{"id":81170,"date":"2025-08-20T00:30:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T00:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/81170\/"},"modified":"2025-08-20T00:30:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T00:30:14","slug":"why-rowing-machines-are-cyclists-secret-to-stronger-climbs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/81170\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Rowing Machines Are Cyclists\u2019 Secret to Stronger Climbs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gone are the days when cyclists were told that to ride stronger, they simply needed to \u201cride more.\u201d We now know that cross training is essential for excelling on the bike, and also for preventing and alleviating issues like back pain<\/a> or knee pain<\/a>. To ride at your best, you have to train doing things other than just riding. Enter a perfect cross training solution: the rowing machine\u2014and the rowing machine workout below designed to make you a stronger climber.<\/p>\n

Related Story<\/p>\n

Almost every gym has a rowing machine, and they\u2019re often overlooked by cyclists as the golden cross training tool that they are. But don\u2019t make this mistake, because the rower\u2014sometimes called an \u201cerg\u201d or ergometer\u2014may be the perfect compliment to building cycling strength and endurance, especially when it comes to improving your climbing speed. It\u2019s no coincidence that pro cyclists like Olympic champion Kristen Faulkner<\/a> of the EF Education-Oatly team<\/a> and recently retired Liv Alula Jayco Cycling Team<\/a> rider Georgie Howe, for example, were competitive rowers before joining the pro peloton.<\/p>\n

Rowing fitness feeds cycling fitness in a big way, but before we get into that, let\u2019s state the obvious: the rowing machine provides an extremely effective workout regardless of what you\u2019re training for because it utilizes upwards of 80 percent of your entire musculature when you\u2019re using proper form. This is a good thing that will compliment your overall cycling fitness. But the benefits go beyond cardiovascular endurance.<\/p>\n

Rowing may look like it\u2019s primarily an upper body workout, but it\u2019s not. If done with proper form and fluid motion, training on the rowing machine delivers one of the best core workouts of any cardio machine on the gym floor, actively strengthening your core muscles and providing the stability and control you need to power up climbs and maintain your form.<\/p>\n

Related Story<\/p>\n

Your legs put in a lot of work during a session on the erg, too. The leg drive during a rowing stroke, engaging the quads, hamstrings, and glutes, mimics the powerful leg extension required for cycling, particularly when pushing against the resistance of a climb. Strengthening this movement pattern will increase your overall leg strength and endurance, making those long climbs feel less daunting.<\/p>\n

Regular rowing workouts will also boost your climbing by strengthening the \u201cpulling muscles\u201d in your back that pull up on the handlebars as you\u2019re powering up a steep stretch of road. A strong back also translates to better riding posture, and better riding posture makes everything on the bike feel, well, better. <\/p>\n

Last but certainly not least, rowing is also an extremely challenging, low-impact cardiovascular workout that increases your aerobic capacity in a big way without adding any stress on your joints. This translates to better cycling endurance, enabling you to sustain those arduous climbing efforts for longer.<\/p>\n

So the bottom line is, if you want to ride stronger and climb faster, make the rowing machine your best gym buddy. <\/p>\n

Related Story<\/p>\n

Not sure where to start? If the rowing machine is new to you, my advice is to start by just \u201crowing along\u201d using a mid-range resistance until you feel comfortable and confident in your form and your ability to perform the movement with good posture. Make sure you\u2019re feeling your core work during the rowing stroke. Once you feel confident and comfortable, give the workout below a try. <\/p>\n

This workout is designed to simulate the demands of aggressive climbing, specifically targeting your climbing muscles and improving your ability to tackle hills on the bike.<\/p>\n

Trainer Tip: During the high-intensity portions of the workout, focus on maintaining proper form: push powerfully through your legs, engage your core, and finish the stroke with your back and arms. This will maximize muscle engagement and enhance the workout’s effectiveness for improving your climbing performance.<\/p>\n

Rowing Machine Climbing Workout for CyclistsWarm-up:5-10 minutes of light rowing, gradually increasing intensity.Main set:High-Resistance Climb Simulation (3 sets):Row for 5 minutes at a high intensity and low stroke rate, mimicking the effort of grinding up a steep climb in a low gear.Follow with 1 minute of easy rowing with light resistance. This is 1 set.Repeat for 3 sets before moving on to Sprint Bursts.Sprint Bursts (6 sets):Row at an all-out effort for 20 seconds, simulating a surge or sprint up a hill.Follow with 1 minute of very light rowing to recover. This is one set.Repeat for 3 sets before moving on to the cool down.Cool down:5 minutes of easy rowing, focusing on controlled breathing and posture. Learn More About Rowing Machine Training for Cycling\"Lettermark\"<\/p>\n

Natascha has been a NASM-certified personal trainer for over ten years, focusing on functional strength training and corrective exercise\u2014which is a fancy way of saying her passion is teaching people how to move better, with more strength and less pain. She holds multiple certifications, including specializations in corrective exercise, stretching and flexibility, behavior change, nutrition and more. She\u2019s also been into bikes for almost three decades, and has at various times been a bike mechanic, a frame builder\u2019s apprentice, a grunt at a bike messenger company, a fitness studio owner, a Spin instructor and a few different things at a few different bike companies. These days, she\u2019s one of Bicycling\u2019s Health and Fitness editors.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gone are the days when cyclists were told that to ride stronger, they simply needed to \u201cride more.\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":81171,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,3769,61537,784,28031,2387,61536,85],"class_list":["post-81170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-content-type-how-to-service","tag-contentid-c0fb7563-5354-49f9-a50c-a0e377a84955","tag-cycling","tag-displaytype-long-form-article","tag-locale-us","tag-shorttitle-want-to-crush-steep-climbs-try-this-rowing-workout","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81170\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}