How much space do you need for a rowing machine?

A rowing machine needs 9 x 4 ft (2.74 x 1.22 m) of clear floor to row, and 9 x 6 ft (2.74 x 1.83 m) with a strip along one side to get on and off. The 9 x 4 ft is Concept2's figure for its 8 ft RowErg, the longest common rower. The larger figure that circulates, 2 ft clear on every side, comes from Peloton and NordicTrack and turns the same machines into 10 ft 8 in to 11 ft 10 in rectangles. Below are ten rowers' published sizes, the manuals' rules and the body widths behind them. Other machines are on the home gym hub.

Two figures on the box: 9 x 4 ft to row, 2 ft clear all round#

Rower makers publish two kinds of space figure, and they measure different things.

The first is a working area, the rectangle the machine and the stroke occupy. Concept2 prints "with clearance for use: 9 ft x 4 ft (274 cm x 122 cm)" against an assembled 8 x 2 ft (244 x 61 cm): 6 in (15 cm) past each end and 12 in (30 cm) past each side. WaterRower's Original and A1 pages give a "recommended training area" of 8.5 x 3.5 ft, for "the torso lean at the finish of the stroke" and "unrestrictive elbow movement".

The second is a free area around that, for getting on and off. Peloton asks for "2' of clearance to the left, right, front, and back of Row+". NordicTrack's RW900 manuals say "at least 2 ft. (0.6 m) of clearance around the rower". The Air Rower Pro manual is more precise: "the free area shall be not less than 0.6 m greater than the training area in the directions from which the equipment is accessed". inSPORTline's RW600 and ZenRow manuals ask for 0.6 m from other objects.

Measure both from the machine's outline at floor level: front stabiliser, back of the rail, widest point of the legs. Take every reading from one datum taped on the floor, as the site's measuring method describes, not from walls that are rarely parallel. Clear means clear at every height up to the elbows; the general rules for clear floor are on the clearances and circulation hub.

Ten rowers measured: 80 to 96 in long, 22 to 24 in wide#

In-use sizes as each maker prints them, longest first:

Length spreads over 16 in (41 cm), with a median of about 84 in (213 cm). Width spreads over 2 in (5 cm). The length depends on which machine you buy; the width hardly depends on the machine at all.

WaterRower's figure has a conversion slip. 8.5 x 3.5 ft is 259 x 107 cm, but the same sentence prints "240 x 100 cm", only about 12 in longer than the 209 cm machine. The imperial figure matches the stated reasons; in metric, plan 260 x 110 cm. Convert once with the unit converter and write the result on the plan.

Concept2's 9 x 4 ft covers every machine in the table: the RowErg is the longest, and none is wider than its 24 in. Use it for any rower unless your manual asks for more.

Where the width comes from: the elbows, not the handle#

At the catch the arms are straight and both hands hold one handle in front of the shins. At the finish the handle comes into the lower ribs and the elbows travel back past the torso, which is where the stroke is widest. ANSUR II, the US Army's 2012 survey of 4,082 men and 1,986 women, gives the body widths. Percentiles computed by the site from the public data:

A 95th percentile man's forearms span 26.3 in (668 mm), 2 to 4 in wider than any rower in the table, before his elbows flare at the finish. Add about 5 in (13 cm) each side for the flare and for drift off the centreline and the hard minimum is 36 in (91 cm) of clear width, the site's figure. WaterRower's 3.5 ft (107 cm) leaves 8 in (20 cm) each side of those forearms; Concept2's 4 ft (122 cm) leaves 11 in (28 cm). The handle is one bar on the centreline and never sets the width.

Length works the other way. The body stays over the rail, and WaterRower's manual has the rower "sitting back just past the vertical" at the finish. Concept2 adds 12 in (30 cm) to its length; WaterRower about 20 in (51 cm) to its 82 1/4 in machine, for that lean.

The 2 ft rule: what Peloton and NordicTrack add#

Two feet (61 cm) on every side adds 4 ft (122 cm) to both the machine's length and its width:

The European wording sits between the two: the extra 0.6 m only "in the directions from which the equipment is accessed". A rower is mounted from the side, so a 9 x 4 ft working area plus a 24 in (61 cm) strip on the side you mount from gives 9 x 6 ft (2.74 x 1.83 m), 54 sq ft (5.0 m2). That is the site's planning figure. The strip can double as the room's route when nobody is rowing, though at 24 in it is a step-off, not a corridor: the walkway widths page puts a secondary route at 30 in (76 cm).

Which figure binds depends on the manual. On a Concept2 or a WaterRower, 9 x 6 ft is already more than the maker asks. On a NordicTrack, the 2 ft is a safety instruction, and the manual's warranty terms say the warranty is void "if any instruction or warning in this manual is not followed". On a Peloton it is the specification page's space recommendation. For those two, plan the full rectangle.

Rooms that take a rower: a 9 ft wall, or 12 ft for the strict manuals#

The binding dimension is one clear wall, measured inside the skirting and clear of any door swing.

Read it against the standard and minimum room sizes for the room you have. A 10 x 10 ft room is the dividing line: it takes a Concept2 or a WaterRower comfortably and neither a Peloton Row+ nor a NordicTrack RW900 at its maker's clearance.

A bedroom is the hard case. In a 10 x 12 ft (3.05 x 3.66 m) room with a queen bed of 60 x 80 in (152 x 203 cm) on the 10 ft wall, the foot of the bed leaves 64 in (163 cm). A 9 x 4 ft working area along the far wall takes 48 in, leaving 16 in (41 cm) to the tape and 28 in (71 cm) to the machine. The bedroom clearances page wants 36 in (91 cm) at the foot of a bed, so the room is a bedroom or a rowing room, and a rower that stores upright lets it be both. Other bed footprints are in bed sizes and the room each one needs, and the bedroom layout checker shows what a bed leaves.

Ceiling: about 5 ft to row, up to 8 ft to stand it on end#

Rowing is done sitting, so the head is at seat height plus sitting height. On Concept2's 14 in (36 cm) seat, the 95th percentile man's 38.5 in (977 mm) sitting height puts his head at 52 1/2 in (1.33 m); on the 20 in (51 cm) tall legs, 58 1/2 in (1.49 m). With margin, the site's figure is 5 ft (1.52 m) over a 14 in seat and 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) over a 20 in one, so a rower can work under a sloping ceiling with the run along the high side.

Storage is the tall case, because most rowers store on end:

A WaterRower on end leaves 1 3/4 in (4 cm) under a 7 ft (2.13 m) ceiling: enough to stand, too little to tip it up freely. Ceilings for the rest of a home gym are in home gym size and ceiling height.

What shifts the length: inseam over 37 in and XL rails#

Rail length is set by the legs at full extension, and the makers publish limits. WaterRower lists a maximum inseam of 37 in (94 cm) on the Original, 39 in on the Hybrid, 36 in on the Lite and 40 in on the Metallic. Its XL Rails add 4 in (10 cm) and are recommended from a 38 in (97 cm) inseam, "typically those over 6 ft 8 in". Concept2 says an inseam of 38 in (96.5 cm) or more may need an extra-long monorail; Peloton gives 4 ft 11 in to 6 ft 5 in for the Row+. In ANSUR II, 3.0 per cent of men have a crotch height over 37 in and 0.7 per cent over 38 in; among women, 0.3 per cent exceed 36 in. An XL rail takes the Original to about 86 1/4 in (219 cm), still inside 9 ft.

A second machine changes the plan more than a long user does. A treadmill's 78 in (198 cm) run-off zone, set out in treadmill and cardio clearances, must not overlap the rower's working area, because the rower is what a falling runner would hit. Mat work can share it: a rower stored upright gives its 9 x 4 ft back to the floor sizes in yoga and floor work area dimensions. A mirror for watching the stroke goes at the side; heights are on the home gym mirrors page.

Getting it in and putting it down: boxes, mats and garages#

Concept2 ships the standard-leg RowErg in one box of 15 x 21 1/2 x 57 in (38 x 55 x 144 cm) at 68 lb (31 kg), and WaterRower's manual says its rower arrives partially assembled in two boxes. Connected rowers are heavier: Peloton lists the Row+ at 156.5 lb (71 kg), Echelon the Row-s at 108 lb (49 kg). Check stairs and turns as will it fit: measuring the delivery path describes.

NordicTrack asks for a mat beneath the rower "to protect the floor or carpet". WaterRower's mat is 228 x 90 cm (89.8 x 35.4 in) and 5 mm thick, inside the 9 x 4 ft area; a mat that spills into the step-off strip becomes a trip edge. Thickness options are in gym flooring thickness and tile sizes.

NordicTrack's RW900 manual says "Do not put the rower in a garage or covered patio or near water", and inSPORTline's manuals say not to use the machine outdoors. Concept2's and WaterRower's pages print no such restriction. In a garage, the rower's step-off strip and a car door's 30 in are the same floor; the layouts that work are in garage gym layout dimensions.