlake, tie-ins to a PBS docu-series 'Hope in Water', and even Pantone's Color of the Year, rowing is no longer quietly catching on, it is becoming a mainstream choice for a workout.
'I think we got lucky with rowing's timing,' Smith admitted. 'It was always considered niche. Then people started understanding what it actually does. And then cultural moments started catching up.' Even so, rowing's aesthetic still carries a certain elitist haze. Long associated with prep schools and privilege, it's been slower than other sports to shed its exclusivity. Smith says that perception belies some reality, but 'it's actually a pretty accessible workout,' he said. 'It is less than some gym memberships.'
The truth is, rowing isn't flashy. It doesn't make for a good Instagram Story or TikTok, but as Smith puts it, 'The rowing machine doesn't judge you. It doesn't care how coordinated you are. It's just waiting for you to try again.'