Rowing on the gym machine or the glossy water is an excellent low-impact cardiovascular workout that engages and strengthens multiple muscle groups in your arms, legs, core, and back. Ergometers or rowing machines simulate the resistance and the movement of rowing on water, and they remain one of the most popular workout machines at almost every gym you go to for good reason.
As well as providing benefits like torching calories and enhancing strength, flexibility, and endurance, I also love the feeling of stretching and working my shoulders and back. The next time you try rowing on the water, you’ll notice a boost in your rowing abilities. Plus, it’s an interesting change from the treadmill, elliptical, or exercise bike. Research shows that rowing five days a week for six weeks reduces total body fat percentage, fat mass, and cholesterol and increases back strength and trunk flexion.
Intro to Jack Nunn and the rowing machine
National team rowers have a significant degree of strength and endurance to continue rowing through the competition. We asked former national team rower and experienced fitness trainer Jack Nunn to share his tips on using the rowing machine and how it helps with endurance sports.
Over 100 triathlons
Nunn is the head trainer and owner of Roworx, a fitness center in Long Beach, California, and he’s successfully completed over 100 triathlons, including 19 full Ironmans. Nunn also developed a Roworx fitness class system incorporating high-intensity interval training or HIIT. When it comes to the rowing machine, Nunn has plenty of experience.
Interview with Jack Nunn
The Manual (TM): How often do you recommend using the rowing machine every week?
Jack Nunn: Rowing is one of the best muscle/endurance exercises you can do, and it has a low impact. Technically, you can row every single day due to its virtual, nonimpact nature on the joints.
TM: How did you get into rowing? Has fitness always been a big part of your life?
Jack Nunn: My entire family played sports growing up, including both sides of my grandparents. My grandfathers on both sides played professional football. My father was an Olympic bronze medalist for Team USA in the double sculls rowing event in the ’68 Mexico City Olympic Games and the USA men’s Olympic rowing/sculling coach in the ’76 Montreal Olympic Games.
TM: How did you train for those 100 triathlons, including the 19 full Ironman triathlons?
Jack Nunn: I mostly used the rowing machine to cross-train for all my triathlons, including 19 full Ironmans and 9 half Ironmans and 1 Ultraman. On average, I would teach 15 indoor rowing classes a week on the concept, 2 rowing machine classes at my fitness center called Roworx in Long Beach.
TM: What tips can you share for those wanting to train for a triathlon?
Jack Nunn: Consistency, coaching, and planning.
Consistency: Create habits with good fitness training and proper nutrition on a daily basis. Be honest about how many hours you are putting into your training every single week. 50% of your total training time should be on the bike, 35% on running, and the last 15% on swimming. Rowing can supplement most of these types of training as well if you miss specific swim, bike, and running training workouts.
Coaching: Pick a good coach who has experience not only in triathlons but other endurance sports at a high level. I was on the U.S. National Rowing Team for 5 years, training and racing alongside Olympic gold medalists in my sport as well as highly qualified Olympic coaches who taught us everything. They taught us how to train effectively and efficiently and how to strengthen the psychological aspects of endurance sports. This experience can’t be bought and/or learned; it can only be obtained by putting yourself through competitions and going through this training in real time, day in and day out.
Planning: Ironman training is usually planned 8 to 12 months out, usually for the best success. Everything from getting the right equipment to race day, packing your bike, and planning things around your trip, which is what I was definitely proud of looking back on my races. I would do a majority of my races abroad in Europe so that I could explore new countries and vacation after the competitions and enjoy my trip in full.
TM: Could you share more about your experience as a national team rower and gold medal winner?
Jack Nunn: I got a scholarship to UC Berkeley for the men’s rowing team out of high school, and my father got me started rowing in Long Beach. Spending four years at UC Berkeley under one of the most famous collegiate coaches of all time, Steve Gladstone, I won three Division One National Championships and four Pacific 10 Championships.
I would say the best experience I had was having a team of the best coaches in the United States, including my father, who I talked to every day for guidance and advice. I learned a tremendous amount of information not only from my coaches but also from my fellow teammates who came from all over the world and 14 Olympic rowing athletes while rowing at Berkeley.
TM: How do you feel rowing helps you improve at endurance sports?
Jack Nunn: Rowing is one of the most demanding physical and psychological sports you can do in the world of endurance sports. Some of the highest ever recorded VO2 max testing numbers come from rowing athletes. VO2 max is the maximum volume (V) of oxygen (O2) your body can process.
A VO2 max score is a little like horsepower in a car — it’s a measure of the capacity your body (engine) has to use oxygen when exercising. If you have a high VO2 max, you have a big engine. With rowing, essentially, you get more endurance and strength gains per workout than virtually any other fitness training workout, including cycling and running.
TM: Could you tell us more about Rowox?
Jack Nunn: The Roworx fitness center is located at 5750 Boathouse Lane in Long Beach, California, and was the site of the 1932 Los Angeles Olympic Games Rowing Venue as well as the future Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games Rowing Venue. Inside the boathouse, anyone can take the one-hour indoor rowing classes, and the views are spectacular. We’re just a few feet away from the water with panoramic views of the sunsets over Marine Stadium in Long Beach.
These classes are usually also paired with strength training techniques in order to get the best possible workout. We have friendly, knowledgeable rowing instructors, and the benefit of rowing is that it burns up to 800 calories an hour, which is more than running! Because it’s no impact, it’s easy on the knees.
TM: Could you tell us about the Roworx fitness class system you developed?
Jack Nunn: Every Roworx fitness class is one hour and designed with the notion of getting better technique with the stroke while incorporating high-intensity interval training with short sprint power strokes. We also include weights in each of our workout classes.
Rowing takes a bit of patience to learn the stroke, just as with swimming, golf, or ice skating. There are more muscles in the body being used other than what people initially think of rowing when they just see the arms pulling on the handle/oar. Rowing is actually mostly driven by leg power that’s leveraged by hanging off the handle with the hands/arms.
TM: As an experienced fitness trainer, what tips can you leave us with to boost our general fitness?
Jack Nunn: It really comes down to two things. The amount of time you put in per week for your fitness training to burn calories and get your heart rate elevated, and what kind of food or nutrition you consume on a daily basis. Rowing is one of the best total-body, low-impact workouts, utilizing about 86% of all the muscles in the body per stroke. Try to consume more vegetables, fruits, and grains in your daily routine while drinking more water and getting consistent sleep.
