Cardio and conditioning · 7 min read

Rowing vs Running for Bad Knees

Niccolo ValentiOctober 20, 2026

The short answer

Rowing machine or Running?

Row when running hurts your knees. There is no landing and your legs set the force, while your heart and lungs train just the same. Swap minute for minute at the same effort and keep any run that does not hurt. The rower will not keep your legs used to impact, so come back to running in steps. One exception: a knee that hurts when bent deeply under load, as in a squat. Every stroke starts in that position at the catch, so shorten the slide or pick a bike.

Side by side

Question	Rowing machine	Running
What it is	Push the sliding seat back with the legs, swing the body, then finish with the arms, and return in reverse.	Running at a steady pace on a road, track or treadmill, landing on one leg every stride.
Equipment	A rowing machine	Shoes
Impact	None. The feet stay strapped to the footplate	A landing on one leg every stride
Knee position under load	Deeply bent at the catch, then pushed straight	Moderately bent, but taking a landing each step
Energy cost (2024 Compendium)	5.0 METs under 100 W; 7.5 at 100 to 149 W; 11.0 at 150 to 199 W (codes 02071 to 02073)	8.5 METs at 8 km/h (5 mph); 9.3 at 9.7 km/h (6 mph) (codes 12030, 12050)
30 minutes at 70 kg (154 lb)	About 276 kcal at 100 to 149 W	About 342 kcal at 9.7 km/h
30 minutes at 90 kg (198 lb)	About 354 kcal at 100 to 149 W	About 439 kcal at 9.7 km/h
Muscles doing most of the work	Thighs and glutes in the drive, then the back, lats and arms	Calves, thighs and hips, with the calves and Achilles taking each landing
Where it usually goes wrong	The lower back, from rounding and twisting. At the knee, kneecap pain and the outside of the knee	Adding distance faster than the legs adapt

Choose the rowing machine when

Running makes a knee ache, but squatting and climbing stairs do not.
You want to keep your fitness through a few weeks of a grumbling knee.
Your joints, not your lungs, are what end your runs.
You want upper back and arm work in the same session.
You are training for HYROX, where a 1,000 m row is one of the eight stations.

Choose the running when

A running race is coming, and nothing replaces practising the run itself.
Your knee hurts at the catch or in deep squats, but not on flat, easy runs.
You have no machine and 30 minutes.
Your knees are fine and you want the most calories per minute at a pace you can hold.

Using both in one week

Take a week of four 40 minute runs. With a sore knee it might become two flat 30 minute runs and two 40 minute rows at the same effort, with the long run on hold until the knee settles. The runs that do not hurt stay, and the rest move to the rower. Row the day after your longest run instead of running again, and keep hard intervals on the rower until running intervals are pain-free. On the way back, each new run replaces a row, one a week.

Through a sore-knee spell and back to running

Replace each run that hurts with the same number of minutes on the rower at the same talk-test effort, around 20 strokes a minute, damper low.
Keep any run that is pain-free during and the next morning, on flat ground.
If the catch bothers the knee, stop the slide a hand's width before your shins reach vertical and row the shorter stroke for a week.
After two weeks of pain-free rows, replace one row with a 20 minute flat run.
Add one run back each week, with the long run last, growing 10 minutes at a time.
Once you are back, keep one row a week for the upper back and, if HYROX is your race, for the row station.

The numbers

Run, 30 min at 9.7 km/h (6 mph), 70 kg: About 342 kcal9.3 METs (code 12050) x 3.5 x 70 / 200 = 11.4 kcal a minute, x 30. At 90 kg: 439 kcal.
Row, 30 min at 100 to 149 W, 70 kg: About 276 kcal7.5 METs (code 02072) x 3.5 x 70 / 200 = 9.2 kcal a minute, x 30. At 90 kg: 354. At 150 to 199 W (11.0 METs): 404 at 70 kg.
Swapping running for another machine: 7 trials, no clear differenceRunning-only versus cycling-only training, measured on treadmill VO2max and 1 mile to 5 km times. It tested cycling, not rowing, and the authors call the evidence thin (2026).
Rowing at HYROX: 1,000 mStation five of eight, straight after a 1 km run (HYROX race format).

A worked example

Situation: A 75 kg (165 lb) runner doing four runs a week, about 3 hours in all, whose knee aches on the long run and downhill but not on flat 30 minute runs.
Adjustment: The 70 minute long run becomes 70 minutes on the rower at the same easy effort, split into two blocks of 35. The two flat 30 minute runs stay. The interval session moves to the rower as 6 x 3 minutes hard with 2 minutes easy. After two pain-free weeks the long run returns at 50 minutes on the flat, and the rower keeps the intervals.
Why: Dropping only the runs that hurt leaves the legs some practice at landing, while the heart and lungs still get their full week. Minutes and effort match the original plan, and only the impact is gone. Minute for minute is a rule of thumb that nobody has measured, so effort is the check.

Mistakes that cost the most

Swapping by distance. A 5 km run and 5,000 m on the rower are different jobs, so swap by minutes and effort.
Setting the damper to 10 to make it feel like work. It makes each catch heavier, which is the position a sore knee likes least.
Rounding the back to reach further at the catch. The lower back is the most injured area in rowers.
Sliding up until the shins pass vertical and the knees jam into the chest.
Going straight back to your old mileage because you feel fit. Rowing kept your heart and lungs in shape, but your calves and feet are out of practice at landing.

Questions people ask

Can rowing replace running?

For fitness, mostly, for a few weeks. For running races, no. The closest research swapped cycling for running and found no clear difference in fitness or 1 mile to 5 km times across 7 trials, but the authors say the evidence is too thin to call the two interchangeable. Your calves, feet and tendons also need running to stay used to landing.

Rowing machine vs running: which should I do?

Run if your knees tolerate it and your goal involves running. Row if impact is what stops you, if you want the upper body in the same session, or if it is dark and wet and the rower is in the garage.

Is rowing better than running for weight loss?

Not per minute at everyday efforts: 30 minutes at 9.7 km/h (6 mph) is about 342 kcal at 70 kg, 30 minutes at 100 to 149 W on the rower about 276. Row at 150 to 199 W and it is 404. Over a month the one you can do most often without pain wins, and food matters more than either.

Why does rowing hurt my knee?

Usually the catch. The knee is bent as far as it goes and the drive starts from there. Shorten the slide, lower the damper, and stop when the shins reach vertical. Kneecap pain is one of the two knee problems rowers report most. If it still hurts, try a bike and see a physiotherapist.

Sources

2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities: A third update of the energy costs of human activitiesJournal of Sport and Health Science, 2024
2024 Adult CompendiumCompendium of Physical Activities (pacompendium.com), 2024
Cross-training between running and cycling: effects on VO2max and running performance, a systematic review and meta-analysisFrontiers in Sports and Active Living, 2026
Rowing injuriesSports Medicine, 2005
The Fitness RaceHYROX

Figures on this page come from the studies above or from the arithmetic shown. Read how claims are reviewed and updated in How the guides are written.