Rowing vs cycling: what the studies measured at the same power and the same effort

A rowing machine and a stationary bike both raise your heart rate for as long as you keep going, and both are done sitting down. The difference is what moves: rowing uses the arms and the legs;¹ cycling is mostly the legs on the pedals. Several lab studies put the same people on both and measured oxygen, heart rate and energy. This page covers what they found, where they disagree, what they didn't test, a calorie estimate for each, and how to choose or mix the two. How to row well is on the rowing machine workout, and the bike is on the stationary bike workout.

Rowing vs cycling at a glance

At the same power, rowing cost more

• 107 healthy adults. In Hagerman 1988, 60 men and 47 women aged 20 to 74 did a rising-intensity test on a rowing ergometer (variable-resistance exercise) and one on a cycle ergometer (fixed-resistance exercise). Ventilation, oxygen uptake and heart rate were significantly higher rowing at every matched power step, the energy cost of rowing came out significantly higher than cycling, and both the men and the women reached higher maximal power on the bike.² The abstract doesn't say how trained the participants were.
• 20 elite male rowers. In Lindenthaler 2018, 20 international-level male rowers did a test on a rowing ergometer and one on a cycle ergometer, seven days apart and in a counterbalanced order. Oxygen uptake, ventilation and heart rate were again higher rowing at every submaximal power output, while peak oxygen uptake was similar between the machines. At a similar peak oxygen uptake, maximal power was about 42 watts higher on the bike.³ These are elite rowers, so the result says what happened in them, not in someone new to either machine.

So a wattage that feels easy on a bike isn't the same job on a rower: in Lindenthaler's rowers, at a similar peak oxygen uptake, maximal power was about 42 watts higher on the bike. As a practical rule, not a finding, if you train by heart-rate zones, set the rower's zones by heart rate and effort rather than copying the bike's watts.

At the same rated effort, the studies disagree

Three lab studies set people to the same rated effort on several machines (in Prieto-González, a hard rated effort plus a maximal bout). They don't agree about where the rower sits next to the bikes:

• Zeni 1996, 13 adults. The rowing ergometer drew significantly more energy than the air bike and the cycle ergometer.⁵
• Moyna 2001, 9 men and 10 women. Energy at every rated effort was lowest on the cycle ergometer and one other machine, and the rower was among the three highest machines in the women.⁶
• Prieto-González 2024, 30 men averaging about 42. The seven machines ranked treadmill, stair climber, elliptical, spin bike, upright bike, rower and recumbent bike for energy, oxygen and heart rate, so here the rower sat below the spin and upright bikes and above the recumbent one.⁷
• Same relative intensity, Lindenthaler 2018. In the 20 elite rowers, when values were expressed relative to each machine's own peak oxygen uptake, power output was lower on the rower, and so were rated exertion and blood lactate at 75% of peak oxygen uptake.³

People chose their own pace in these studies, and the machines, bikes and groups differ, so I won't pick one study over the others. What they agree on is that "same effort" and "same power" are different questions: at the same power, rowing cost more; at the same effort, the answer depended on the study and on which bike.

Heart rate at the threshold, and a sprint session

• Older adults, no significant difference at the threshold. In Deruelle 2004, 18 healthy older adults (8 men averaging about 66 and 10 women averaging about 63) did an incremental test on each machine. The heart rate at the ventilatory threshold wasn't significantly different between rowing and cycling in the men or in the women, though ventilation was higher rowing.⁴ That's heart rate at each person's own threshold, a different measure from heart rate at the same power.
• Three all-out sprints. In Clausen 2024, 14 active adults averaging 27 did a session of three 20-second all-out sprints on a cycle ergometer and, on another day, on a rowing ergometer. The sprints were all-out rather than set to the same power, and the abstract doesn't state the order of the two days. During the session rowing drew more oxygen (1.57 against 1.34 L/min) and more energy (about 95 against 82 kcal); afterward the extra oxygen use was greater after cycling, and blood lactate was about twice as high.⁸

Calories: an estimate, not a measurement of you

The Compendium of Physical Activities lists an energy cost, in METs, for more than a thousand activities. One MET is about 1.0 kcal per kilogram of body weight per hour.¹¹ It lists a rowing machine at 100 to 149 watts, vigorous effort, at 7.5 METs and 150 to 199 watts at 11.0;⁹ a stationary bike at 101 to 125 watts at 6.8 METs, 126 to 150 watts at 8.0 and 151 to 199 watts at 10.3.¹⁰ For a 70 kg (about 154 lb) person, 30 minutes works out at about 260 kcal rowing at 100 to 149 watts and about 385 at 150 to 199, against about 240 cycling at 101 to 125 watts, about 280 at 126 to 150 and about 360 at 151 to 199. The watt bands line up only on paper: in Lindenthaler 2018, at a similar peak oxygen uptake, maximal power was about 42 watts higher on the bike. The rowing rows are vigorous effort, so the two sets of numbers are not effort-matched. The Compendium's own authors say its values are a starting point and don't reflect precise energy use for any one person.¹¹

What these studies didn't test

All of them are single lab sessions or single tests; none followed anyone over weeks, so none measured fitness gains, body weight or body fat, and this page makes no claim about any of those. Hagerman 1988 is an older study whose abstract doesn't give training status; Lindenthaler 2018 tested elite male rowers only; Deruelle 2004 tested older adults, and Clausen 2024 14 active adults. The three rated-effort studies let people set their own pace. None of the studies measured pain or injury, and this page makes no claim about either. Your own effort, setting and machine will differ from theirs.

How to choose, or mix them

As a practical guide, not a finding:

• You want the arms and back in it: row. Learn the stroke order first; it's on the rowing machine workout.
• You want the simpler movement, or a long easy session: ride. The stationary bike workout has a steady ride and an interval ride.
• Switching between them: don't carry the watts across. Start the new machine by feel and heart rate.
• Mixing: one of each a week is fine. Count both toward the World Health Organization's 150 to 300 moderate minutes a week, or 75 to 150 vigorous.¹² How to build endurance shows how easy and hard sessions fit together.
• Lifting too: Cardio and lifting covers the order and spacing.

If you have pain, an injury or a medical condition, stop and ask a doctor or a physical therapist. I'm a fitness coach, not a doctor.

Common questions

Is rowing or cycling better for cardio?

None of the studies on this page tracked fitness over weeks, so none shows one improves it more. In single tests, rowing took more oxygen and a higher heart rate at the same power, and peak oxygen uptake was similar in 20 elite male rowers.^2,3 Both are cardio. How to improve VO2 max has the training trials.

Does rowing burn more calories than cycling?

At the same power output, rowing cost significantly more energy in 107 healthy adults.² At the same rated effort the studies disagree: the rower sat above the cycle ergometers in two and below the upright and spin bikes in a third.^5,6,7 By the Compendium's estimate it depends on the watts: about 260 kcal for 30 minutes of rowing at 100 to 149 watts against about 240 cycling at 101 to 125, at 70 kg.^9,10,11

Rowing or cycling for weight loss?

None of these studies followed anyone's body weight or fat, so this page makes no weight-loss or fat-loss claim for either machine. How to lose body fat covers what matters most, and cardio vs weights for fat loss has the trials that measured body fat over weeks.

Why is my heart rate higher on the rower than the bike?

At the same power it was higher rowing in both Hagerman 1988 and Lindenthaler 2018.^2,3 At the heart rate where breathing steps up, the ventilatory threshold, 18 older adults showed no significant difference between the two machines.⁴ The first is a comparison at equal watts, the second at each person's own threshold, so the two don't contradict each other.

If you'd rather have the week planned

Rowing or cycling is a small decision next to fitting either one around lifting, work and the rest of your life. Coaching is the version where your workouts are built around the days you actually have, and a weekly call looks at the week you just had and rebuilds the next one around what's coming. Coaching for a week that doesn't hold still explains how that works, and apply is the first step. Otherwise: row 15 easy minutes once this week and ride 20 easy minutes once, and keep the one you looked forward to.