Indoor fitness has become a trend that no one wants not to be a part of. And with the trend comes many options. However, Peloton seems to have won it when it comes to indoor cycling, while Hydrow is now the synonym for indoor rowing. For this reason, it is easy to be caught between the two, especially when you just want one connected for your home gym. However, it’s so challenging that some people have actually opted for both workout options.
Nevertheless, being a beginner means that you will take one step at a time, especially when it involves spending thousands of dollars on workout equipment.
Rowing Vs. Cycling: Which Gives a Better Workout?
Technically, both cycling and rowing get the heart rate up, hence great cardio workouts. You can also do both exercises in the house without having to go outdoors, making them even more convenient. And with instructors and virtual environments that are motivating, what more would one ask from fitness?
Nevertheless, the two workouts have several different impacts on the users.
Essentially, rowing impacts all parts of the body, especially the upper and lower limbs. Therefore, you manage to do both arms and legs simultaneously. Then there is the chest region, which is ever-expanding as you row while the chore contracts and tones. Therefore, compared to cycling, rowing has a more wholesome impact on the body.
On the other hand, cycling concentrates more on the legs and lower parts of the body. Therefore, cycling is definitely your best option if you want to tone your glutes and tone your calves in the best way without affecting much of the upper body. Secondly, cycling has low-intensity workouts that are good for even people with heart and lung problems. They are also the most recommended for joint and knee injury patients, hence excellent recovery. And let’s not forget the seniors and pregnant women, who find sitting on the saddle more comfortable and safer.
However, rowing is medium to high-intensity, hence not quite the best option for recovery and people who require gentleness even in fitness. Therefore, in this case, cycling is the better option.
If you want endurance for your arms, rowing is the best option. This is because rowing requires a lot of arm movement and resistance, hence great for arm endurance and resistance training. On the contrary, cycling is an excellent choice for better leg muscle endurance and resistance.
So, Peloton Bike Vs. Hydrow: Which Machine is Better for Workouts?
Peloton provides the best indoor cycling option, while Hydrow is our modern-day indoor rowing fitness icon.
Therefore, we will look into each of these equipment options, with similarities and differences laid down naked. And hopefully, this will help you make an informed decision.
Features, Specs and Pricing Comparison: Peloton Vs. Hydrow
| Peloton Bike | Hydrow | |
| Equipment | Bike, bike plus | Rower |
| Supplier | onepeloton.com | hydrow.com |
| Cost of equipment | Peloton bike: $1445 Peloton bike plus: $2495 | $2295 |
| Discounts available | yes | yes |
| workouts | Spinning, | Rowing, strength, yoga |
| Mat workouts | yoga, meditation, strength, stretching | strength, yoga, pilates, |
| Workout app availability | yes | yes |
| Monthly membership cost on the equipment | $44 | $39 |
| Digital app availability | yes | yes |
| Cost of the digital app membership | $12.99, with a one-month free subscription | $19.99, with a one-month free subscription |
| Live classes | yes | yes |
| On-demand classes | yes | yes |
| Personalized classes available | yes | yes |
| Touchscreen availability | yes | yes |
| Touchscreen size | Peloton bike: 21.5 inches Peloton bike +: 24 inches | 22 inches |
| Bluetooth compatibility | yes | yes |
| Outdoor class environment | available | In all classes |
| compact | no | no |
| Type of resistance | magnetic | magnetic |
| Resistance control | Manual (and digital for the bike +) | manual |
| Payment plans available | yes | yes |
| Warranty and trials | 12 months labor and parts, five years frame warranty 30-day trial | 12 months labor and parts, five years frame warranty 30-day trial |
| Delivery and installation | Free delivery and installation | Free delivery and installation |
Workout Experience: Hydrow Vs. Peloton
Both equipment options are quality, and the workouts are immersive and addictive. If you are into cycling, the indoor cycling option that Peloton provides is the best in the market today. On the other hand, for the rowers, the rivers, oceans, lakes, and other water bodies will be right with you in a Hydrow rowing class.
What to Expect from Hydrow Workouts
A) Outdoor Rowing Experience
Hydrow may be an indoor rowing platform, but the classes are recorded outdoors. Therefore, your screen provides a vivid view of an actual water body, while the instructor’s guidance into resistance and more ensures that you get the experience as well.
B) Different Water Bodies for Adventure
Do you care for an adventure while still glued in the comfort of your home? Hydrow brings numerous water body options where you can row. So, even when you live away in the countryside and cities where oceans and seas are objects of fantasy, you can finally live the experience. Even better, you have the choice among the many options available.
C) Expert Trainers
The expert trainers at Hydrow guide you through indoor rowing, telling you when to adjust the speed and resistance, turn, and so on. They also offer guidance over form, which is necessary, especially for beginners.
Most importantly, the experts are real experts in the field, giving you a sense of rowing with personal trainers.
D) A Quiet Explorative Rowing Session
Hydrow gives you the option to reminisce the good days at the river or lake. There are workouts where you just choose a water body of your choice and explore it on your own, just like in a physical situation. You come across water body challenges such as blocking large fish and plants, which you have to figure a way out. You decide when to increase speed and resistance as well. I can confidently say that it makes one feel so alive, especially after a long time away from a lonely yet exciting adventure.
E) A Rowing Community
If you live alone and crave a rowing group, the Hydrow community may be just what you need. You can either join the live Hydrow classes and interact with the instructors and users or opt for the social platforms dedicated to Hydrow fans. The users are supportive, informative, and also warm to other members
What to Expect from Peloton Workouts
A) The Best Indoor Fitness Trainers
Peloton selects the best indoor training instructors available. They are also great with words, and they make your workouts feel so achievable even when you can feel that they are too much.
B) A Colossal Library of Classes
The Peloton on-demand class library is so vast that it is impossible to exhaust it. On top of that, every live class is added to the on-demand library, adding to its vast nature. Thus, you will always get what you look for, each day with its unique workout options.
C) Live Interaction with the Instructors
The peloton instructors are lively and always interact with users in the class. They get into the class with high-fives to members, then shoutouts to deserving members during the class. Basically, they make the classes feel like physical gyms customized in the house.
D) Important and Celebrational Days
I love the Peloton celebrational mood and customized celebrations, such as Homecoming and Featured Artist Series. The mood changes on such occasions, and every user looks forward to either or all Peloton’s celebrations. They have a way of rejuvenating the mood just when you feel like indoor training is becoming monotonous.
E) Interactive Community
The Peloton community is probably, no… actually the largest fitness platform online today. And the community ranges from celebrities to people who keep their lives private, providing you with all sorts of interaction.
Therefore, whenever you have questions you need quick answers to, the community will always be available for support.
Peloton and Hydrow: Similarities and Differences in Details
1. Equipment
Hydrow has one equipment option, which is the Hydrow water rower. However, Peloton has two types of equipment, the Peloton Tread and the Peloton bikes (standard bike and the bike plus). The Peloton is well-known for indoor cycling despite the fact that the two options we will take against Hydrow rowing.
Given each company’s equipment, the type of equipment workouts is evident. Hence, equipment workouts on Peloton revolve around cycling and running, while equipment workouts on Hydrow are all about rowing.
Both equipment options will take up space in your gym, and they need a little more space all around them to keep them safe. Therefore, you have to create sufficient space to prepare for the delivery.
2. Price Comparison Between Peloton vs. Hydrow
Basically, the two companies have competing prices, which are actually on the higher end of the indoor workout equipment. Peloton bike plus costs $2400, though Peloton has a standard budget bike for $1445.
On the other hand, the Hydrow rower costs $2295, more than the Peloton bike plus cost.
Good for you, both companies have frequent discounts that mark major company events, special weekends, and major holidays. For instance, currently, Hydrow has a Cyber Week offer, which gives you a $650 discount off the rower. Likewise, Peloton is selling the bike plus a $450 off the bike plus cost. Therefore, you will get either of the premium products at less than $2000.
On top of that, the companies have payment plans that allow you to
Then there is the cost of membership on the equipment; Peloton charges $44 per month on the equipment workouts. And, you will get access to unlimited accounts on the equipment.
Hydrow charges $38 on the membership, and just like Peloton, you get access to unlimited accounts with the subscription.
Moreover, each of the companies has an offer for users without the company equipment. The Peloton digital app allows users without the Peloton bike or tread onto the Peloton workout platform. The digital app has both live and on-demand classes, and one can also join the Leaderboard for competitions, all at only $12.99. The only challenge will be that the scenic rides are limited to the bike owners.
As for Hydrow, there is also a digital membership, but it is more expensive than the Peloton app, at $19.99. The membership favors users without a Hydrow Rower also. However, the digital app only allows on-demand class access and not live classes.
Better still, you can access either the Hydrow digital app or the Peloton digital app on the equipment for free, as long as you have already paid for the unlimited subscription.
Generally, the costs between Peloton and Hydrow are almost similar, hence a tie.
3. Touchscreen and Console Comparison Between Peloton and Hydrow
The Hydrow rower comes with a large 22-inch touchscreen, where your eyes will focus on the vast waters during your classes. As you Row, you might actually forget that you are in the house.
Likewise, Peloton bikes come with 21.5-inch and 24-inch touchscreens, where you will stream all the classes, both studio and scenic rides.
Moreover, all the screens are Bluetooth compatible, allowing you to add other Bluetooth accessories such as a speaker, headphones, and a heart rate monitor.
The music on each workout rhymes with the workouts, and the speakers on the touchscreens are fabulous. After all, you can add your headphones or external speakers for better music.
Other than that, each touchscreen is compatible with WiFi, so you don’t have to worry about your internet not working on either.
4. Classes
Both Peloton and Hydrow offer live classes, which allow an amazing interaction with the instructors. They also feature a vast library of on-demand classes, which the users can access at any time.
Hydrow classes are cast outdoors, and the instructors are outdoors rowing on real rivers, lakes, oceans, and ponds. Therefore, you may be rowing indoors, but the screen in front of you gives you a totally different experience that every rower dreams of. You even come across the water vegetation, fish, and water animals, exactly as you would in a typical water body.
Most Peloton riding classes are indoors, and the instructors are in the Peloton studios in New York City, L. A or London. However, Peloton has covered the gap with scenic rides, which allow the Peloton bike and bike plus owners to ride through town outskirts and the countryside for beautiful outdoor views.
Hydrow has personalized class options, where you get on an adventure on a water body of your choice without the guidance of an instructor. No one tells you when to increase or reduce resistance or when to evade an obstacle. It is a fantastic opportunity to just be yourself, alone in the water body you choose, figuring your way out.
The personalized option in Peloton may not be the same as the one on Hydrow, but it is actually available. In Peloton, there is an FTP test that you can take to have your workouts customized. Then, you can take power zone classes, where your results will depend on zones that you can handle.
Hydrow and Peloton have strength and yoga classes, which facilitate all-around workouts on the platforms, other than the equipment workouts. Peloton even adds meditation and stretching classes, which help you sleep better and feel more relaxed after workouts or a long day at work.
5. Resistance Comparison Between Peloton and Hydrow
Peloton bikes and Hydrow rowers come with resistance, facilitating easing or increasing the workout intensity. They are also manual to adjust the resistance depending on your convenience or the couches’ instructions.
However, the Peloton bike plus utilizes both a manual and a digital resistance, hence comes with a feature known as auto-follow. With auto-follow, you can decide on the resistance range you want during a class, and the resistance will adjust on itself automatically.
6. Warranty and Equipment Trial
Surprisingly, the trial and warranty on Peloton and Hydrow equipment rhyme. Once you get your piece of equipment, you have thirty days to try it out, and in case you don’t like it, you can return it to the company. You will get a replacement or a full refund for the equipment.
Then, each piece of equipment, bike or rower, comes with a one-year warranty on labor and parts and a five-year warranty on the frame.
About Delivery and Installation Between Peloton and Hydrow
Peloton and Hydrow organize the bikes, treadmills, and rowers’ delivery and installation. Therefore, once you make your payment, all you have to do is give your delivery details, then prepare for your first ride, run, or row.
Peloton bike delivery: Click Here
Peloton bike installation guide: Click Here
Hydrow rowing machine delivery: Click Here
Hydrow rowing machine installation guide: Click Here
Pros and Cons When Choosing Hyrow or Peloton
So, let’s look at the pros and cons of Peloton and Hydrow, then determine which are essential in balancing out which is best for you. After all, both equipment options are capital intensive; hence almost appears that you will buy one at a time.
Pros and Cons of the Peloton Bike
| Pros of Peloton | Cons of Peloton |
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Pros and Cons of the Hydrow Rowing Machine
| Pros of the Hydrow Rowing Machine | Cons of the Hydrow Rowing Machine |
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Who Should Buy the Hydrow Rowing Machine?
The Hydrow is my top recommendation for full-body training, as it actively involves almost every part of the body.
Second, Hydrow is always great for water body lovers. If you are into rowing, surfing, and swimming, Hydrow brings your favorite environment home. On top of that, it keeps you fit for your training when you cannot be outdoors due to weather and other limitations.
The Hydrow brings an outdoor environment through the classes, all of which are outdoors. Hence, Hydrow should be your best option when nature is your thing.
Some of us want to exercise and explore on our own, without the hyped shouting of instructors. Hydrow has classes that you can customize and just be on your own whenever you need to figure things out.
Who Should Buy the Peloton Bike?
First, if you need low-impact classes due to joint pains, age, or health conditions, the Peloton bike is an excellent consideration. Also, if you have knee pain you have to deal with, your solution may be in the bike.
Second, the Peloton is a top option when you have minimal studio space in your house. It is sleek and would entirely fit on a regular yoga mat.
Third, Peloton is great for in-class interactions. How much more could you ask for interaction with instructor shoutouts and Leaderboard options to ride with people who share your interests?
Peloton is amazing when you need motivation from instructors. They crack jokes and shout quotes that could be just what you need to brighten your day, other than the class instructions.
Do you fancy athletic legs? Cycling will tone your legs and ensure that every muscle is as it should be on your legs and abdominal areas. Therefore, Peloton should be your priority.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)
Is Peloton coming out with a rower?
According to new supply chain sources, the Peloton Rower should be in production by the end of 2022.
Which burns more calories bike or rower?
Rowing burns a lot more calories than cycling on a stationary bike at greater intensities. Because rowing is a full-body workout that engages all of the major muscular groups, whereas cycling focuses primarily on the legs or lower parts of the body. According to GQ, “A 50-minute rowing class can burn up to 1,200 calories, twice as many as spinning“
Is a rowing machine or bike better for weight loss?
According to InMotionO.C. “It depends on workout duration, type and intensities but In general, bikes and rowing machines burn equal calories. Taking this into consideration, HIIT rowing burns more calories than biking.” Another study found that, rowing workouts are usually more anaerobic and incorporate many more body muscles, its calorie-burn is significantly higher than cycling.
Our Verdict on Hydrow vs. Peloton Bike– Which is better?
Honestly, this is the most complex review, as both companies are masters of their trade. Peloton reigns in indoor cycling, while Hydrow reigns in indoor rowing. Therefore, both equipment options bring an outdoor workout indoors and make the best out of the deals so that users are attached. All Hydrow rower owners will never take another deal better, and all Peloton bike owners are loyal to Peloton.
So, which of the two is best to go for? The answer will depend on what you actually love. If you are into rowing and building upper body muscles, go for Hydrow. On the contrary, if you want to work on your lower body muscles and cherish cycling, Peloton will make an excellent option.
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