Pain guide · Knee pain

Knee pain on a rowing machine: the catch, the kneecap, the back of the knee and the foot stretcher

Knee pain on a rowing machine usually comes from the kneecap. Rowing has no impact, but at the start of each stroke, the catch, your knee bends close to its full range under load, thousands of times a session. Where it hurts is the best clue: around or behind the kneecap is usually kneecap pain (runner's knee), the outside the iliotibial (IT) band, and the back of the knee the deep bend, the hamstring tendons, a seat pressing on your thighs or a Baker's cyst. In surveys of competitive rowers the knee is the second commonest sore spot after the lower back, mostly minor. The strap across the ball of your foot, shins stopping at vertical, a shorter slide and shorter pieces for a while, and hip and knee strength work usually help, and the rower isn't bad for knees.

This guide starts with the signs that need help, from accident and emergency (A&E) for a knee that changed shape or swelled fast after a pop, to a same-day check through the National Health Service's 111 line (NHS 111) or a general practitioner (GP) for a knee that locks, gives way or can't take your weight, a hot, swollen knee, or a swollen, painful calf. It then maps the causes by where it hurts, explains what the studies of the catch, the foot stretcher and rowers' knees show, and don't, shows how to set up and change your rowing today, and gives a three-stage plan with a 3D demo of every move, back to your usual sessions.

3-stage exercise plan When to get help 43 sourcesUpdated 28 October 2026

When to get help first

Exercise is for pain that has been checked or is clearly mild and settling.

Get urgent medical help if

Go to A&E if you've injured your knee and it has changed shape, it becomes very swollen very quickly, you felt a pop or snap, you can see bone sticking out, or it's bleeding heavily. Don't drive yourself: ask someone to take you, or call 999 if the pain means you can't move your leg to get there.
Get advice from NHS 111 now: you cannot move the knee or put any weight on it, or it is very painful, badly swollen or has changed shape.
Get advice from NHS 111 now: the knee locks, gives way or clicks painfully. Painless clicking is normal.
Get advice from NHS 111 now: after a twist, your knee won't go fully straight, or something blocks the last part of straightening, even if you can still walk on it. A torn piece of meniscus caught in the joint can do this, and it needs checking promptly.
Same day: a pop or tearing feeling at the front of the knee after a fall, stumble, jump, landing or a heavy squat, then you can't straighten the knee or lift the straight leg off the bed, there's a dent above or below the kneecap, or the kneecap sits higher or lower than on the other side. Go to A&E or an urgent treatment centre, or get help from NHS 111. A torn quadriceps or patellar tendon does best when it's repaired soon.
You hurt your knee and cannot take 4 steps, or you are 55 or over and have injured it: get it checked the same day for a broken bone.
Get advice from NHS 111 now: a hot, red or swollen knee with sudden severe pain, a very high temperature (although not everyone has one), or feeling hot, cold or shivery. This can be a joint infection.
Call 999 or go to A&E if your child gets sudden pain in their hip, knee or thigh (hip problems can sometimes be felt in the thigh or knee) or cannot put any weight on their leg. If your child is limping, ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 the same day. This applies to teenagers too, and in some children knee pain is the only sign.
Same day (urgent GP appointment or NHS 111): throbbing pain in one leg (rarely both), usually the calf or thigh; swelling in one leg (rarely both); red, blue or darkened skin; or swollen veins; or sudden worse pain and swelling around a lump at the back of the knee (a possible clot or a burst Baker's cyst).
Call 999 or go to A&E if breathing suddenly becomes difficult, if pain in your chest or upper back comes on suddenly with breathlessness or a very fast heartbeat, or if someone passes out. Do not drive yourself. It can be a blood clot that has reached the lungs.
Call 999: chest pain that started suddenly, or spreads to your arm, neck or jaw, or your chest feels tight. This could be a heart attack. Do not drive yourself to A&E.
Get help from NHS 111: pain or tightness in your chest, neck, shoulders, jaw or arms that comes and goes, often brought on by exercise, stress, emotion or cold and easing after a few minutes' rest. It can be angina, a sign of a heart problem. If you've been diagnosed with angina, get help from NHS 111 too if it feels worse than before, is happening more often, lasts longer or happens when you're resting.
Same day (call NHS 111, or go to A&E if you feel very unwell): after a big or unusual session, such as a first spin class, a workout of 100 back squats, or intervals of wall sits, squats, lunges and jumps, a challenge or a new class, muscle pain, swelling or weakness far worse than the session explains, and dark pee (red, brown, tea or cola coloured), sometimes starting hours or days later. Dark pee isn't always there, so muscles far sorer, more swollen or weaker than the session explains still need the same-day check. It can be rhabdomyolysis, a breakdown of muscle that can harm the kidneys.
Call 999 or go to A&E: back or leg symptoms with numbness around the genitals or bottom, new trouble controlling your bladder or bowels, or severe or worsening weakness or numbness in both legs.

See a doctor or physiotherapist if

Knee pain that has not improved within a few weeks of looking after it at home. Many areas offer NHS physiotherapy without a GP referral.
Kneecap pain that hasn't improved within 6 weeks of changing your activities and doing the exercises, or that gets worse: talk to a GP or physiotherapist.
The knee gives way, the whole knee swells, or it catches or locks: that isn't typical of kneecap or tendon pain. Get it checked for a ligament or meniscus injury (our suggestion).
Catching, locking or swelling at the joint line that hasn't settled after about 3 months of exercise and other non-surgical care: ask your GP or physiotherapist about a specialist review. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan may be considered then.
Tendon pain above or below the kneecap and you take steroid tablets or have steroid injections, use anabolic steroids, have kidney disease, gout, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus or diabetes, or have recently taken a fluoroquinolone antibiotic: tell your GP or physiotherapist and build up more gradually. These can weaken the tendon. If you're taking a fluoroquinolone now, stop taking it and contact your doctor straight away, as the UK medicines regulator advises.
A child or teenager with pain at a bump just below the kneecap or at its lower tip, worse with squats, jumps and kneeling: see our Osgood-Schlatter and Sinding-Larsen-Johansson guides, and get it checked if it is getting worse.
A child or teenager whose knee pain is there at rest or worse at night, or comes with a limp, swelling, a high temperature, unusual tiredness or weight loss: see a GP.
Numbness, tingling or weakness that travels down the leg from the back. That points to a nerve (sciatica) rather than the knee.
Swelling in several joints, or morning stiffness that lasts more than 30 minutes: see a GP. It can be an inflammatory arthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis rather than osteoarthritis.

Where does it hurt?

Location narrows the likely causes; it does not diagnose.

Around or behind the kneecap, hard to point to, worse at the catch and in long pieces, and off the machine on stairs, squats and after sitting

Usually kneecap pain (patellofemoral pain), often called runner's knee: the commonest pattern in rowers. Painless clicking is normal.

Read: Runner's knee →The outside of the knee, coming on at the same point in each session

Usually iliotibial (IT) band syndrome, the other knee problem rowing reviews name, often with a lot of running too.

Read: IT band syndrome →One point at the lower tip or the top edge of the kneecap, worse driving hard

Patellar or quadriceps tendon pain. A pop with a dent and a knee you can't straighten is a tear: see the warning signs.

Read: Jumper's knee →Below the kneecap, either side of the tendon, as the knee snaps straight at the finish

Possibly fat pad impingement (our reading). Keeping your knees soft at the finish usually helps.

Read: Fat pad impingement →A squeezed feeling behind the knee only at the deepest bend, with no lump, swelling or catching

Common at full bend. Stopping the slide a little shorter usually helps.

Read: Pain behind the knee →The back inner or outer corner of the knee, an ache along a tendon, worse on long pieces

A hamstring tendon working hard (our reading): the hamstrings work on the drive and pull you back up the slide.

Read: Pain behind the knee →

The backs of the thighs just above the knee, pressed by the seat edge at the catch

Usually feet set too low, so your hamstrings rest on the seat. Moving the feet up a notch usually helps; this guide covers it.

A soft lump at the back of the knee, tight to bend fully, worse after walking

Often a Baker's cyst. A throbbing, swollen calf in one leg needs a same-day check for a clot: see the warning signs.

Read: Baker's cyst →The joint line, with catching, locking or swelling later that day

Often a meniscus tear.

Read: Meniscus tear →Both knees, a stiff ache from your mid-40s, with morning stiffness of 30 minutes or less

Often knee arthritis, which is diagnosed without an X-ray.

Read: Knee arthritis →Achy thighs or the area just above the kneecap a day or two after a new or longer session, easing day by day

Usually muscle soreness.

Read: Knee pain after a workout →The same knee pain on the bike, the elliptical or in squats

Our cycling, elliptical and squatting knee guides cover those.

Read: Knee pain when cycling →Rowing after a knee replacement

Your surgical team's timing comes first; our knee replacement guide covers the return to exercise.

Read: Knee replacement →A teenager with a tender bump just below the kneecap

Worse with sport and kneeling in a growing teenager: Osgood-Schlatter disease.

Read: Osgood-Schlatter →Pins and needles or numbness down the leg

Points to a nerve in the lower back rather than the knee: sciatica.

Read: Sciatica →The lower back rather than the knee

Our rowing machine back guide covers the catch, the damper and session length.

Read: Back pain on the rowing machine →

Understand it

What the rowing machine asks of the knee: no impact, but a deep bendEmerging evidence

Each stroke starts at the catch: knees bent up, shins about vertical, leaning forward from the hips. The drive pushes the legs straight, then the body swings back and the arms pull; on the recovery the knees bend again once the hands have passed them. A review gives the knee bend at the catch as about 110 to 120 degrees; in 16 skilled rowers on a Concept2 machine it was about 132 to 136 degrees at easy to hard efforts, and about 118 degrees all-out, when strokes got shorter. The knee bends to about 140 degrees at most, so the catch takes it close to its full range, thousands of times a session. The hamstrings control the drive, and fire again to bend the knees and pull you up the slide.

On a fixed machine, peak power at the knee was greater than on the same machine mounted on slides, in 14 elite rowers. In 30 adults, knee loads differed with body size, with more load on the inner side of the knee in larger bodies, and the authors suggested machines allow more varied foot positions. A review calls rowing extreme loading of the kneecap joint, but that is expert opinion: no study has measured the force behind the kneecap on a standard rowing machine, and none counts knee pain from it in gym-goers.

Sources 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Who gets it: the knee comes second to the backEmerging evidence

Over 12 months in 20 Irish international rowers, the lower back was 31.8% of 44 injuries and the knee 15.9%, and training load on the rowing machine was the factor most linked with injury. In 743 masters rowers, the lower back was 32.6% and the knee 14.2%; in 398 elite juniors and 634 senior internationals, the knee came second after the lower back, and most injuries were minor overuse problems. In 207 young rowers, the knee was 19.1% of pain reports during on-water training. Reviews name kneecap pain and IT band syndrome as rowers' main knee problems.

Masters rowers aged 27 to 42 who did longer pieces on the machine had more long-lasting knee injuries, and junior rowers who ran more than once a week had more overuse knee injuries; these are associations. All of these are competitive rowers, much of it on water. There are no figures for people who use a rowing machine in a gym or at home.

Sources 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 2, 11, 12

How the causes are told apartEmerging evidence

Kneecap pain is pain around or behind the kneecap brought on by loading the bent knee, such as squatting, stairs or rising from sitting. A tendon is one point you can press just below or above the kneecap. A squeezed feeling behind the knee at the deepest bend is common; an ache along the back inner or outer corner fits a hamstring tendon; and a soft lump behind the knee is often a Baker's cyst. Arthritis is a stiff ache from mid-life with morning stiffness of 30 minutes or less, which the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) diagnoses without an X-ray.

The set-up matters too. The maker says feet set too low allow over-compression, with the seat too close to the heels and the shins past vertical, and that a thick-heeled shoe puts the foot in a weaker position that some people find bothers their knees. Feet so low that your hamstrings rest on the seat are uncomfortable too.

Sources 2, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17

When a scan helps, and what it can't tell youStrong evidence

Not usually: an international consensus calls the clinical examination the cornerstone of diagnosing kneecap pain, and NICE says diagnose osteoarthritis without imaging in people 45 or over with activity-related joint pain and short morning stiffness. In knees without pain or injury, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed arthritis-type changes in 4% to 14% of adults under 40 and 19% to 43% from 40, so a report has to match your symptoms.

Tests matter after an injury with a pop or fast swelling, for a knee that locks, gives way or can't take weight, for catching or swelling at the joint line that hasn't settled after about 3 months of non-surgical care, and for a swollen calf, which needs checking for a clot.

Sources 17, 16, 18, 19

How it usually goesEmerging evidence

No study follows knee pain from the rowing machine. In a kneecap pain trial in 40 young women, 85% were doing sport without pain at 12 months; but in a long-term follow-up of two trials, 34 of the 60 people who replied (57%) reported an unfavourable recovery 5 to 8 years later, and the consensus calls kneecap pain a condition that can persist for years.

NHS inform says new knee pain should begin to settle within 6 weeks, and the NHS says see a GP if knee pain doesn't improve within a few weeks. Most rowers' injuries, the knee included, are minor and don't stop training. No one can promise a date, which is why the plan keeps strength work going.

Sources 20, 21, 17, 22, 23, 8, 9

What helps, and how strong the evidence is

Set the feet and strap: the maker's guidance, with mixed evidence on heightMixed evidence

The maker says the strap should cross the ball, or widest part, of your foot, and that if you tend to over-compress, with your shins moving past vertical, you should move the foot stretcher up a notch. A review says raising the foot stretcher reduces knee bend at the catch, and so the squeeze on the kneecap.

But in 11 college rowers, moving the foot stretcher 20 to 40 mm or tilting it 5 degrees changed mainly the ankle, with no differences around the catch; in 10 men, higher foot stretchers shortened the stroke; and in 10 university rowers they lost less power as they tired. So move it up a notch if your shins pass vertical, keep it if it feels better, and don't expect the height alone to fix the knee (our reading).

Sources 13, 2, 24, 25, 26

Shorten the slide while it's soreEmerging evidence

The maker's technique: shins vertical, or as close to vertical as is comfortable, and never past it, with your heels lifting as needed; over-compressing puts your legs and knees in a weak position. For injury, the maker says the sliding seat gives flexibility on how far the knee bends: you can fix the seat for no leg compression at all, or use as much slide as is comfortable for you. Stopping the slide short of the catch, or rowing with your arms and body only, while the knee is sore is our suggestion from this guidance; it hasn't been tested against pain.

Sources 1, 27, 28

Volume matters more than any settingEmerging evidence

Masters rowers aged 27 to 42 who did longer pieces on the rowing machine had more long-lasting knee injuries; rowing machine training load was the factor most linked with injury in 20 international rowers; and junior rowers who ran more than once a week had more overuse knee injuries. These are associations in competitive rowers, but they fit the usual story: shorter pieces and gradual build-ups first.

Sources 7, 6, 8

A bike, swimming or a ski machine while it settlesEmerging evidence

Inside instrumented knee replacements in 3 people, stationary cycling produced low knee forces, and in 12 men a stationary bike loaded the knee less than an elliptical. An NHS leaflet for kneecap pain suggests swimming and stationary biking as gentler options, and the rowing machine maker suggests arms-only work on a ski machine, sitting down, for rehab. None of these has been compared with the rowing machine for knee pain.

Sources 29, 30, 31, 28

Strength work is the treatment for kneecap painStrong evidence

In a Cochrane review of 31 trials (1,690 people), exercise reduced kneecap pain during activity by about 1.5 points out of 10 against no exercise in the short term (5 trials, 375 people), on very low quality evidence. An international consensus recommends exercise, and hip and knee exercises together in preference to knee exercises alone; it lists taping and bracing among its areas of uncertainty.

An NHS leaflet for kneecap pain gives 3 sets of 8 to 12 of bridging, straight-leg raises, mini squats to less than 30 degrees, heel raises, knee extensions, sit to stand, hamstring curls and clams. None of these trials was on a rowing machine: the evidence is borrowed from kneecap pain in general.

Sources 32, 33, 31

Knee arthritis and knee replacements: rowing may suit, but it's barely studiedEmerging evidence

NICE recommends exercise for everyone with osteoarthritis, such as local muscle strengthening and general aerobic fitness, and says joint pain may rise when you start. In an international survey, people with knee arthritis listed indoor rowing among 30 knee-friendly aerobic activities, with indoor biking (82%) and water exercise (70%) rated the most knee friendly. The trial often quoted for rowing in knee arthritis (38 older adults, 12 weeks, better symptoms and strength) used a computer-guided rowing-style leg press device, with foot platforms, a spring-loaded seat and the knees starting at 90 degrees, not a rowing machine.

No study has tested the rowing machine after a knee replacement or anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) surgery. Follow your physiotherapy plan, and don't kneel on a new knee until your doctor says you can, as the NHS advises; the maker says you can fix the seat or use only as much slide as your knee allows. Swedish physiotherapists' long-term advice after knee replacement varies widely.

Sources 16, 34, 35, 36, 37, 28

How much pain is OK while you exercise?

0 to 2 is safe, up to 5 is acceptable, back to usual by the next morningEmerging evidence

This guide uses the knee hub's pain rule, for the exercises and for the machine. Rate your knee pain from 0 to 10 during and after exercise. In the pain-monitoring model used in knee trials, 0 to 2 counts as safe, up to 5 as acceptable and above 5 as too much. Aim for 0 to 3 most of the time. By the next morning your knee should be back to its usual level. If it is not, drop back one step next time (fewer sets, a shallower range, a lower step), not to nothing.

The model comes from a kneecap pain trial in 40 young women. NHS inform's kneecap exercises use the same bands (0 to 3 minimal, 4 to 5 acceptable, 6 to 10 excessive) and want pain no worse the morning after. In 7 trials of long-lasting muscle and joint pain, exercise that allowed some pain did no worse than pain-free exercise. With pain at one point just below or above the kneecap, our knee tendon guides keep it to 3 out of 10 or less.

On the rowing machine (our suggestion, built on the same rule): judge each piece by its last few minutes and the next morning, and use the slide length, damper, stroke rate and piece length where your knee stays at 5 out of 10 or less, aiming for 0 to 3. Pain that builds steadily through a piece rather than holding steady is a sign to end it there and go shorter, or with less slide, next time, not to stop altogether. Sharp, catching or giving-way pain, new swelling, a swollen calf, or chest pain or breathlessness isn't a pain-rule question: see the warning signs.

Sources 20, 38, 39

The exercise plan: 3 stages

Start at the first stage. Each move opens a full guide with a 3D demo.

Stage 1

Settle: shorten the slide, start loading

About weeks 0 to 2, strength work 2 to 3 days a week: keep your fitness on the bike, or on the rowing machine only within the pain rule with a shortened slide, and start the hip and knee strength work recommended for kneecap pain. With a diagnosed condition (a tendon problem, a meniscus tear, an arthritis flare, a Baker's cyst, a knee replacement or ACL surgery), that guide's plan or your team's comes first.

Recumbent exercise bike demonstrated on the 3D figure

3D demoRecumbent exercise bikeBeginner · Cardio machine

10 to 20 minutes at a moderate effort to start, building towards 30 · The move page's dose (an editorial starting point); a bike loaded the knee little in small studies

Harder: Stationary cycling

Indoor rowing (rowing machine) demonstrated on the 3D figure

3D demoIndoor rowing (rowing machine)Beginner · Cardio machine

3 rounds of 4 to 5 minutes at a pace you could hold a conversation at, resting a minute between · The move page's dose (an editorial starting point), only if it passes the pain rule. Stopping the slide well short of vertical shins, with the damper at 3 or lower, is our suggestion from the maker's rehab guidance

Harder: Stair climbing

Glute bridge demonstrated on the 3D figure

3D demoGlute bridgeBeginner · No equipment

3 sets of 8 to 12 · An NHS leaflet's dose for kneecap pain

Easier: Pelvic tilt into bridge · Harder: Single-leg glute bridge

Sit squat (partial squat) demonstrated on the 3D figure

3D demoSit squat (partial squat)Beginner · No equipment

3 sets of 8 to 12, to less than 30 degrees of knee bend at first · An NHS leaflet's dose and depth for mini squats

Harder: Bodyweight squat

Seated knee extension (chair) demonstrated on the 3D figure

3D demoSeated knee extension (chair)Beginner · A bench or box + Something with weight

3 sets of 10 to 15 each leg, 2 to 3 days a week · The move page's dose. If the full range hurts, work only from 90 to about 45 degrees of bend, as the move page says

Easier: Quad set (static quads) · Harder: Leg extension

Spanish squat (band squat hold) demonstrated on the 3D figure

3D demoSpanish squat (band squat hold)Intermediate · A band + An anchor point

4 to 5 holds of 30 to 45 seconds at a hard-but-OK effort, with 1 to 2 minutes' rest, once a day in the isometric stage · The move page's dose. Only for pain at one point just below or above the kneecap, keeping it at 3 out of 10 or less, as our knee tendon guides do

Easier: Straight-leg raise · Harder: Pistol squat

Move on when: Daily life and these exercises stay within the pain rule, and 20 minutes on the bike, or 3 rounds of shortened-slide rowing, leaves the knee no worse the next morning, for about a week (editorial, as in our elliptical and cycling knee guides).

Follow along: a timer, a cue and the next move, one step at a time.

Stage 2

Build hip and knee strength, and the slide

About weeks 2 to 6, strength work 2 to 3 days a week and rowing 3 to 5: the combined hip and knee work recommended for kneecap pain, and the full slide back a little at a time.

3D demoIndoor rowing (rowing machine)Beginner · Cardio machine

Build towards 20, then 30 minutes of steady rowing, adding slide before time and time before damper or rate, and splitting longer sessions into pieces with a minute's easy rowing between · Editorial, following our rowing machine back guide's build-up; the slide first is our suggestion

Harder: Stair climbing

3D demoStep-upBeginner · A step

3 sets of 10 each leg, a low step, then medium · Editorial, as in our cycling and elliptical knee guides

Easier: Low step-up · Harder: Dumbbell step-up

Patrick step-down demonstrated on the 3D figure

3D demoPatrick step-downIntermediate · A step

3 sets of 8 to 10 each leg, low step first · Editorial, as in our cycling and elliptical knee guides

Easier: Bodyweight squat · Harder: Skater squat

Split squat demonstrated on the 3D figure

3D demoSplit squatIntermediate · No equipment

3 sets of 8 to 10 each leg, to a depth within the pain rule · Editorial, as in our cycling and elliptical knee guides

Easier: Bodyweight squat · Harder: Reverse lunge

3D demoClamshellBeginner · No equipment

3 sets of 8 to 12 each side · An NHS leaflet's dose for kneecap pain

Easier: Supine isometric hip abduction (belt press) · Harder: Lateral band walk

Single-leg glute bridge demonstrated on the 3D figure

3D demoSingle-leg glute bridgeIntermediate · No equipment

3 sets of 10 each leg · Editorial, as in our cycling and elliptical knee guides

Easier: Glute bridge · Harder: Barbell hip thrust

Move on when: Ten slow step-downs from a low step on the sore leg stay within the pain rule, and 30 minutes of full-slide rowing leaves the knee no worse the next morning (editorial).

Follow along: a timer, a cue and the next move, one step at a time.

Stage 3

Back to your usual sessions, and keep strong

From about week 6, then ongoing: your usual pieces, then intervals and harder sessions, one change at a time by the written steps below, with strength work kept once or twice a week, because kneecap pain can persist for years. No study has tested a return to the rowing machine after knee pain, so the order is editorial.

3D demoIndoor rowing (rowing machine)Beginner · Cardio machine

Your usual sessions; then one harder session a week, starting with short pushes (20 s a little harder, then 1 minute 40 easy) before longer intervals · Editorial; the short pushes are our rowing machine interval workout's first step, as our rowing machine back guide uses them

Harder: Stair climbing

3D demoLeg pressBeginner · Strength machine

3 sets of 6 to 10 each leg, one leg at a time, in a range that passes the pain rule · As in our cycling and elliptical knee guides (editorial)

Harder: Bodyweight squat

Rear-foot-elevated split squat (Bulgarian split squat) demonstrated on the 3D figure

3D demoRear-foot-elevated split squat (Bulgarian split squat)Intermediate · A bench or box

3 sets of 6 to 8 each leg · As in our cycling and elliptical knee guides (editorial)

Easier: Reverse lunge · Harder: Split squat jump

Single-leg Romanian deadlift demonstrated on the 3D figure

3D demoSingle-leg Romanian deadliftAdvanced · A dumbbell

3 sets of 8 each leg, fingertips on a wall at first · As in our cycling and elliptical knee guides (editorial)

Easier: Dumbbell Romanian deadlift

Machine leg curl demonstrated on the 3D figure

3D demoMachine leg curlBeginner · Strength machine

3 sets of 10 to 12 at a moderate weight · Editorial; for back-of-knee pain, the hamstrings work on both the drive and the recovery, and hamstring curls are on the NHS leaflet's list

Easier: Seated band hamstring curl · Harder: Slider hamstring curl

Single-leg calf raise from a step demonstrated on the 3D figure

3D demoSingle-leg calf raise from a stepIntermediate · A step + A wall

3 sets of 15 each leg · As in our cycling and elliptical knee guides (editorial)

Easier: Slow calf raise · Harder: Single-leg pogo hops

Move on when: Your usual sessions pass the pain rule for 2 weeks. If the knee flares, drop back to the last step that was fine; if it keeps coming back, see a physiotherapist (editorial).

Follow along: a timer, a cue and the next move, one step at a time.

What to change for now

What to change on the rowing machine today (written steps)

Our 3D figure can't show the foot stretcher, the strap or how far you slide. These steps come from the rowing machine maker's guidance, a review and lab studies of rowers; none has been tested against knee pain, and each step names its source or says it is our suggestion.

1. The strap: across the ball, or widest part, of your foot, as the maker says; your heels may lift at the catch.
2. Foot height: if your shins pass vertical at the catch, or your hamstrings press on the seat edge, move the foot stretcher up a notch, as the maker says. Don't expect the height alone to fix it: small changes barely moved the knee in a lab study.
3. The slide: stop with your shins vertical, never past, as the maker teaches. While it's sore, stop shorter or row with your arms and body only, and add slide back as the pain rule allows (our suggestion, from the maker's rehab guidance).
4. Shoes and seat pads: thin, flat shoes or socks rather than thick-heeled running shoes, as the maker recommends; a thick seat pad lowers your feet, so raise them to match.
5. Knees: in line with your feet, about hip-width, not falling in or splaying out (our suggestion; a review suggests turning the feet in or out for knees that bow, and knee loads differed with body size in a lab study).
6. The finish: legs long but soft, not snapped back into a locked knee (our suggestion).
7. Damper and rate: a damper of 3 to 5, the maker's starting range, and an easy rate you could talk at, as our rowing machine back guide says.
8. Pieces: short pieces with breaks, building by about 5 minutes at a time and one change a week (editorial); longer machine pieces went with more long-lasting knee injuries in masters rowers.
9. Machine type: slides or a dynamic machine lowered peak knee power in elite rowers; an option if you have one, not a fix.
10. A different machine for now: the bike, or swimming, if any rowing keeps hurting.

Sources 13, 1, 27, 14, 28, 24, 2, 5, 4, 7

Stairs, running, the water and everyday life

While it settles, lead with your good leg going upstairs and your sore leg going down, as NHS inform suggests, and NHS inform says use your leg more after the first 48 hours. If you also run, run less for a while: junior rowers who ran more than once a week had more overuse knee injuries, and a review blames stair running and squat jumps for front-of-knee pain in rowers. On long sits, stretch the leg out or get up every half hour (editorial). On-water rowers start with short, easy outings and build as on the machine (editorial).

Sources 22, 8, 2

Positions to swap, and why

Habit or position	Why it matters	Instead
Squashing right up until your shins pass vertical	The maker says shins shouldn't move past vertical, and calls over-compression a weak position for the legs and knees.	Stop at vertical shins, with the foot stretcher up a notch.
Full-slide rowing through kneecap pain	The catch takes the knee deep under load on every stroke.	A shortened slide or arms-and-body rowing, or the recumbent bike for now.Try: Recumbent exercise bike
Long pieces and challenges while it hurts	Longer machine pieces went with more long-lasting knee injuries in masters rowers.	Short pieces, building by about 5 minutes.
Feet set so low the seat presses into your hamstrings	The maker warns against it.	Feet up a notch.
Thick-heeled running shoes	The maker says some people find they bother the knees.	Thin, flat shoes or socks.
Snapping the knees straight at the finish	It can pinch below the kneecap (our reading).	Legs long, knees soft.
Knees splaying out or falling in	It loads the knee unevenly (our reading).	Knees over your feet.
Adding running, stair runs and jumps in the same weeks	Running more than once a week went with more overuse knee injuries in junior rowers.	One new thing at a time.
Resting the knee completely	Exercise is the treatment for kneecap pain, and NHS inform says use your leg more after 48 hours.	The stage 1 moves.Try: Glute bridge
A brace or sleeve to push through it	An international consensus was uncertain about bracing for kneecap pain.	The set-up changes and the strength plan.
Rowing on through a locking knee, new swelling or a swollen calf	These need checking: see the warning signs.	Stop and get it checked.

Routines to follow

Rowing machine workout for beginners: set-up, technique and steady rounds

A 25-minute beginner rowing machine workout: set the damper, learn the stroke one part at a time, row three easy rounds of 4 to 5 minutes, then stretch.

25 minBeginner4 movesCardio machine

Rowing machine interval workout: power strokes and 20-second pushes

A 25-minute first interval session on the rowing machine: a warm-up with two accelerations, then 20 seconds hard and 1 minute 40 easy, 6 rounds building to 8.

25 minBeginner3 movesCardio machine

Strength workout for rowers: legs, hinge, pull and trunk

A 50-minute strength session for rowers: back squats, Romanian deadlifts, chest-supported rows, push-ups, side planks, bird dogs and Pallof presses.

50 minIntermediate15 movesCardio machine, A band

Knee strengthening workout: from first steps to full range

A 25-minute session for knees that don't currently hurt: thigh and hamstring strength, single-leg control, then an optional full-range block with knees over toes.

25 minBeginner14 movesA bench or box, A wall

Low-impact leg workout (no jumping)

A gentle leg strength routine with no jumping: sit-to-stands, step-ups, wall sits, bridges and calf raises.

20 minBeginner7 movesA bench or box, A step

Cardio machines for beginners: treadmill, cross-trainer, rower and bike

A first tour of the gym's cardio machines: a few minutes each on the bike, treadmill, cross-trainer and rower, set up safely, at a talk-but-not-sing pace.

40 minBeginner7 movesCardio machine, A wall

Glute workout at home

A 25-minute glute workout with bodyweight and a mini band: bridges, clamshells, band walks, kickbacks and lunges.

25 minBeginner9 movesA wall, A band

More moves for this area

Questions people ask

Why do my knees hurt on the rowing machine?

Usually because the catch bends the knee close to its full range under load, thousands of times a session, so kneecap pain is the usual story, often after long pieces or squashing right up the slide. Where it hurts points to the cause: around the kneecap, the outside, a tendon or behind the knee.

Is the rowing machine bad for your knees?

No: it's low impact, and the knee problems rowers get are mostly minor overuse. It does bend the knee a long way, so with kneecap pain, shorten the slide and the pieces for a while.

Why does the back of my knee hurt after rowing?

Often the deepest bend squeezing the back of the knee, the hamstring tendons working hard, or the seat edge pressing on your hamstrings if your feet are set too low. A soft lump can be a Baker's cyst, and a throbbing, swollen calf needs a same-day check.

Can I use a rowing machine with knee pain?

Often, yes, if it passes the pain rule: short pieces, shins stopping at vertical or short of it, and an easy damper and rate. If it keeps hurting, use a bike for a few weeks while you build strength.

Is a rowing machine good for bad knees or knee arthritis?

It can be: NICE recommends aerobic exercise and strengthening for everyone with osteoarthritis, and people with knee arthritis list indoor rowing among knee-friendly activities, though indoor biking was rated the most knee friendly. Joint pain may rise a little when you start.

How should I set the foot stretcher and straps?

The strap across the ball or widest part of your foot, and the foot stretcher at a height where your shins reach vertical at the catch without passing it; if they pass it, move it up a notch. Thin, flat shoes help.

Should my knees be together or apart on the rowing machine?

In line with your feet, about hip-width, not falling in or splaying out (our suggestion). If your machine lets you set the feet wider or turned, try what feels comfortable.

Rowing machine or bike for knee pain?

The bike loaded the knee less in small studies, so it's the gentler choice while a sore knee settles. Most people move back to the rowing machine once the pain rule holds with the full slide.

Can I use a rowing machine after a knee replacement?

No study has tested it, so your surgical team's and physiotherapist's timing comes first. The maker says you can fix the seat or use only as much slide as is comfortable, and our knee replacement guide covers the return to exercise.

Do I need a scan?

Rarely: kneecap pain and knee arthritis are diagnosed by examination, and knees without pain often show changes on scans. After an injury, or a knee that locks, gives way or swells fast, get it checked.

When should I see a doctor?

Go to A&E for a knee that has changed shape or swelled fast after a pop, get advice from NHS 111 now for a knee you can't put weight on, that locks or gives way, or that is hot and swollen with a fever, and get a same-day check for a swollen, painful calf. See a GP or physiotherapist if it hasn't improved within a few weeks. In the US, call 911 where this page says 999.

Related exercise guides

Sources

Exercise education, not a diagnosis or treatment plan. It is written from the guidelines and studies listed above; review by a clinician is pending. If your pain follows an injury, is severe, is getting worse, or comes with any warning sign listed on this page, get it assessed. Health disclaimer.

When to get help first

Get urgent medical help if

See a doctor or physiotherapist if

Where does it hurt?

Understand it

What the rowing machine asks of the knee: no impact, but a deep bendEmerging evidence

Who gets it: the knee comes second to the backEmerging evidence

How the causes are told apartEmerging evidence

When a scan helps, and what it can't tell youStrong evidence

How it usually goesEmerging evidence

What helps, and how strong the evidence is

Set the feet and strap: the maker's guidance, with mixed evidence on heightMixed evidence

Shorten the slide while it's soreEmerging evidence

Volume matters more than any settingEmerging evidence

A bike, swimming or a ski machine while it settlesEmerging evidence

Strength work is the treatment for kneecap painStrong evidence

Knee arthritis and knee replacements: rowing may suit, but it's barely studiedEmerging evidence

How much pain is OK while you exercise?

0 to 2 is safe, up to 5 is acceptable, back to usual by the next morningEmerging evidence

The exercise plan: 3 stages

Settle: shorten the slide, start loading

Build hip and knee strength, and the slide

Back to your usual sessions, and keep strong

What to change for now

What to change on the rowing machine today (written steps)

Stairs, running, the water and everyday life

Positions to swap, and why

Routines to follow

Rowing machine workout for beginners: set-up, technique and steady rounds

Rowing machine interval workout: power strokes and 20-second pushes

Strength workout for rowers: legs, hinge, pull and trunk

Knee strengthening workout: from first steps to full range

Low-impact leg workout (no jumping)

Cardio machines for beginners: treadmill, cross-trainer, rower and bike

Glute workout at home

More moves for this area

Questions people ask

Related exercise guides

Other pain guides

Sources