Rowing might seem easy in the videos you see on Instagram, but when you get onto a Rower for the first time you might feel like a fish out of water. 

Here are a few helpful tips to effectively and safely use a rower: 

1. Grip the handle with a relaxed grip towards the outside of the handle. Save your forearms by avoiding a death grip on the handle, and moving your hands to the outside will utilize your lats versus your biceps. 

2. The order of operations: legs then arms, arms then legs. This is the order you should follow for your pulls. Bend your legs as you bring the handle in towards the front of the rower, once you run out of room with the legs then move your arms forward. On the pull back, initiate the pull with your arms, then your legs. 

3. Chest stays up the ENTIRE time. If you let your chest fall too far forward or backward, you will start to feel this movement in your lower back. 

4. Let the chain recoil. If you pull super fast, the chain won’t have time to recoil therefore you won’t get the traction you need to gain more meters or calories. Think fast on the pull, slow on the way back in. 

5. Don’t overpull with the arms. It’s about your legs on the rower, not your arms. Let the legs do the majority of the work. Think about the drive from the legs like a deadlift!

Use these helpful videos to get a visual: 

• Improve Your Rowing- Concept 2 

• Rowing Machine Technique and Benefits

• Rowing: 7 Point Checklist