Rowing vs running: what the studies measured for effort, heart rate and oxygen

A rowing machine and a run both raise your heart rate for as long as you keep going; they don't ask the same body parts to do it. Rowing is done sitting, with the arms and the legs; running is done upright, mainly with the legs.¹ Several lab studies put the same people on both and measured oxygen, heart rate and energy. This page covers what they found, 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.

Rowing vs running at a glance

At the same effort, running asked a little more

• Higher oxygen and heart rate, same rated effort. In Edwards 2012, 10 recreationally active men did 20 minutes at a rating of 15 ("hard") on a motorized treadmill and, on another day, on a rowing machine. Running averaged 86.1% of their peak oxygen uptake and rowing 83.7%; heart rate averaged 174.7 against 165.5 beats a minute, and blood lactate rose more in the run.³ The authors' reading: more work gets done on the treadmill for the same perceived effort.³
• The treadmill topped the machine studies. At the same rated effort, the treadmill used the most energy, or tied for it, in all three studies that compared machines (13, 19 and 30 adults). The rower ranked above the bikes in two of the three, and tied with the treadmill in the 10 women of one study.^7,8,9 People chose their own pace in those studies; the abstracts don't say who walked and who ran on the treadmill.

Where rowing came out ahead

• A lower heart rate for the same work. In Yoshiga 2002, 55 healthy men, average age about 21, did a rising-intensity test rowing and running. At the same blood lactate, 2, 4 and 6 mmol/L, heart rate was lower rowing: 145 against 150, 170 against 177, and 182 against 188 beats a minute. At their maximum it was 194 rowing and 198 running.¹ A 2003 paper from the same lab found the same lower peak heart rate in 18 women, 192 against 196.¹⁰
• Slightly more oxygen at the top. In the same men, peak oxygen uptake was 4.50 L/min rowing and 4.35 running; in the 2003 paper's women it was 3.3 against 3.2.^1,10 The authors put it down to the seated position and the extra muscle in use.¹ In a smaller study of 9 healthy men, peak oxygen uptake was similar on a treadmill and a rower.¹¹
• No landing. Running lands on one foot at a time. In Kaplan 2014, 75 adults without symptoms put about 175% of body weight through the foot jogging on a treadmill and about 201% jogging over the ground.² Rowing wasn't in that study; it's done seated with the feet on a footplate, and low-impact training counts it as low impact for that reason. That's a measured force for running, not a prediction about anyone's joints.

So a lower heart rate on the rower doesn't mean an easier session. If you train by heart-rate zones, the same number on the rower and on a run may not be the same effort.

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.⁶ It lists a rowing machine at 100 to 149 watts, vigorous effort, at 7.5 METs and 150 to 199 watts at 11.0;⁴ running at 5.0 to 5.2 mph at 8.5 and at 6 to 6.3 mph at 9.3.⁵ For a 70 kg (about 154 lb) person, 30 minutes works out at about 260 kcal rowing at 100 to 149 watts and about 325 kcal running at 6 mph. A hard row above 150 watts comes out higher than that run. The Compendium's own authors say its values are a starting point and don't reflect precise energy use for any one person.⁶

What these studies didn't test

All of them are single lab sessions in small groups, mostly young men. 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. Yoshiga's abstracts don't say how much rowing or running the men had done before. Your own effort, pace and machine setting will differ from theirs.

How to choose, or mix them

As a practical guide, not a finding:

• No gym, or you like being outside: run, or walk-jog. Running vs walking covers the step down.
• You want the arms and back in it, or no landing: row. Learn the stroke order first; it's on the rowing machine workout.
• 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.

Common questions

Is rowing or running better for cardio?

None of the studies on this page tracked fitness over weeks, so neither shows one improves it more. In single sessions, a treadmill run took people to a slightly higher share of their peak oxygen uptake at the same rated effort,³ and peak oxygen uptake was slightly higher on the rower in 55 young men.¹ Both are cardio. How to improve VO2 max has the training trials.

Does rowing burn more calories than running?

At the same rated effort, usually not: the treadmill used the most energy, or tied for it, in all three machine studies, and the rower tied with it only in the 10 women of one.^7,8,9 Those studies don't say who walked and who ran on the treadmill. By the Compendium's estimate, it depends on the pace and the watts: about 260 kcal for 30 minutes of rowing at 100 to 149 watts against about 325 running at 6 mph, at 70 kg, and more than that run for rowing above 150 watts.^4,5,6

Rowing or running for fat loss?

None of these studies followed anyone's body fat or weight, so this page makes no fat-loss claim for either. One measured fat burned during the exercise itself: in 9 healthy men, the highest rate was about 0.61 g a minute on a treadmill and 0.40 on a rower.¹¹ Fat burned during a session isn't the same as fat lost over weeks. How to lose body fat covers what does. Cardio vs weights for fat loss has the trials that measured body fat over weeks.

Why is my heart rate lower on the rower?

It was lower in the studies too, at the same lactate and at the maximum: about 4 to 7 beats a minute in 55 men.¹ The authors suggest sitting, and using more muscle, helps blood get back to the heart.¹

Is rowing lower impact than running?

Running's landing was measured at about 175 to 201% of body weight under the foot;² rowing has no landing because you're seated. No study on this page measured pain or injury, and this page makes no claim about either.

If you'd rather have the week planned

Rowing or running 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 run or walk-jog once, and keep the one you looked forward to.