The RowErg:
legs, legs, legs. 🚣

Station 5 gives you the only seat in the race — and that is exactly why people blow it. It is 1,000 m on a Concept2 RowErg, and the legs do the majority of the work. Treat it as a rest and you hand your quads to the three stations still to come.

🎯 What actually matters on the RowErg

💡 The stroke is legs → body → arms on the drive, then arms → body → legs on the recovery. If your arms are burning, you are rowing it wrong — that is the classic CrossFit-era mistake.

💪 Which muscles this station actually works

Highlighted on the same 18-muscle map we use for every other exercise on the site — open the interactive muscle map →

🏆 Buying a RowErg

As with the SkiErg, HYROX races on the Concept2 RowErg at every event — the same flywheel and PM5 monitor in a rowing frame. There is no race-accurate alternative to weigh up:

RowErg (standard legs)Notes
Seat height36 cm (14 in)A 51 cm tall-leg version also exists
Price$990Concept2 list, September 2026
Footprint in use~244 cm × 61 cm (9 × 4 ft)The longest footprint in your home gym
StorageSplits into two piecesStands vertically, about 30 seconds
User capacity227 kg / 500 lb5-year frame warranty
Race legalYesSkiErg, RowErg and BikeErg share the PM5

If floor space is the constraint, measure before you buy: the RowErg needs about 2.4 m of run. The SkiErg wall-mount is the space-efficient erg of the two.

🛒 Where to buy

ErgsConcept2 RowErg ($990) · Concept2 PM5 & accessories
Consider instead — a SkiErg (also $850–$1,085) uses far less floor and trains the same engine

Manufacturer list prices, checked September 2026 — they move. These links go to the makers, not to us. How we make money →

⛷️ SkiErg

Station 1. Same flywheel, same damper 6, upper-body and core dominant.

Ski guide →

🏋️ Farmers Carry

Station 6 follows immediately. Your grip is already partly spent.

Carry guide →

📊 Score board

Every product we rate, on one consistent scale.

Open →

Rowing for HYROX?

Send this to a friend who thinks rowing is an upper-body workout.