What Is an Erg?
If you have heard a rowing machine called an erg and wondered what that means, here is the short answer. Erg is short for ergometer, and it is simply the name that rowers use for a rowing machine. Every other name you will run into, rower, indoor rower, or rowing ergometer, points to the same machine.
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The short version
Erg is short for ergometer, and among people who row it is the everyday name for a rowing machine. That is the whole answer. When a coach says get on the erg, or a gym posts an erg challenge, they mean the rowing machine.
The reason there are so many names is that the same machine gets used by very different groups, from competitive crews to people rowing in a spare bedroom, and each group brings its own word for it. Rower, indoor rower, rowing machine, rowing ergometer, and erg all describe one thing. Nothing in this article is a separate product. It is one machine with a stack of nicknames.
The name
Where the word comes from
Ergometer is built from two Greek roots. Ergon means work, and metron means measure, so an ergometer is literally a work measurer, a device that records how much work you do. The same root gives us the erg, a small unit of energy in physics.
That measuring idea is the key to the name. A rowing ergometer is not just something you pull on, it reads the work you put in and turns it into numbers on a screen, your pace, your distance, and your output. When rowers shortened ergometer to erg, they kept the part that mattered to them, the machine that measures the work.
The glossary
One machine, many names
Here is every common name for the same machine, and where you are most likely to hear each one.
Erg
The short form of ergometer, and the name you will hear around competitive rowing, CrossFit, and serious training. Get on the erg simply means get on the rowing machine.
Rower and rowing machine
The plain, everyday names most shoppers and gyms use. If you are buying one for home, rowing machine is the term to search for.
Indoor rower
This name exists to separate the machine from rowing a boat on the water. An indoor rower brings the rowing stroke indoors, onto a rail, with no water and no crew required.
Rowing ergometer
The full, formal name, the one you will see in product specs and sports science studies. Ergometer is the technical word, and erg is the shorthand everyone actually says.
The rowing connection
Why crew and gym people say erg
The erg name comes straight from competitive rowing. Crews cannot always get on the water, so they train indoors on rowing machines that measure every stroke, and over time the machine became a training staple in its own right. Off the water, the erg is where rowers build fitness, test their limits, and compare scores.
That heritage is why the word carried over into gyms and CrossFit, where the same style of machine is used for conditioning. When someone at the gym calls it the erg rather than the rowing machine, it is usually a sign they picked up the term from a rowing or CrossFit setting. Both words point to the identical machine, so you can use whichever one feels natural.
How they differ
The types of erg by resistance
Every erg creates resistance in one of a few ways, and the type changes how the machine feels, how loud it is, and what it costs. Here is each type in brief, with a deeper guide behind each one.
Magnetic
A magnet sets the resistance near a spinning flywheel without touching it, so it stays quiet and needs almost no upkeep. It is the easiest type to live with in a home or apartment, which is why most of our picks are magnetic. See the best magnetic rowing machines.
Water
A paddle pulls through a tank of water, so resistance builds as you speed up and each stroke comes with a soft whoosh. It feels the closest to rowing a real boat, at the cost of a little more noise and the odd bit of tank upkeep. See the best water rowing machines.
Air
A fan creates the resistance, so the harder and faster you pull, the more the machine pushes back. That makes air ergs the choice for interval training and gym style intensity, with more noise as the trade off. See the best air rowing machines.
Hydraulic
Pistons provide the resistance, which keeps these ergs compact and low cost. They suit light, low impact rowing rather than hard training, and they are the simplest place to start. Learn more in our guide to choosing a rowing machine.
Reading the screen
Erg numbers people talk about
Part of erg culture is talking in numbers. Here are the three you will hear most, defined plainly, with no targets attached, since a good number depends entirely on the person.
Split, or time per 500 meters
The split is the time it would take to row 500 meters at your current effort, shown on the monitor as a figure per 500 meters. Because it is a time, a lower split means you are rowing faster. It is the number rowers use to talk about pace.
Stroke rate, or strokes per minute
Often shown as SPM, this is how many strokes you take in one minute. It describes your rhythm rather than your effort, since you can pull hard or easy at the same stroke rate.
Meters
The total distance you have rowed, counted by the machine as you go. Standard pieces are measured in meters, which is why rowers describe a session by the distance covered rather than by the clock.
Quick questions
FAQ
What does erg stand for?
Is an erg the same as a rowing machine?
What is the rowing machine called at the gym?
Why do rowers say erging?
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