You’ll actually feel like you’re on the water as you flick on the touchscreen to glide across very pretty lakes and rivers, following along with a coach who chats you up and tells you when to relax and when to push.

I was just logged in to Lake Lure in North Carolina, a place I have never heard of or considered going but which seems quite nice, actually. (It turns out Lake Lure is where they filmed Dirty Dancing, which is pretty cool.)

The heart of the experience, for me, is the competition. You get a live feed of how other rowers are doing on the same course. You can see how many meters ahead or behind you they are, and can jump position by pulling extra hard. It’s a little like Mario Kart, if you were powering the kart (and could not hinder your opponents with banana peels or thunderclouds). When I see a woman in her sixties in front of me but close enough to reel in, you know I’m pushing hard to get past her (even though there are probably dozens of other ladies in their sixties so far ahead I’ll never feel their wake).

You also get coaching on your form, both on the screen and via an email sent to you following your session. In the session I just did, I returned to my desk to find an email informing me that my precision was very good, whereas my power and endurance were not. I’ll work on that.

I am still very new to rowing, but the Hydrow machine has succeeded in getting me excited about it, which is the best you can ask from a piece of workout gear.

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