How does rowing compare to using a treadmill at home?

Rowing machines and treadmills represent two popular choices for home cardio equipment, each offering distinct workout experiences. Rowing provides a full-body, low-impact workout that engages approximately 86% of your muscles while simulating the motion of rowing a boat. Treadmills, on the other hand, focus primarily on lower body muscles through walking or running motions. When comparing these two machines, rowing typically offers more muscle engagement, joint protection, and space efficiency, while treadmills excel in familiarity and workout variety. Your choice should depend on your specific fitness goals, space constraints, joint health considerations, and the type of workout experience you prefer.

Understanding home fitness options: Rowing vs treadmill basics

Home fitness equipment has become increasingly important for maintaining an active lifestyle without the need for gym memberships. Rowing machines and treadmills represent two distinct approaches to cardio exercise, each with their own mechanisms and benefits.

Rowing machines operate through a pulling motion that simulates the action of rowing a boat. You sit on a sliding seat with your feet secured on footplates, then grasp a handle connected to a resistance mechanism. The rowing stroke consists of four phases: catch, drive, finish, and recovery, creating a cyclical motion that engages multiple muscle groups simultaneously.

Treadmills, by contrast, provide a platform for the familiar activities of walking or running. The motorized belt moves beneath your feet, allowing you to maintain a consistent pace. Most modern treadmills offer adjustable incline settings to simulate uphill terrain and increase workout intensity.

People choose these machines for home use because they provide reliable cardio workouts regardless of weather conditions, time constraints, or safety concerns about outdoor exercise. Both offer trackable metrics to monitor progress, though they deliver fundamentally different exercise experiences.

Which burns more calories: Rowing or using a treadmill?

The calorie-burning potential of both rowing machines and treadmills depends significantly on several factors including workout intensity, duration, and your individual body composition. Neither machine inherently burns more calories than the other—it’s how you use them that matters most.

Rowing machines activate both upper and lower body muscles simultaneously, creating a compound exercise effect that can lead to efficient calorie burning. The full-body nature of rowing means you’re engaging more muscle groups in a single movement, which can elevate your metabolic rate both during and after your workout.

Treadmills focus primarily on lower body muscles but allow for straightforward intensity adjustments through speed and incline changes. Running at high speeds or steep inclines can create substantial calorie burn, particularly for those accustomed to this form of exercise.

For beginners, rowing might initially burn fewer calories until proper technique is developed. However, as technique improves, rowing often provides an excellent calorie-burning workout with less perceived exertion than high-intensity treadmill running. The key difference lies in sustainability—many find they can maintain longer rowing sessions at moderate intensity compared to high-impact running on a treadmill.

What muscle groups does each exercise target?

Rowing machines and treadmills engage distinctly different muscle patterns, with rowing providing more comprehensive muscle recruitment throughout the body. Understanding these differences can help you choose the best machine for your fitness goals.

Rowing delivers a genuine full-body workout, activating approximately 86% of your muscles through the rowing stroke. During the drive phase, you’ll engage your quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes powerfully as you push with your legs. Your core muscles, including abdominals and lower back, stabilize your torso throughout the movement. As you pull the handle toward your body, you activate your rhomboids, trapezius, lats, biceps, and forearms. This comprehensive muscle engagement makes rowing exceptionally efficient for balanced strength development.

Treadmills primarily focus on lower body muscles. Walking or running activates your quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, and glutes. Your core muscles engage somewhat for stability, but upper body involvement is minimal unless you deliberately add arm movements. The repeated impact of running does create more bone-loading stimulus, which can benefit bone density when tolerated well.

For those seeking total body conditioning from a single machine, rowing provides more balanced muscle development, while treadmills excel at lower body and cardiovascular conditioning specifically.

How do rowing and treadmill workouts impact your joints?

The impact on your joints represents one of the most significant differences between rowing machines and treadmills. This factor alone often influences which machine might be more suitable for your long-term fitness journey.

Rowing machines provide a low-impact workout that puts minimal stress on your joints. The seated position eliminates the repetitive impact forces that occur during running or walking. During rowing, your joints move through a controlled range of motion with continuous, smooth resistance rather than sudden impacts. This makes rowing an excellent option for people with existing joint concerns, those recovering from injuries, or anyone looking to maintain joint health while exercising vigorously.

Treadmills, especially when used for running, create substantially more impact force. Each step results in force traveling through your feet, ankles, knees, hips, and lower back. While walking produces less impact than running, both activities involve repeated impact forces that accumulate over time. Some treadmills offer shock-absorption features to reduce impact, but they cannot eliminate it entirely.

For those with joint pain, arthritis, or injury recovery needs, rowing typically offers a safer option that allows intense exercise without joint stress. However, proper rowing technique is essential—poor form, particularly during the drive phase, can potentially strain the lower back.

Are rowing machines or treadmills better for small spaces?

Space efficiency is an important consideration when selecting home exercise equipment, and rowing machines and treadmills have different spatial requirements and storage options that may influence your decision.

Rowing machines, particularly those with folding designs, often provide better space efficiency. When in use, a typical rowing machine requires a footprint of approximately 8 feet by 2 feet. Many models feature vertical storage capabilities, allowing them to occupy minimal floor space when not in use. Some compact models can fold to reduce their length by half or more, making them suitable for apartments and smaller homes.

Treadmills generally require a similar footprint when in use—approximately 7 feet by 3 feet—but have additional space requirements. You need clearance behind the treadmill for safety (typically 6-8 feet) in case of falls. Most folding treadmills still maintain a substantial footprint even when stored, and their heavier frames make them more difficult to move. Treadmills typically weigh significantly more than rowing machines, making repositioning more challenging.

For very limited spaces, certain rowing machine models offer better overall space optimization when considering both in-use dimensions and storage options. However, if you have a dedicated workout area where equipment can remain permanently set up, either option could work well.

Which machine offers more workout variety?

Both rowing machines and treadmills provide various training protocols to keep your workouts engaging and effective, though they differ in how that variety is implemented and experienced.

Rowing machines offer workout variety through changing resistance levels, stroke rates, and training protocols. You can perform steady-state cardio, high-intensity interval training, power-focused workouts, or endurance sessions all on the same machine. The versatility comes from manipulating your power output, stroke rate, and duration rather than changing the basic movement pattern. Advanced rowing machines provide performance metrics that allow for detailed training variations based on watts, split times, or distance goals.

Treadmills create variety through adjustable speed and incline settings. You can walk, jog, run, perform hill intervals, or try specialized programs like heart rate-based training. Many modern treadmills come with pre-programmed workouts that automatically adjust these variables. Some high-end models even offer decline settings to simulate downhill running.

For those who enjoy running and walking variations, treadmills may provide more immediately apparent variety. However, rowing machines offer more total-body training variation and metabolic conditioning options, despite maintaining the same fundamental rowing motion.

Making the right choice: Which home cardio machine suits your goals?

Choosing between a rowing machine and a treadmill ultimately depends on matching the equipment to your specific fitness goals, physical condition, and personal preferences.

If you’re seeking full-body conditioning with minimal joint stress, a rowing machine likely represents your optimal choice. Rowing develops both cardiovascular fitness and muscular endurance across major muscle groups while protecting your joints from impact forces. It’s particularly well-suited for those with existing joint concerns, people seeking efficient workouts, or anyone looking to build functional strength alongside cardio fitness.

Treadmills may be preferable if running or walking forms an important part of your fitness identity, you’re training specifically for walking or running events, or you simply prefer upright exercise. The familiar motion requires minimal technique learning compared to mastering proper rowing form.

For space efficiency and quieter operation, rowing machines typically have the advantage. However, if motivational features and pre-programmed workout variety are priorities, many treadmills excel in these areas.

At RP3 Rowing, we focus on creating dynamic rowing machines that provide a realistic rowing experience. Our approach emphasizes the natural, fluid motion that makes rowing both effective and sustainable as a lifetime fitness activity. We believe the full-body, low-impact nature of rowing offers unique advantages for home exercisers seeking both strength and cardiovascular benefits without joint stress.

Whichever machine you choose, consistency with your workouts will ultimately determine your fitness results. The best cardio machine is the one you’ll use regularly with proper form and progressive challenge.

If you’re interested in learning more about the benefits of rowing, reach out to our team of experts today.