Apple Watch Rowing: Tracking Workouts, Metrics, and Benefits

Is there a rowing workout on Apple Watch?

Yes, the Apple Watch fully supports rowing workouts through its native Workout app, offering dedicated tracking for both indoor and outdoor rowing activities with comprehensive metrics.

Yes, Apple Watch Fully Supports Rowing Workouts

The Apple Watch, a sophisticated fitness and health tracker, provides robust support for a wide array of physical activities, and rowing is no prominent exception. Users can readily track their rowing sessions directly from their wrist using the built-in Workout application, which is designed to capture relevant data points crucial for performance analysis and progress monitoring. This native integration ensures a seamless and intuitive experience, allowing rowers to focus on their technique and effort rather than complex setup procedures.

How to Start a Rowing Workout on Your Apple Watch

Initiating a rowing workout on your Apple Watch is a straightforward process, designed for quick access whether you're on an ergometer indoors or a scull outdoors.

1. Open the Workout App: From your Apple Watch's app menu, tap on the green icon featuring a running figure.
2. Scroll to Rowing Options: Use the Digital Crown to scroll through the list of available workout types. You will find two distinct options relevant to rowing:
   • Indoor Row: Select this for sessions on a rowing machine (ergometer) where GPS data is not applicable.
   • Outdoor Row: Choose this for rowing on water (e.g., sculling, kayaking, stand-up paddleboarding where the motion is similar to rowing) to utilize the Apple Watch's GPS for distance and route tracking.
3. Set Your Goal (Optional): Before starting, you can tap the three-dot icon (...) next to the workout type to set specific goals such as time, distance, calories, or an open goal (no specific target).
4. Start Your Workout: Tap the workout type or the "Start" button to begin the countdown. Once the countdown finishes, your workout will commence tracking.
5. End Your Workout: When you're finished, swipe right on the watch face and tap "End." You can then review a summary of your workout directly on the watch or later in the Fitness app on your iPhone.

Metrics Tracked During a Rowing Workout

The Apple Watch provides a wealth of data during and after your rowing sessions, offering valuable insights into your performance and physiological responses.

• Active Calories: This metric estimates the energy expended during your workout, calculated based on your heart rate, movement, and personal data (age, weight, height). It's a key indicator of workout intensity and overall energy output.
• Total Calories: Includes both active calories and your basal metabolic rate (calories burned just to maintain bodily functions).
• Heart Rate: Your heart rate is continuously monitored, providing real-time feedback on your cardiovascular effort. This is crucial for training within specific heart rate zones to achieve different fitness goals (e.g., endurance, fat burning, peak performance).
• Duration: The total time spent actively rowing.
• Distance (Outdoor Row): For outdoor rowing, GPS tracks the distance covered, offering a precise measure of your travel.
• Average Pace (Outdoor Row): Calculated from your distance and duration, providing insight into your speed on the water.
• Splits (Indoor/Outdoor Row): While not explicitly displayed as "splits" on the watch face, the data collected allows for analysis of performance over various time or distance intervals post-workout in the Fitness app.
• Workout Rings: Your rowing activity contributes to closing your Move, Exercise, and Stand rings, motivating consistent activity.

Enhancing Your Rowing Experience with Apple Watch

Beyond the native Workout app, the Apple Watch offers several avenues to augment your rowing data and experience.

• Third-Party App Integration: Many popular rowing machines and fitness platforms offer companion apps that can integrate with Apple Health and, by extension, your Apple Watch. Apps like those from Hydrow, Concept2 (via ErgData or other apps), or general fitness trackers like Strava, can often sync workout data, providing more specialized rowing metrics or social sharing features.
• Bluetooth Connectivity with Rowing Machines: Advanced rowing machines, such as those with Concept2 PM5 monitors or WaterRower's SmartRow, can often connect via Bluetooth to third-party apps on your iPhone or directly to your Apple Watch (depending on the app). This allows for highly accurate stroke rate, power output (watts), and pace data to be recorded alongside your Apple Watch's heart rate and calorie estimates, creating a richer dataset for analysis.
• Customizing Workout Views: You can customize the metrics displayed on your Apple Watch screen during a workout. By going to the Watch app on your iPhone, selecting "Workout," then "Workout View," you can choose which metrics are most important for you to see at a glance during your rowing session.

The Benefits of Rowing Workouts

Rowing is renowned as one of the most comprehensive full-body workouts available, offering a multitude of physiological benefits that the Apple Watch helps you track and optimize.

• Full-Body Engagement: Rowing engages approximately 85% of your body's musculature. It primarily works the legs (quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes), core (abdominals, obliques, erector spinae), and upper body (lats, rhomboids, trapezius, biceps, triceps, deltoids).
• Cardiovascular Health: As a highly effective aerobic exercise, rowing significantly improves cardiovascular endurance, strengthens the heart, and enhances lung capacity.
• Strength and Power Development: The rhythmic, repetitive motion builds muscular strength and power, particularly in the legs and back.
• Low-Impact Exercise: Rowing is a non-weight-bearing activity, making it gentle on the joints (knees, hips, ankles) compared to high-impact exercises like running. This makes it an excellent option for injury recovery or for individuals seeking joint-friendly fitness.
• Calorie Expenditure: Due to its full-body nature and potential for high intensity, rowing burns a substantial number of calories, aiding in weight management and body composition goals.

Optimizing Your Apple Watch for Rowing

To ensure the most accurate and beneficial data from your Apple Watch during rowing, consider these tips:

• Proper Watch Fit: Ensure your Apple Watch is snug on your wrist, but not uncomfortably tight. This allows the optical heart rate sensor to maintain consistent contact with your skin, providing more accurate heart rate readings.
• Calibrate Your Watch: Periodically calibrating your Apple Watch for walking or running outdoors can improve the accuracy of distance and pace estimates for other workout types, including indoor rowing where GPS isn't used. Go to "Settings" > "Privacy & Security" > "Location Services" > "Apple Watch Workouts" on your iPhone, and ensure "Workout Power Saving Mode" is off for calibration benefits.
• Water Resistance: The Apple Watch is water-resistant, making it suitable for sweaty indoor sessions and splashes during outdoor rowing. While it can withstand submersion, prolonged exposure to harsh chemicals or high-velocity water jets should be avoided.

Conclusion: Leveraging Technology for Optimal Training

The Apple Watch is a powerful tool for anyone incorporating rowing into their fitness regimen. Its native support for indoor and outdoor rowing workouts, coupled with detailed metric tracking, provides fitness enthusiasts, personal trainers, and student kinesiologists with valuable data to monitor progress, optimize training intensity, and achieve specific health and performance goals. By understanding how to utilize its features, integrate with third-party tools, and ensure proper setup, rowers can leverage this wearable technology to elevate their training and maximize the profound benefits of this exceptional full-body exercise.