Natural Gym Equipment - WaterRower
An expert gym designer reviews the WaterRower
WaterRower is a proudly American fitness brand that has become a staple in our nature gym equipment specification lists for hotels, resorts and commercial facilities around the world but how does it square up to other giants in the sector such as the Technogym SkillRow and the Concept2 RowErg indoor rowers?
In this review we’ll give you an honest perspective as expert gym designers who look to balance athletic performance demands, aesthetics and style, while keeping an eye on sustainability too. Let’s get into it!
Natural gym equipment / Aesthetics
It’s hard to beat the styling of the WaterRower, especially in some of its more upmarket versions such as the walnut wood finish, or indeed oak.
As a piece of nature gym equipment it is a masterpiece in minimalism, with the functionality of a rower reduces to its raw essence.
Having a tub of water swirling around at one of the design is also reassuring, creating a visual connection between the effort exerted and movement in the water.
You may see this water tinted blue in some online marketing images for the WaterRower - this is a coloured die used to render the photos more enticing. In real life, it’s just plain old water sloshing around in the tank, unless you decide to do anything with it!
The presence of water here to provide something close to life-like resistance is arguably the WaterRower’s main selling point but by reducing the presence of all unnecessary plastic, using sustainably sourced wood and ensuring it is completely manual, requiring no external power, has served to create a truly cohesive product.
Natural gym equipment / Build quality
When specifying a WaterRower for any of the commercial gyms that we design, the first question from a client is always ‘ what about service and maintenance?’ For this particular piece of cardio machinery, the brilliance is in its simplicity.
By reducing the number of moving parts and keeping the tech as basic as possible, the number of things that can go wrong is closer to a new road bike than a new treadmill.
Spare parts are easy to source and the WaterRower should be a reliable friend for many years. Our experience of the customer service on the commercial gym side has been excellent to date, no complaints whatsoever there.
One thing that will likely give in after a while are the foot straps but that’s the same on any rowing machine, whether it’s nature gym equipment like this one, or a standard rower. The wear and tear around the feet is inevitably going to take its toll eventually to don’t be surprised when it happens.
There is a 3-year warranty on all parts and a 5-year warranty on the frame, more than enough to offer value for money on the initial purchase price.
For more info on buying spare parts see here: https://www.waterrower.co.uk/shop/spare-parts
Natural gym equipment / Tech
The Series IV monitor is a black and white read out that does the basics really well in terms of data for time, distance, intensity, mph, split times per 500m / 2km, watts and calories per hour.
If you want entertainment and more granular data feedback though, you’ll need to bring your own tablet and buy the additional table stand.
Another solution is to connect via Bluetooth to one of the training apps that WaterRower have developed (in the case of WaterRower Connect) or partnered with such as CityRow Go and Kinomap with the help of another add-on called the ComModule.
To be clear, that means you’ll need to purchase the basic rower with the Series IV monitor, as well as the ComModule bluetooth extension kit.
For more info on this see here: https://www.waterrower.co.uk/waterrower-digital-fitness
Natural gym equipment / Sustainability
Very few gym equipment brands today make much effort at all to be sustainable, with the exception of the Swedish brand Eleiko that are we are great fans of, there are very few options on the table today for those looking to purchase nature gym equipment that is non-recyclable plastic-free for example, or made by a brand that has a solid Corporate Social Responsibility strategy and/or Sustainability Plan. The fitness industry just hasn’t got there yet.
It is for this reason that WaterRower stand out in the crowd, using sustainably sourced American hardwoods in all of their finishes.
From our perspective as green gym designers, we think there is more to be made of this sustainability angle for WaterRower products but for now they prefer to keep this as an extra, rather than the core messaging behind the brand, it seems.
Either way, we love what they stand for and commend them for doing all they’ve done up to now, with the hope that they continue to push the sustainability envelope for the industry, leading from the front!