Advice for Indoor Rowers

In the light of BBC correspondent Andrew Marr’s recent comments about the use of indoor rowing machines, British Rowing’s Medical Advisory Panel offers the following advice:

‘Any fitness exercising should be carefully modulated and tailored to an individual’s athleticism. Rowing machines are a great way of taking exercise and should anyone have any concerns about their own medical fitness or whether to use the machine, they should ask their Medical Practitioner for advice.  

‘Over-exercise, especially in short infrequent bursts, can lead to unusual medical symptoms – so, in Andrew Marr’s own words, “…had a strange feeling afterwards – blinding headache, and flashes of light” should have triggered a warning that he needed to seek medical help.’

Dr David Zideman
Chairman, Medical Advisory Panel

The British Rowing website contains a specific section for Indoor Rowing, containing training tips, technique, courses for instructors and a link to RowActiv – our mobile training app for indoor rowers.