Related: How to Use a Rowing Machine: The Stroke, Taught Properly
You probably think rowing well comes down to leg drive and lung capacity. It doesn’t. It comes down to your hands. After three years reviewing rowers from my garage, and after a decade of coaching people on ergs, I can tell you that the handlebar grip is where most workouts go to die.
A bad grip makes your forearms burn, your split times crawl, and your lower back ache by minute ten. This article covers the exact grip technique I teach every beginner, plus the one mistake that will wreck your wrists.
Why you should trust me
I’m Jess. I rowed collegiately, then coached indoor rowing for over a decade at a CrossFit box and a dedicated rowing studio. I’ve put more than a thousand people on rowing machines, from 5’2” beginners to 6’4” CrossFitters who treat the erg like a sprint bike.
My current setup is a Concept2 Model D in my garage, but I’ve spent months on budget magnetic rowers too.
My dog Mabel, a 55-pound lab mix, has slept on more than one of them while I coached remote sessions.
She’s the official seat-tester. If she doesn’t roll off mid-stroke, the glide is smooth enough.
How I picked
I didn’t test this in a lab. I tested it on real people, over real sessions, with real complaints. Over the last year I’ve coached 40-plus remote sessions where the single most common fix was the grip.
I measured split times before and after grip corrections. I watched people’s forearms fatigue at the 500-meter mark, adjusted their hands, and watched them hold a 2:00 split for another 1,500 meters.
I also checked the buyer evidence on the machines I recommend, looking at complaint patterns across owners who rowed for months, not minutes.
How I tested
I used three machines for this: my own Concept2 Model D, a budget magnetic rower I bought on Black Friday for $200, and a mid-range magnetic rower I’ve had for six months. I rowed 20-minute steady-state sessions, sprint intervals, and slow technical pieces.
I filmed hands from the side and from above to check wrist angle and finger placement. I also had five beginners, three with no rowing experience, run through the same grip drills.
The results were consistent across every machine.
Concept2 RowErg Indoor Rowing Machine - PM5 Monitor, Device Holder, Adjustable Air Resistance, Easy Storage
Gold standard feel, monitor shows split, built like a tank
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Sunny Health & Fitness Full Motion Magnetic Rowing Machine Rower with Advanced LCD Display, Elevated Seat, 265 LB Max Weight and Foldable - SF-RW5864
Kick-start your in-home workout with the Sunny Health and Fitness Full Motion Magnetic Rowing Machine. Produce powerful strokes on your indoor rower while you push back on the long 40-inch slide rail
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Wenoker Magnetic Rowing Machine for Home,Quiet & Smooth,Full Body Workout
The Concept2 Model D rowing machine features an advanced PM5 Performance Monitor, improved ergonomically designed handles, adjustable foot-rests, and a flywheel designed for smooth movement with minim
Visit on Amazon →The grip, explained
Here’s the whole technique in one sentence: hook the handle with your fingers, don’t squeeze it with your palms. That’s it. The handle should rest on the pads of your fingers, just below the knuckles, with your thumbs wrapped loosely around the end. Your wrists stay flat, in line with your forearms. No bending, no flexing, no death grip.
The mistake I see every single week is people gripping the handle like it’s a pull-up bar. They wrap their whole hand around it, squeeze hard, and engage their forearms from the first stroke. Within 500 meters their forearms are burning, their split times are dropping, and they’re convinced rowing is too hard. It’s not too hard. They’re just fighting the handle instead of using it.
Think of the handle like a hook. Your fingers do the work. The pressure is on the pads of your fingers, not the meat of your palm. This keeps the tension out of your forearms and puts it where it belongs, in your legs and back.
When I fix a beginner’s grip, their split times almost always improve by 5 to 10 seconds per 500 meters within one session.
That’s not a coaching miracle. That’s just removing the friction.
Wrist position
Your wrists should be flat. Not bent up, not bent down, not cocked to either side. Flat, like you’re shaking hands with someone. I tell people to imagine they’re holding a tray of drinks. If you bend your wrist, the tray tips. Same thing with the handle.
The most common wrist problem I see is bending the wrist up at the finish of the stroke. People do this because they’re trying to get extra reach or because their arms are tired. It puts enormous strain on the wrist joint and the forearm tendons. Over months of rowing, that strain turns into tendinitis. I’ve seen it happen to three separate clients, all of them gripping wrong.
The fix is simple: keep the handle in your fingers, keep your wrists flat, and let your arms stay long and relaxed. Your arms are just a connection between your body and the handle. They’re not doing the work. If your forearms are burning, you’re gripping too hard or bending your wrists. Fix both and the burn goes away.
Finger placement
Where your fingers sit on the handle matters more than you’d think. Too far up, and you lose use. Too far down, and you’re gripping with your palm. The sweet spot is the pads of your fingers, just below the knuckles. Your fingers should be wrapped around the handle, but relaxed. Your thumb rests on top or wraps lightly underneath. Either is fine, as long as your thumb isn’t doing the work.
I had one client, a guy named Mike, who was convinced he needed to squeeze the handle like it was trying to escape. His forearms were shot by the 1,000-meter mark every session. I had him loosen his grip to the point where he could almost let go, then row 500 meters.
He couldn’t believe how much easier it felt. His split dropped from 2:10 to 2:02 without any change in effort.
That’s the power of a relaxed grip.
The hook drill
Here’s the drill I use with every beginner. Sit at the catch, slide forward, and place your hands on the handle with a completely relaxed grip. Then take three strokes without your thumbs. Just hook your fingers over the handle and row.
This forces you to use your fingers, not your palms. After three strokes, add your thumbs back in, but keep the same relaxed pressure.
That’s the feeling you’re chasing on every stroke.
I’ve used this drill with maybe 200 people over the years. It works every single time. The first few strokes feel weird, like you’re going to drop the handle. Then something clicks and the tension leaves your forearms. From that point on, rowing feels easier and your split times improve. It’s the single fastest fix I know.
The competition
The competition to the Concept2 is the budget magnetic rower, and honestly, it’s closer than I expected. The $200 machine I bought on Black Friday has a smoother seat glide than the C2, and it’s far quieter.
The drag is consistent through the whole stroke, which is what matters. But the monitor is cheesy, a small battery-powered screen that shows time, distance, and calories but not split.
That’s a real problem. Without split, you can’t track your performance. You’re just pulling.
The mid-range magnetic rower at $400 has a better monitor, but it’s still not as good as the C2. The device holder is flimsy too. I’ve watched an iPad wobble dangerously close to the floor on more than one occasion. The C2’s monitor is built like a tank. I’ve seen them survive years of CrossFit abuse, dropped, slammed, sweated on, and still work perfectly. You get what you pay for.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
The Concept2 is loud. That whoosh is iconic, but it’s not quiet. If noise is your concern, the magnetic rowers are the way to go. The budget monitor is the weakest link on the cheap machine. It cracks easily.
One buyer’s granddaughter dropped the handle from about 8 inches and shattered the screen in three places.
But the company sent a free replacement within a week. That kind of customer service turns a frustrating moment into a loyalty story.
The foot straps on the budget rower are too long. I’m 6 feet tall and I really have to scrunch up to get the right angle on them. Shorter people will have the same problem. It’s not a dealbreaker, but it’s annoying.
The assembly instructions on the cheap machine aren’t the best either. I was confused about why the screws and bottom stoppers needed to be removed from the guide bars temporarily.
Turns out that’s so the seat can be put in place. Not obvious from the manual.
Who this is for
If you’re a beginner who just wants to get some cardio in before work, the budget magnetic rower is a bargain. It’s quiet, smooth, and gets the job done. If you’re serious about rowing, if you want to track your split and compete with yourself, the Concept2 is the machine.
Nothing else comes close. And if you’re somewhere in between, the mid-range magnetic rower is a decent compromise.
Just know that the monitor won’t show you split, and that matters more than you think.
People who row for general fitness and don’t care about tracking will love the budget pick. People who want to improve their split and measure progress will want the C2. Dogs who like to sleep curled up against something will love any of them, as long as the seat glides smooth enough. Mabel approves of all three. She’s a tough critic.