The Steady-State Rowing Machine is a beginner-friendly machine strength exercise that targets the quadriceps, lats and middle back, with the glutes, hamstrings, biceps and abdominals working alongside. Here's how to do it right — and what to stop doing.
Primary musclesQuads, Lats, Middle Back
Secondary musclesGlutes, Hamstrings, Biceps, Abs
EquipmentMachine
LevelBeginner
TypeStrength
3D demo in the EGON app
01 Execution
How to do the Steady-State Rowing Machine
Strap your feet in so the strap crosses the ball of the foot, and set a moderate damper.
Come to the catch with shins vertical, arms straight, and the shoulders slightly ahead of the hips.
Push the legs down while the arms stay straight and the back holds its angle.
Once the legs are nearly flat, swing the back open and draw the handle to the bottom of the ribs.
Extend the arms away, hinge the torso forward, then bend the knees and slide back to the catch.
Repeat at a rate you can sustain, taking about twice as long on the recovery as on the drive.
02 The payoff
Why it earns its spot
Builds aerobic base below lactate threshold with no impact loading on the joints.
Recruits legs, trunk and upper body in one continuous pattern, unlike leg-only cardio machines.
Rewards a repeatable rhythm, which makes it easy to hold a target pace for long pieces.
03 Don't do this
Common mistakes
Pushing the legs and leaning back at once, which is inefficient and loads the lower back.
Recovering as fast as you drive, which cuts the next stroke short and raises the rate for no extra pace.
Pulling the handle high to the collarbone, which puts the finish above the strong line of the ribs.
Setting the damper at maximum, which turns a rhythmic aerobic piece into slow heavy pulling.
EGON Put it on record
Track it in EGON.
Log every set of the Steady-State Rowing Machine, get your PRs detected automatically, earn aura for the work — and climb five leagues of statues, from Stone to Ego.
