Types of Rowing Machines

Every rowing machine puts you through the same movement — legs, then back, then arms, in that order — but they resist that movement in four different ways. The resistance type is what decides how the stroke feels, how loud the machine is, what it costs to keep, and whether it belongs in a flat or a garage. Get this decision right and the specific model matters much less than the internet suggests.

Air resistance

An air rower spins a caged fan. Air resists faster movement disproportionately, so the harder and quicker you pull, the more the machine pushes back — and when you ease off, it eases off with you. That self-scaling behaviour is why air is the standard for competitive and structured training: two people of different strengths can use the same machine at the same setting and both be working at their own limit.

The damper on an air rower is not a difficulty dial, despite being used as one. It changes how much air reaches the flywheel, which changes the feelof the stroke — a high damper is like rowing a heavy boat, a low one like a light racing shell. Your actual intensity is decided by how hard you pull, which the monitor reports as a split time.

The trade-off is noise. The fan sound isthe resistance, so a quiet air rower is a contradiction in terms. Air machines also tend to be long — plan around 9 ft by 4 ft of clear floor for a full-size erg — though many separate or stand upright for storage. Concept2 publishes five years on frame parts and two on moving parts and the monitor, which is unusually strong for home equipment and part of why these machines hold value.

Magnetic resistance

A magnet is moved closer to or further from a steel flywheel; the closer it sits, the more braking force it applies. Nothing touches, so there is nothing to wear out and almost nothing to hear. Resistance is set by a lever or console at a fixed level and stays there no matter how hard you pull.

That makes magnetic rowers the right answer for shared floors, early mornings and small rooms — the machines are usually shorter than air rowers and most fold. It also makes them repeatable: level 6 today is level 6 next week, which is easier to program around than an air rower’s effort-scaled drag if you are new to structured training.

What you give up is the feel of the stroke answering you back, and usually the monitor. Budget magnetic rowers ship with basic LCDs that count strokes and estimate calories rather than reporting a proper split, so comparing your sessions to anyone else’s is not really possible. Rail length is also the spec to check: cheaper magnetic frames are short, and taller rowers run out of slide.

Water resistance

Paddles turn inside a sealed tank. Like air, water resists faster movement more, so the stroke scales with effort — and it produces the whoosh that is the whole reason many people buy one. Water rowers usually look better than other machines, which matters if the rower lives in a living room rather than a garage.

The costs are honest ones: the sound is real and repeats every few seconds, the tank needs topping up and treating to keep the water clear, and mid-range water rowers rarely match air machines on data. Capacity can also be lower than you expect at this price point, so check the published maximum user weight before buying. We compare the two most cross-shopped types directly in water vs magnetic.

Electromagnetic and connected rowers

A newer variation: resistance is still magnetic, but a computer controls it, so a class or program can change the drag for you mid-session. That is what makes an instructor able to say “push” and have the machine respond. These are the quietest machines of all — there is no fan and no water — and the most expensive, and the class content that justifies them is normally a paid membership.

Buy one only if you will genuinely use the classes. Price the machine plus two years of membership before you compare it to an air rower with no ongoing cost; that arithmetic is laid out in how much a home gym costs, and the wider connected-equipment question in smart home gym equipment.

Hydraulic resistance

The cheapest and smallest type: one or two pistons, like the strut on a car boot, resisting the arms. They fold into a cupboard and cost a fraction of everything above.

We do not feature one, and here is why. Piston resistance changes as the cylinder warms up over a session, so the effort you set at the start is not the effort you finish with. The arms often pivot independently rather than pulling a single handle, which is not the rowing stroke. And because the resistance sits at the arms, the movement tends to become an upper-body exercise rather than the legs-first, full-body pattern that makes rowing worth doing. If space and budget are both tight, an entry-level magnetic rower or a jump rope gets you more real training per dollar.

Choosing by your constraint, not by the reviews

In practice one constraint usually decides this:

• Noise matters most(flat, shared walls, sleeping household) → magnetic, or an electromagnetic machine if the budget stretches.
• Training data matters most(intervals, splits, comparing sessions) → air, with a proper performance monitor.
• Feel and looks matter most(the machine lives in a living room) → water.
• Space matters most→ a folding magnetic rower, and measure the rail length against your height before ordering.

Whichever type you land on, the rowing stroke itself is the same and is worth learning properly: legs drive, then the body swings back, then the arms finish, and the sequence reverses on the recovery. Rowing well is what makes it a genuine full-body, low-impact session — and rowing badly is what makes it a lower-back complaint. Our rowing machine roundup has the current picks with live prices, and quietest cardio machines covers what to put under whichever one you choose.