As the stationary bike at the gym mimics outdoor cycling, the rowing machine (erg) simulates the full-body workout that combines cardio and strength of rowing a boat, but without getting wet! While it may look intimidating at first, it's actually more beginner-friendly than you might think—and it provides one heck of a workout.

"The rowing machine is like the Swiss Army knife of the gym," says professional rower Michelle Sosa. "Its multiple purposes include low-impact workouts, high-intensity sprint intervals, low-intensity endurance development, full-body strength training, core training, heart health, and posture control." Swiss Army knife is right—the rower seemingly does it all.

Let's break down what you actually get out of using the rowing machine. What are some of the benefits of using a rower, and why would you want to hop on one at Success Studio?

1. Burn a lot of calories. Depending on your body weight and how vigorously you're rowing, you could burn between 400 and 500 calories an hour on the rowing machine.

2. Improve your aerobic fitness. Rowing regularly can help increase your stamina and endurance while improving your overall cardiovascular health.

3. Get a full-body workout. The rowing machine is unique in its ability to target 85% of your body's muscles in order to perform the full movement or stroke properly. The major muscles in your legs, arms, back, and core must all activate, providing a total body workout that will increase your body strength as well as your cardiovascular capacity.

4. Improve lower-body conditioning. 60% Of rowing works the legs and only 20% of the movement is arm-based. The rest is distributed across the remainder of your body.

5. Less injury risk. Because it's low-impact you can work at a high intensity without as much wear-and-tear on your joints. Higher-intensity exercises like plyometrics and sprinting can sometimes be hard on the body, but low-impact tools like rowing machines and bicycles are great for the body.

6. Build better posture. Since the rowing machine primarily uses your legs, core, and back, it has loads of postural benefits, and is a great tool to engage the posterior chain [backside] of the body. Working your posterior chain is super important for balancing our muscle strength, reducing injury risk, and helping correct the bad posture that's common in our sedentary society.

7. It’s novice-friendly. One of the additional benefits is that it's easy for beginners to try.

Unlike other cardio options, the erg has the edge of being both strength and cardio at once, so you're getting the cardio workout and the aerobic exercise, but you're also doing moves similar to what you'd do with big, heavy weights; rowing has very similar movement patterns to deadlifts, seated rows, leg presses, and even calf raises from when you push away from the platform.

So while the rowing machine is an incredibly efficient, full-body workout that allows you to build aerobic endurance and muscular strength at the same time, a lack of proper technique and training is common which can lead to injuries and misuse. Olympic rowers and experienced collegiate crews make the rowing stroke look easy and pretty darn effortless. But make no mistake, the rowing stroke is nuanced, complex, and can take years to master on the water. Luckily for those of you at the gym, the erg is a far simpler machine that can be perfected with some basic knowledge of technique and a little bit of practice:

CATCH

The “catch” is the beginning of the stroke. Here you are at full compression forward and taking the weight of the stroke. If you were in an actual rowing boat, you could visualize the blade as entering the water and “catching” the weight of its resistance.

DRIVE

The “drive” describes the basic sequence of the rowing stroke, which is legs first, then back, and finally arms. A few common mistakes to avoid are pulling with your arms first or opening up with your shoulders before you’ve driven the legs down.

FINISH

Quite literally, the “finish” of the stroke. After completing the stroke sequence, you should be sitting with your legs flat, shoulders behind your hips, and the handle drawn horizontally to the body at the lower ribs.

RECOVER

When you rest! From the “finish” position, the correct sequence is to move the hands away from the body first, then pivot from the hips to get back into that strong body position forward (your shoulders should be in front of your hips) and finally break the knees to roll up the slide to the starting “catch” position. This movement should be blended together so as not to be too rigid, but the handle needs to get out past your knees before you start to roll up the slide so the handle doesn’t have to go up and over your knees. It can also be helpful to keep in mind that the handle should remain on one horizontal plane for the entire stroke and recovery, instead of bobbing up and down.

In addition to technique, there are a few other things, like resistance levels, you’ll need to know. But all you have to do is ask a Success Studio Trainer. They are available to show you how you to get from coxwain to rower in no time!