As GQ reports, the rowing machine may improve your VO₂ max more than running. That’s a bold claim backed by performance data. Because rowing recruits large muscle groups all at once, your heart and lungs are pushed to deliver more oxygen per stroke. In one cited study, VO₂ max improved by 10 percent in just eight weeks of steady and interval-based rowing. And because you’re not battling gravity like in running, your joints stay protected while your heart rate climbs.
Rowing doesn’t isolate. It integrates. According to the GQ article, rowing activates 80 to 85 percent of the body’s major muscles. Your legs, glutes, and hips drive the stroke. Your core stabilizes. Your back and arms finish the pull. It’s not just movement. It’s muscular coordination. And when you track stroke wattage, as we explored in this article, you get precise feedback on how efficiently those muscles are working together.
GQ also highlights rowing’s role in joint protection. A 12-week study on adults with mild knee osteoarthritis showed improved leg strength and reduced pain from guided rowing. But form is critical. Poor posture or flared knees can shift load away from the muscles and into the joints. Experts recommend following the classic stroke order—legs, body, arms on the drive—and ramping up distance by no more than 10 percent per week to let tissues adapt.
Lab tests cited in GQ show that rowing matches treadmill running in peak oxygen uptake while outperforming the elliptical. Even when heart rate is lower, rowing moves more oxygen per beat. That signals more cardiovascular work per minute. And because it combines resistance and rhythm, the rower offers both metabolic challenge and mental clarity.
The article outlines a few simple formats from 2K time trials to row-and-lift circuits that highlight rowing’s range. Want to build strength? Swap in kettlebell lifts between sprints. Want endurance? Hold consistent effort across intervals. But for real insight, forget the 500-meter split. Watts tell the fuller story by measuring not just pace but how much power you’re actually producing. As we’ve shared before, elite rowers chase watts because that’s where real progress lives.
