No one’s ever accused me of spotting new trends. I have a side part, zoodles never touched my dinner plates, and most of what I wear is consignment so I’m rocking styles that peaked several years ago.
Still, I’m pretty confident about this trend: Row House.
A month ago I learned that Laura Sabia, who owns Pure Barre, had purchased Row House and overhauled its slate of trainers and managers. Well, Pure Barre is fabulous and kept me sane and semi-social last year, so knowing she was steering RowHouse? Curiosity: piqued.
Rowing workouts are low-impact, high cardio, and a total body workout targeting glutes, back, and arms (yay!). According to Laura, the classes are fun and most important: fast results. How can this be? Rowing works almost 85% of your entire body, pretty much everything but your forehead and toes. Combine the muscle workout and the cardio and you’ll see results, ostensibly, after two weeks.
Now, if you tell me the class is fun and I’ll see results quickly, well, you might as well tell me to put charcoal beneath my mattress and it’ll be diamonds in the morning. I’ll be stuffing briquettes in my bed for hours. A body re-boot in six classes? Bring it on.
The space itself is hip but streamlined. Black, white, yellow. Lockers, bench, water station. An illustration/diagram of an eight-person crew boat depicts the role of each seat.
In the dark workout room, 16 ergs (rowing machines) are arranged in rows with a shelf of black weights. As in spinning, the instructor sits slightly elevated at the front of the room.
Currently, Row House offers three classes:
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- Signature - 45 minutes of rowing intervals and full-body floor and weight exercises
- Full Row - 45 minutes of rowing
- Express Signature - 30 minutes of Signature
Spoiler: I loved it! It’s a nice change-up in routines and the time flies.
As with most exercise classes, you get out what you put in. It’s possible to have a light workout without anyone noticing, or you can tear it up hardcore and be exhausted at the end. Depends on what you want and it helps to be self-motivated.
The instructors talk a lot about splits (time it takes to row 500 meters) and strokes. You also get a summary after each class with a bunch of numbers. Personally, I don’t pay a lot of attention to these - it’ll get in my head and I’ll start fighting like a junkyard dog to beat them and burn myself out.
The Results: After only three classes I felt stronger and tighter. After six, my clothes fit better and I’m beginning to get my pre-pandemic body back. Granted, I decided to augment each week with two days of cardio - bike, power walks - but I had been doing these with reasonable frequency beforehand.
If you decide to try it - and you really should - I’ll be the one in the black leggings and t-shirt I got for free five years ago. I won't be uprooting the fashion world or capturing the hearts and minds of millions, but I will be fit.