Pilates Fitness Friday: Pilates and the Rowing Machine

Athletic alignment on rowing machine highlights Pilates principles of core strength and control.

Walk into any gym and you’ll see the rowing machines sitting quietly in the corner, usually avoided until someone wants to feel like they’ve done “something different.” Five minutes later, they’re abandoned because it feels awkward, hard, and unforgiving. The truth is, rowing machines are one of the most Pilates-friendly pieces of cardio equipment you’ll ever find.

Think about it. Rowing is posture in motion. Most people collapse into their shoulders and yank with their arms. What do we spend all day correcting in matwork? Exactly that. A good rowing stroke relies on spine alignment, core control, and scapular stability. It’s basically the Reformer footwork turned into cardio.

Breath matters too. Rowing has a natural cycle: exhale on the drive, inhale on the recovery. It mirrors the breath patterns we teach in Pilates. Clients who tend to hold their breath through exertion find this rhythm forces them to connect breath and movement without overthinking.

Then there’s rhythm. Rowing isn’t frantic. It’s drive, release, glide. Smooth, continuous, efficient. The same flow principle we repeat in class. When someone “gets it,” the stroke looks like a mat sequence linked together rather than a fight with the machine.

The carry-over from Pilates is huge. The Roll Up teaches spinal articulation that feeds directly into hip hinging on the rower. Core stability from the Hundred or Single Leg Stretch makes every stroke more powerful. Even the cue to lengthen through the crown of the head translates perfectly, preventing that inevitable neck collapse you see on gym floors.

So why should you care as a Pilates teacher? Because rowing gives clients something Pilates alone doesn’t: cardiovascular endurance. It strengthens the posterior chain, builds stamina, and reinforces all the postural corrections you’re teaching. It’s low impact, accessible, and when you frame it as “your roll up is helping your rowing,” clients suddenly see Pilates as functional in a very real-world way.

Rowing machines aren’t the enemy. They’re a natural partner to Pilates, and one of the simplest tools to bridge the gap between controlled movement and full-body fitness.