Women and Rowing

With the recent medal winning success of Irish women’s crews at the World Rowing Championships you could be forgiven for asking what about the men? In truth one of our silver medals was won by the mixed double of Mags Cremen and Konan Pazzaia and our Men’s boats are going through a period of experimentation ahead of next year’s Olympic qualifiers.

In my Community Rowing classes where women typically outnumber men by two to one I often find myself asking the same question? Traditional ideas about previously male-dominated sports like rowing, boxing and rugby etc. are being upended by the success of female Irish athletes. Overall women’s sports participation in Ireland is at an all-time high with female participation now almost on par with men according to Sport Ireland and Rowing Ireland’s membership is 50 percent women.

And it isn’t only the sports arena where women are coming on strong. Walk into any gym today and you will see just as many women exercising as men. Granted their choice of exercise may be different. Typically, the majority of men will be working out alone in the weight room while women, who prefer the communal and social aspects of exercise, will make up the bulk of exercise classes.

Between work, family commitments and childcare women generally have less time for the gym than men and by necessity they are more discerning about their exercise choices. A common refrain I hear from women who enquire about my Community rowing classes is “I don’t like the gym but I do like the rowing machine”. Which begs the question, what is it about indoor rowing that appeals to women in particular?

As anyone who has used the rowing machine properly knows it’s a workout. That’s the reason it’s called an ergometer. It measures the work that goes into your workout. Women may not be physically as strong as men but they are capable of working just as hard and harder and they love a challenge. The  RowErg provides that in spades through a safe and efficient all-in-one workout that is rhythmical, mindful, easy on the joints and sustainable. Women intuitively understand this. They do the work, stay commited and keep going.

Rowing empowers women and builds their physical confidence. There is no artifice. What you see is what you get or more precisely what you do is what you see. The RowErg keeps track of your workouts and provides feedback on your technique and timing. It keeps you honest.

Women tend to focus more on the finer points of rowing and it’s health benefits. They manage their effort better than men who are generally more focused on the numbers and who tend to row more aggressively. With men there can be an intimidation factor with the erg because they let their ego get in the way of their success. For instance, if they are not seeing the numbers or the progress they expect from their exercise programme they take an all or nothing approach and quit.

Over four decades of working in the fitness industry, as a personal trainer, gym owner and rowing coach I have observed that over the long-term women are more patient and more committed to their exercise programmes than men and are less likely to quit. This is backed up by research.