My Hydrow Is a 2-in-1 Rower: Exercise Machine and Mini Vacation

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This past Sunday, the low in Minnesota where I live hit -13 degrees. It’s the kind of cold where I can toss a pot of boiling water in the air and watch it instantly turn into a cloud of ice. (Highly recommend. Always a hit.) It’s also the kind of cold where even my Smartwool gloves, Tracksmith base layers, Lululemon down jacket and Noxgear light-up vest, the gear I’ve assembled specifically for cold-weather workouts, won’t get me out the door for a run. If it’s below zero, the chance of me shuffling along a local trail is the same: nil.

It’s not just outdoor workouts that take an understandable hit. In the winter, I find there’s a knock-on effect for indoor exercise too. When a layer of frost encrusts your windows and the sun rises after you leave for work and sets before you get home, home workout equipment can take on a repellent force: your body instinctively recoils at the sight of the treadmill, the stationary bike, the weight bench, while the magnetic force of the fireplace-adjacent armchair grows stronger with each passing winter day. At least, that’s been my experience so far, having tested out treadmills and fitness mirrors the last few winters.

Hydrow Pro Rower Review: I Didn’t Expect to Love It This Much

Treadmills, bikes and ellipticals are the traditional home-fitness heavyweights. But don’t overlook the rowing machine, especially this model.

I’ve currently got a new exercise setup in my basement, though — the Hydrow Origin Rower (the new name for the Hydrow Pro Rower, after the newer Arc model was introduced) — and it’s been a revelation for my workout routine in the time of seasonal affective disorder. Whether I’m hopping on the machine for a 20-minute session in the morning before work or taking my time with a full hour-long warmup-to-cooldown protocol on the weekend, the Hydrow does double duty in a way no other home gym equipment has offered me before: it’s not just a workout, it’s a mini vacation, too.

Where to Work Out Today: Hawaii or Italy?

Screen-equipped workout machines are not a new phenomenon. Everyone and their mom pretended they were huddled together in a Peloton class during the pandemic. Yet the Hydrow rowing machine, which I reviewed in detail back in June, offers a more transportive experience. That’s thanks to two elements: its huge catalog of workouts on bodies of water around the globe; and its design, which sucks you into the on-screen action rather than letting your mind wander around your living room to those aforementioned frost-encrusted windows.

A quick scroll through the on-water workout classes offered by Hydrow feels like a brochure from a travel agent: You can row along with instructors among the Exuma Islands in the Bahamas, on Lake Maggiore that crosses from Switzerland into Italy, on Lake Wakatipu on the South Island of New Zealand, along Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Rather than inspiring envy or an impulse to buy a plane ticket, these warm-weather row-alongs have offered me daily doses of escapism along with the full-body exercise. As a user, I’m more excited about working out in my basement if the screen in front of me is showing a rower paddling around Oahu — with the music turned down so I can hear the therapeutic lapping of the water along with my instructor’s directions — rather than a packed class of sweaty cyclers dancing on their bikes to Top 40.

The design of the Hydrow helps in this case, too. By nature of the workout, where I’m driving backwards on the seat, then moving forward during the recovery motion, I’m constantly locked into the instructor on the screen in front of me. The classes also typically cycle through various tempos, rowing slower and faster, and I like to keep my strokes on the same cadence as the teacher, so I’m always checking in on their form, which keeps distraction at bay and helps me immerse myself into the peaceful location of the row, rather than the howling wind outside.

Expect More Out of Your Exercise Equipment

Many home fitness machines these days, Hydrow included, feature monthly subscriptions that give you access to an evolving suite of classes. That being the case, you should be getting your money’s worth. Is your treadmill actively making you excited to lace up your sneakers? Do you wake up every morning frothing at the mouth to clip into your bike?

I can honestly say I look forward to picking up the handle on the Hydrow Origin, despite rowing being a relatively new exercise for me and not a lifelong passion I’m continuing. A large part of it is the constant stream of new, immersive classes led by engaging instructors (shoutout to Aquil Abdullah, Mac Evans and Mike Dostal!), but the other factor is that through the pivoting screen at the head of the Hydrow, the rower can legitimately offer a beginning-to-end workout experience.

Instead of needing to self-program my own warmups before I hop on the Hydrow and then keep up the energy to formulate a cooldown procedure when I’ve already got in a 30-minute session, the suite of classes has me covered for the whole ordeal: I can start my workout with a slow row to dial in my form, switch over to a “Drive” or “Sweat” class, then end with 15 or 20 minutes of stretching (for that, got to give it up to instructor Peter Donohoe). I don’t have to think about it, which means I’m that much more likely to actually get a workout in.

If you find yourself rethinking your exercise habits in the new year, check out my full review of the Hydrow Origin Rower here. Or if you’re already sold on the rowing/beach vacation double feature as you face down single digits, head over to Hydrow to see which model might be right for you.

Hydrow Origin Rower

Hydrow: ~~$2,195~~ $1,895

Meet your guide

Alex Lauer

Alex Lauer is the features editor at InsideHook. Since joining the company in 2016, he’s covered a wide range of topics, including cars, the environment, books and business.