Yoga guide
Yoga can be useful off the water for rowers: hip and hamstring range so the lean at the catch comes from your hips, moving endurance work for the back and buttocks, the upper back, and slow breathing on an easy day. But no published trial has tested yoga in rowers, and no programme has been shown to prevent rowing back pain, so it sits beside your rowing and strength training, not in place of them.
This guide covers where rowers get hurt (the low back and the ribs), why the lower back doesn't need more bending, what the evidence shows, breathing and recovery, juniors and masters rowers, the poses to use and to change with a sore rib, and a free 25-minute class with a 3D demo of every move.
In 153 Australian international rowers, the lower back was injured most often and rib injuries took the most training time; 83% of injuries came on gradually from overuse. Rib stress fractures affect about 8% to 16% of elite rowers over a career.
We found no published trial of yoga in rowers. One unpublished university study put 16 rowers through 9 weeks of yoga with no comparison group: it showed yoga can fit a rowing season, not that it helps.
World Rowing's summary of the 2021 expert consensus asks for at least 130 degrees of hip flexion and flexible hamstrings. Rowers without back pain tip the pelvis forward at the catch, and tiredness rounds the lower back, more on the rowing machine.
World Rowing's summary: "Training should focus on dynamic trunk exercises to improve endurance of the posterior chain. Static exercises such as 'planks' are unlikely to help."
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Pain at the side of the chest that gets worse with deep breaths, coughing or rolling over in bed may be a rib stress fracture: see a GP or physiotherapist early.
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Most rowing injuries are overuse injuries, and spikes in training load go with injury. Keep yoga for lighter days, not straight before a hard piece; juniors 15 and under can count it as core and conditioning.
The lower back was the commonest injury site in Australian internationals (84 of 270 injuries over 8 seasons) and at the 2007 junior and senior world championships. Over 12 months, 40 of 76 New Zealand international rowers (53%) had back pain, and World Rowing says about 2 in 3 adult rowers have back pain in a year, against about 1 in 3 people in the community.
Across 10 studies of 2,082 rowers, previous back pain was the one clear risk factor, with 2.65 times the odds of another episode; training volume and sweep or sculling weren't significant in the pooled analysis. In single studies, more training hours and long sessions on the rowing machine went with more back pain: World Rowing links rowing machine sessions of more than 30 minutes without a break to back pain.
Rib stress fractures affect 8.1% to 16.4% of elite rowers, 2% of university rowers and 1% of junior elite rowers, mostly in ribs 4 to 8 at the side of the chest. In the Australian team, a fracture cost a median of 69 days before full training on the water. A systematic review found no study testing any way to prevent them.
At the 2023 World Rowing Indoor Championships (180 responders, median age 50.5), overuse injuries outnumbered sudden ones by about 7 to 1. Only 1 in 5 of those invited answered, so treat it as a rough picture.
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At the catch the trunk leans forward about 30 degrees; the drive starts with the legs, the back swings through and the arms finish. British Rowing notes the load repeats many times a minute for the whole session, and that instability around the hips, pelvis and lower back early in the drive, when the load is heaviest, risks injury.
In 10 high-level rowers, the lower lumbar spine came close to the end of its bending range at the catch. Across 22 small studies (429 rowers), tiredness increased lower-back bending at the catch, more on the rowing machine; in 19 elite men it rose 4.4 degrees on the machine against 1.3 in a single scull. One study of 6 elite rowers found technique held over an hour, so it isn't universal. The range rowers want is at the hips and hamstrings.
Experts link rib stress fractures to the pull of the serratus anterior (a muscle on the side of the ribs) against the external oblique (a tummy muscle), long low-rate pieces on the rowing machine in winter, and low bone density or missed periods. In 133 elite rowers, restricting food went with lower bone density in the spine and ribs, an association.
Off the water: hip flexion and hamstring range for the catch, moving endurance work for the back and buttocks, the upper back, slow breathing, and an easy-day session that counts in your load. British Rowing says "Good flexibility is strongly encouraged to enable good posture to occur." Our Pilates for rowers guide covers the Pilates version, and our rowing page has technique, strength training and safety.
Strength training, managing your training load and technique carry the evidence. Yoga has no published trial in rowers.
PubMed found no records for yoga, asana or pranayama with rowing or rowers in the title or abstract, and 18 in all fields, none a yoga study in rowers.
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In a 2020 university thesis, 16 male varsity rowers did two 60-minute yoga sessions a week for 9 weeks during their season. Attendance was high and no one reported a side effect. Hip strength rose, but the team's strength programme ran at the same time, and hip flexion range fell 4.3%, measured after a hard on-water session that morning. There was no comparison group and it isn't peer reviewed, so it shows only that yoga can fit a season.
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In 31 college women followed for a season, flexibility screening didn't differ between the 18 who got back pain and those who didn't. A 1984 study of 17 rowers found a correlation between stretching and less back pain, and junior world championship rowers who stretched for more than 10 minutes after training reported fewer sudden injuries, an unadjusted link in a recall survey. None tested stretching as prevention.
"There is no one proven way to prevent back pain in rowers." The 2021 consensus says prevention and management should include education on risk factors, rowing biomechanics and training load, and treatment early unloading, pain control and exercise.
In 60 teenage rowers with long-lasting back pain, hamstring stretching or hamstring exercise 4 times a week for 12 weeks eased pain more than taping, in a single-blind trial; it treated existing pain and isn't yoga. In 36 teenage rowers, physiotherapy that retrains movement and works on worries about pain lowered pain while rowing by 2.4 points out of 10. A programme of exercise, education and conditioning went with less back pain in one school than in three others, without randomisation.
In college rowers, 8 weeks of core endurance training improved none of the performance tests. In 26 elite rowers, trunk stability training improved back-related disability by about 5 points out of 100 but not pain, in a study that wasn't randomised.
It often starts as a vague ache in the chest wall and builds into sharp pain that is worse with coughing, deep breathing and changing position. Rib stress fractures generally heal in 6 to 8 weeks if found early, a review says, though the Australian team lost a median of 69 days.
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Follow your physiotherapist and our rib injury guide's stages. Leave out twists, side bends, side planks and arm balances until your physiotherapist agrees, don't lie on the sore side, and stop any pose that makes the rib hurt to breathe. No yoga guidance covers rib stress injuries.
Low energy intake harms bone in women and men, and it's a suspected driver of rib injuries. See your GP, and eat enough for your training.
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Slow breathing raises heart rate variability, a sign of the calming nervous system, during and straight after a session. In 20 athletes, 15 minutes of yoga after hard intervals settled breathing faster than stretching for 10 to 15 minutes. But 4 weeks of slow breathing after sprint training didn't improve recovery or performance in a trial of 34 people.
Training the breathing muscles against a device improved rowing time in one small trial and not in another. In 48 elite rowers screened in the UK, breathing pattern problems (42%) and exercise-related cough (71%) were common, while objective asthma was found in 10%: a cough or wheeze that doesn't settle needs a doctor, not a breathing practice.
Stretching barely changes next-day soreness. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) says poor load management is a major cause of injury, so count a strong yoga class as a session. British Rowing: "The next session is only as good as the recovery (refueling, repairing, rehydrating and resting) from the previous session."
British Rowing's guidance is "J15 and under and older rowers new to strength training to be core/trunk & conditioning only." and "The stage at which rowers become tired, where technique and posture fluctuate, is where the rower is most prone to injury." A yoga class counts as core and conditioning (our reading). British Rowing also asks for a low drag setting on the rowing machine for young rowers.
A teenager in a sport that arches or twists the back, such as gymnastics, dance, diving, volleyball, cricket fast bowling, baseball pitching, weightlifting, football or rugby, with back pain that lasts more than a couple of weeks, is worse arching back or stops them training: get it checked by a GP or sports physiotherapist. It can be a stress fracture in the spine.
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Modify or avoid exercises that round your back deeply or repeatedly, especially with a weight: sit-ups, toe touches, Pilates roll-downs and curl-ups, and extreme yoga forward folds. Bend from the hips instead. You do not need to avoid bending, twisting or lifting altogether: move smoothly and keep your upper back straight.
Twisting should be safe if you do it smoothly and comfortably. Slow down and shorten fast or forceful twists, and leave out the added weight.
Our editorial starting point:
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Steps 1 to 4 are the move page's instructions, as on our Pilates for rowers guide; step 5 is our reading of World Rowing's advice on hip flexion and the finding that rowers without back pain tip the pelvis forward at the catch.
See the movement on the 3D figure: Hip-hinge practice
Hip hinge, 8 times (our strength workout for rowers). Strap hamstring stretch, 45 seconds each side with the other knee bent, easing off if the leg tingles, low lunge, 45 seconds each side, and reclined figure four, 45 seconds each side (our yoga for runners routine). 90/90 switch: "10 slow switches, pause at the ends" (the move page's dose).
3D demoHip-hinge practiceBeginner · No equipment
3D demoSupine hamstring stretch with a strapBeginner · No equipment
3D demoLow lunge (Anjaneyasana)Beginner · No equipment
3D demo90/90 switchIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoReclined figure four (eye of the needle, Sucirandhrasana)Beginner · No equipmentBird dog, 2 sets of 6 each side holding each for 5 seconds, and side plank, 2 holds of 20 seconds each side on your forearm, knees down to start (our Pilates for rowers class). Glute bridge, 10 slow lifts, warrior III, 3 to 5 breaths each side with your hands on a wall, and locust, 3 holds of 3 breaths (our yoga for glutes class). Leave out the side plank with rib pain.
Thoracic rotation: "6 rotations per side, moving with the breath" (the move page's dose), left out with rib pain. Y-T-W raises, 5 of each shape (our Pilates for rowers class). Sphinx, 2 holds of 20 to 30 seconds, skipped if arching hurts (our yoga for swimmers class). Cat-cow: "8 waves, slower than feels natural" (the move page's dose), keeping the rounding small after a long session on the rowing machine (our suggestion).
Wrist and forearm flow, 1 minute (our yoga for cyclists class): gentle movement, not a treatment for forearm pain from feathering. Slow breathing, 2 minutes, in for about 4 and out for about 6, with no holds (our yoga for tennis players class). Child's pose, 1 minute, knees wide, and corpse pose, 3 minutes (adapted from the move pages' doses). Legs up the wall is optional, 2 minutes (our yoga for runners routine).
Swap long, rounded seated forward folds for a hinge from the hips or the strap hamstring stretch: the lower back already nears its bending limit at the catch (our suggestion; no study has tested yoga folds in rowers). With a rib stress injury, no twists, side bends, side planks or arm balances until your physiotherapist agrees, and don't lie on the sore side (our suggestion). Long static planks aren't needed.
3D demoSeated forward fold (Paschimottanasana)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoWide-angle seated forward fold (Upavistha Konasana)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoSupine spinal twist (Supta Matsyendrasana)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoTriangle pose (Utthita Trikonasana)Intermediate · A step
3D demoHalf moon pose (Ardha Chandrasana)Advanced · A step
3D demoFour-limbed staff pose (Chaturanga Dandasana)Advanced · No equipment
3D demoCrow pose (Bakasana)Intermediate · No equipmentOn lighter days, our 25-minute class for rowers: our own selection, untested in a trial. The strength workout for rowers is the gym side, and our Pilates for rowers class is an alternative with more trunk work.
A 25-minute yoga class for rowers: hip and hamstring range for the catch, moving work for the back and buttocks, the upper back, and slow breathing.
25 minBeginner16 movesNo equipmentA 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 bandA 25-minute mat Pilates class for rowers: hip hinging and hip range for the catch, moving trunk endurance, glutes, hamstrings, upper back and shoulder blades.
25 minBeginner19 movesNo equipmentA 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 machineA gentle 20-minute yoga sequence for back pain, based on the first weeks of a 12-week trial programme: lying, all-fours and standing poses, then rest.
20 minBeginner12 movesFirm cushionA hip-opening yoga sequence: low lunge, lizard, goddess, pigeon, bound angle and happy baby.
25 minBeginner10 movesA wallA 45-minute restorative yoga sequence: five fully supported poses held for 4 to 10 minutes each, with slow breathing and a long final rest.
45 minBeginner6 movesFirm cushion, A wallA 6-minute breathing routine: slow breathing, crocodile breathing, alternate nostril breathing, box breathing and 4-7-8 breathing.
6 minBeginner5 movesNo equipmentThese are the warning signs from our Pilates for rowers, rowing, rib injury and yoga guides, word for word. This is general information, not a diagnosis. A&E means accident and emergency; in the US, call 911 for 999.
Call 999 if:
British Rowing's safety alert on indoor rowing says: "If you do not feel well then do not exercise. If something is making you feel unwell then stop doing it."
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Call 999 or go to A&E (accident and emergency) straight away for severe difficulty breathing (gasping, choking or not able to get words out), a chest that feels tight or heavy, pain that spreads to your arms, back, neck and jaw, lips or skin turning very pale, blue or grey, or sudden confusion. If you're more short of breath than usual, or your heart is racing, fluttering or skipping beats, contact NHS 111.
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Pain at the side of the chest that builds with rowing, or hurts when you breathe deeply, cough or sneeze, needs a physiotherapist or doctor early, before it becomes a fracture. Our rib injury guide has more.
Rib pain with no injury that builds up with rowing, golf or other training: see a GP. It may be a rib stress fracture.
After a fall or blow to the ribs, call 999 or go to A&E if breathlessness or chest pain gets worse, you have pain in your tummy or shoulder, or you cough up blood.
Call 999 or go to A&E: loss of feeling or numbness around the genitals or bottom, new trouble peeing or controlling your bladder or bowels, changes in genital sensation during sex or problems with erections or orgasm, or pain, tingling, weakness or numbness in both legs. These are signs of cauda equina syndrome, which needs treating in hospital urgently. Don't drive yourself.
Call 999 or go to A&E: back pain with chest pain, or back pain that started after a serious accident, such as a car crash.
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Same day (GP or NHS 111): back pain and you feel hot, cold, shivery or generally unwell, or severe pain that starts suddenly or is getting worse quickly.
Same day: leg weakness that is getting worse.
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A joint pain that is sharp, gets worse during a session, lingers into the next day or changes how you move is a reason to use an easier version, and to see a GP or physiotherapist if it keeps happening (the rule in our plans). Muscle soreness for a day or two after something new is normal. In a hot class, stop if you feel dizzy, sick or unwell; our hot yoga guide lists the signs of heat illness.
With glaucoma, or high blood pressure that isn't under control, skip headstands, shoulder stands and long head-down holds. With osteoporosis, swap deep forward folds for a flat-back hinge from the hips, and twist smoothly. In pregnancy, our yoga in pregnancy guide covers the changes. NCCIH advises beginners to avoid headstands, shoulder stands, the lotus position and forceful breathing.
You can say no to any hands-on adjustment, and a teacher registered with Yoga Alliance must get your explicit consent each time.
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The NHS advises getting advice from a healthcare professional first if you have a health problem, an injury or symptoms, or have recently had a heart attack or an operation.
Flexibility screening didn't predict back pain in college rowers, and there is no proven way to prevent back pain in rowers. Build endurance, use your hips and manage your load.
The lower back already nears its bending limit at the catch and bends further as you tire. The range you want is at the hips and hamstrings.
It hasn't been shown. In the one rowing yoga study, unpublished and with no comparison group, hip flexion range fell over 9 weeks in season, measured after a hard session.
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World Rowing's summary of the consensus says static exercises such as planks are unlikely to help, and favours moving trunk exercises for the back and buttocks.
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No study has tested yoga breathing in rowers. Breathing muscle training with a device has mixed results, and slow breathing didn't speed recovery in another sport.
Rib pain that is worse with breathing, coughing or changing position can be a stress fracture, which cost elite rowers about 10 weeks of full training on the water. Get it checked early.
It can be useful off the water: hip and hamstring range for the catch, moving endurance work for the back and buttocks, the upper back and slow breathing. No published trial has tested it in rowers, so it supports rowing and strength training rather than replacing them.
Hip hinges, a strap hamstring stretch, low lunge and 90/90 switches for the catch; bird dog, bridges and warrior III for the back and buttocks; upper-back turns and Y-T-W raises. Our 25-minute class puts them together.
Nobody has shown that any programme prevents it, and the rowing experts say so plainly. Use your hips at the catch, build endurance with moving exercises, and manage your training load.
It hasn't been shown. World Rowing asks for at least 130 degrees, but in the one rowing yoga study, unpublished and uncontrolled, hip flexion range fell over 9 weeks, measured after a hard session.
Not into long, deep rounding: the lower back already nears its bending limit at the catch and rounds more as you tire. Fold from your hips and keep hamstring and hip work as the focus.
After rowing or on a lighter day. Before a hard piece, use a rowing warm-up; long holds just before hard efforts can cost a little power.
Only the gentle parts your physiotherapist agrees to: breathing, and poses that don't twist, side-bend or load the ribs, without lying on the sore side. Follow your physiotherapist's plan for getting back to rowing.
It hasn't been tested in rowers. Slow breathing settles you after training, but it isn't a performance aid, and a cough or wheeze that doesn't settle needs a doctor.
Yes. British Rowing keeps rowers 15 and under to core, trunk and conditioning work, and a yoga class fits that. A junior whose back pain lasts or is worse arching needs a check.
Once or twice a week, on lighter days, is a sensible start (our suggestion). Count a strong class in your weekly load.
For a rib that hurts more to breathe, cough or roll over, back pain that lasts or keeps coming back, or forearm pain with feathering that keeps returning. Back pain with numbness around the genitals or bottom, weakness in both legs, or bladder or bowel changes needs 999.
Exercise education, not a personal prescription, and clinical review of these guides is pending. If you are pregnant, have a health condition such as glaucoma, high blood pressure or osteoporosis, or have had recent surgery, check with a doctor, midwife or physiotherapist before starting, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.
