Rowing is one of the most effective workouts that affects all the muscles in your body. Whether you do rowing on a boat on a river or indoors on rowing machines, which are nowadays of an enviable variety and sophistication, rowing can really help those who want to train their body effectively.
However, rowing puts a lot of strain on your body. Since in rowing your hands are the main tool, keeping them comfortable is very important for the effectiveness of the workout.
The worst thing your hands can deal with is blisters and sweaty grip on them, which often come from regular rowing sessions and improperly assembled grips.
Rowing gloves are a useful thing to keep your hands free from all these troubles. However, when you start searching for rowing gloves in a search engine, you’re surrounded by a bunch of options and information from manufacturers that’s easy to get confused.
That’s where we’re here to help you. We’ve carefully selected among the many models of gloves and compiled a list of the best options available today. We haven’t just put it together at random, but we’ve taken into account a bunch of related factors, which we’ll also talk about as part of our article.
We’ll then explore the most common questions on the subject of rowing gloves and a bit about rowing itself as well. Now that you’re ready for what’s in store for you in this article, let’s take a look at our top rowing gloves.
Don’t forget that rowing is not only about gloves, but also about good shoes. You can find out more about them here.
Top Home Rowing Workout Gloves Compared:
Best Rowing Gloves Comparison Chart
| NAME | MATERIALS | GENDER | BREATHABLE | SIZE | |
| Sculling and Rowing Gloves | 80% Polyester and 20% polyurethane | Men & Women | Yes | Multiple-Size | |
| Hornet Watersports Rowing Gloves | 50% SBR, 35% polyester, 10% nylon and 5% spandex | Men & Women | Yes | Multiple-Size | |
| Glofit FREEDOM Workout Gloves | N/A | Men & Women | Yes | Multiple-Size | |
| RIMSports Rowing Gym Gloves | Leather and spandex | Men & Women | Yes | Multiple-Size | |
| Trideer Breathable Workout Gloves | Silicone rubber and cowhide leather | Women | Yes | Multiple-Size | |
| SpacePower Light Breathable Gloves | Silicone, mesh fabric, and elastic fabric | Men & Women | Yes | Multiple-Size | |
| Viomir Ultralight Workout Gloves | Foam, microfiber, mesh material and Lycra | Men & Women | Yes | Multiple-Size | |
| Contraband Weight Lifting Gloves | Amara leather with a mesh top | Women | Yes | Multiple-Size | |
| Yaayan Pink Indoor Rowing Gloves | Silicone, microfiber, a Lycra fiber mesh, and Terry Cloth | Women | Yes | One Size | |
| Palmyth Stubby UV Fishing Gloves | Partial synthetic leather and silicone dots | Men & Women | Yes | Multiple-Size |
Sculling and Rowing Gloves
To start with, we thought we’d tell you about the paired rowing gloves. These gloves were designed specifically for rowing exercises, and you can tell by the way they look.
They have a good enough grip on anyone’s hand to give a firm grip on both the handles of a rowing machine and the oars if you are exercising on a river or a lake. The arm girth can be adjusted with a Velcro fastener.
The open back and special space for the lower fingers will give the user excellent breathability and allow for more freedom of movement than with conventional gloves. The most important thing you can get out of these gloves is blisters that won’t develop, then burst and leave you in a hellish pain.
They will keep you safe from such consequences of training. This way, your hands will quickly get used to rowing and become stiff, without catastrophic trouble along the way.
To ensure that the gloves last as long as possible, you should wash them thoroughly with soap and hot water and dry them after each use. For the price of $40, this is a great option for both outdoor and home paddling.
Further information:
The gloves consist of 80 percent polyester and twenty percent polyurethane. The grip is made entirely of silicone and the trim and thumb area are made of quality nylon. The gloves are available in several sizes, and the range is wide, so everyone can find the right outfit for their taste.
| Pros | Cons |
| · Rowing gloves that stand out for their enviable quality
· Every detail of these gloves is designed for comfort on a rowing machine | · In our opinion, the price is a little high, which may be an obstacle to the purchase of these gloves |
Hornet Watersports Rowing Gloves
Here we get to the next pair of gloves on our list. Like the previous gloves that we put first on our list, these were designed to protect your hands from unnecessary rowing injuries and blisters that often form after a few intense workouts indoors or outdoors.
We loved the contrived silicone seal on the palm that helps hold anything you want securely in your hands. The gloves fit both men and women, so a large number of users can appreciate them.
The coolest feature of this model is that even though its original purpose was to be a rowing glove, they are great for any sport. You can safely train in them on several machines and experience a pleasant comfort.
The only thing we ask you is to wash these gloves more often, without washing they will quickly become useless and their performance will be lost. You can wash them in a regular washing machine.
For the price of twenty dollars you get excellent quality for that amount, so do not skimp in this case. Believe me, they are worth the money you spend.
Additional information:
These gloves are made of fifty percent synthetic rubber, thirty-five percent polyester, ten percent nylon and five percent spandex. They are sold in a wide range of sizes, so everyone will be able to find the right size for themselves.
| Pros | Cons |
| · Cheap gloves, if you consider their quality. Only twenty dollars
· The material is made so that you can easily hold anything, so any sports activities with them are easy and effortless | · They don’t last as long as the other gloves on our list, which isn’t very satisfying. |
Glofit FREEDOM Workout Gloves
Those who want to add style to their workouts with gloves will want to consider this particular model. These gloves are available in a wide range of bright colours, such as blue, grey, pink and yellow, which complement the gloves’ darker colour scheme.
But we’re not just looking at looks. So in paddling they proved to be quite good as well. The gloves feel like a new layer of skin on your hands, with a layer that firmly protects your hands from injury. The gloves have a very soft pad with special anti-slip silica dots that reduce friction and increase durability.
Air-tightness is achieved with the help of a mesh, which is present in the design. The longevity of the gloves is also ensured with the help of a double layer construction with foam and micro. These rowing gloves will serve you for a very long time, especially if you use them exclusively at home.
That being said, they are a very cheap option to purchase, costing only seventeen dollars. Although not originally designed for rowing workouts, they will be perfect for them.
Further information:
We haven’t really understood exactly what material was used to make these gloves. You can buy them in a wide range of sizes, from very small to quite large.
These gloves also have another feature: they come with a two-year warranty, and if you sign up to Glofit on social media, you can exchange it for a lifetime warranty.
| Pros | Cons |
| · Despite the price (they are quite cheap) these gloves have the same advantages as some of the more expensive models
· They boast excellent grip and hands don’t fog up thanks to their good breathability · There are some really cool colors | · They are not very strong and durable, although this is compensated for by the warranty included
· There are problems with size mismatch, so we advise you to choose a larger size when ordering |
RIMSports Rowing Gym Gloves
Here’s another pair of gloves with a different color scheme (although not as colorful as some of the other models). They will help you have an unforgettable rowing experience, especially if you’ve been wanting to try rowing at home for a long time and only recently bought yourself a rowing machine.
These rowing gloves are made of lycra, spandex, and select genuine leather where your thumb is located. You’ll be able to have a really firm grip no matter what you want to grip.
The fabric breathes constantly, so your hands won’t sweat in these gloves and you’ll be able to move them around comfortably during rowing exercises. Also, these gloves can come in handy in your everyday life as well as in other sports you decide to do.
They can be a serious support in any endeavor you undertake. The price is also pleasing to the eye, even though there are cheaper options. It ranges from twenty to thirty dollars. For that kind of money, they would be a great choice for a rowing athlete.
Take the twenty-dollar models because the thirty dollar gloves have minimal differences from them. You don’t want to pay extra for something that won’t significantly affect your performance.
Additional information:
We know that the gloves are made of genuine leather and spandex, except that the percentage of these materials is not listed anywhere. Sizes come in both very small and very large. If your size doesn’t match, order gloves a size smaller.
By the way, returning these particular gloves is very easy. You write an email to the company stating the reason for your dissatisfaction with the gloves, then send the gloves themselves, and then get a new pair for free.
| Pros | Cons |
| · The gloves are durable enough for you to row comfortably
· They are breathable, have a variety of colors and an excellent return policy | · Some types are too expensive, but you can buy cheaper
· If you use the glove model often, the durability may not be what you expect |
Trideer Breathable Workout Gloves
Next we will look at special breathable workout gloves. These gloves were invented for gym work and weightlifting, but suddenly it turns out that they fit perfectly in rowing workouts as well. These gloves have a wide range of sizes, so you can easily find the right gloves for you.
The palm is made of silicone gel, which will give you a great grip on the handle of the rowing machine without your hand slipping. If you are afraid that the gloves will slip from your hands, you will not find such a problem here.
They are equipped with a Velcro strap around the wrist, which firmly holds the gloves on your hands. As you have already understood from the name of these rowing gloves, they give a great opportunity for your hands to breathe during intensive workouts.
One last argument in favor of buying this particular model: they are quite cheap. Their price is in the range of twenty dollars. You can even find these gloves for ten dollars, so you’re in for a very good deal and great value for money.
Additional information:
We can’t give you absolutely all the information about the material of these gloves, all we know is that silicone rubber and cowhide were used. You can also find absolutely any size to fit any user. The gloves are returnable within thirty days, and you will also get a one-year warranty on them with your purchase.
| Pros | Cons |
| · A very cheap option for a rowing machine, without losing quality. A great choice for beginner rowers
· They breathe, they help you exercise effectively – that’s all you need | · Despite the accuracy of the size chart on the company website, according to some reviews sizes do not always agree with the stated |
SpacePower Light Breathable Workout Gloves
The name of these gloves looks like it came from a sci-fi movie or a sci-fi book. But it’s not really science-fiction, it’s just a great version of a rowing glove. They are made of mesh fabric and a hollow back, which lets in enough air and wicks away excessive sweat during your workouts.
Special silicone pads give the gloves durability and extend their lifespan. Thanks to the special elastic design, these gloves can be called the most breathable gloves available on the market today.
This is a very useful feature, especially after an intense workout, when you are already sweating profusely so that the handles of your trainers slip out of your hands. These gloves come in a wide range of colors. If you’ve long dreamed of rowing in cool pink gloves, these will help you fulfill your little dream.
You can also use them for other sports activities, which is an important factor for many users. By the way, they are also inexpensive, only thirteen dollars. And despite the rather low price, they are quite durable. Although it’s worth saying, the other gloves on our list are much more durable than these.
Additional information:
The gloves are made of silicone, mesh and stretch fabric. Available in a wide range of sizes, almost all sizes are found. If you can’t find your size, buy a size up. There is no guarantee on these gloves.
| Pros | Cons |
| · Very cheap gloves
· Good air permeability and excellent grip | · Can’t boast good durability
· Longevity is highly questionable plus there is not even a minimum warranty |
Viomir Ultralight Workout Gloves
And here’s another pair of gloves for the various purposes you set for yourself during your workouts. With them you can perform even the most difficult exercises. They have a fairly simple design, which only adds to their comfort.
To keep your hands from becoming covered in blisters or bruises, these gloves are designed with a special honeycomb silica gel gasket. There is a mesh on the back to keep your hands warm while paddling outdoors.
The gloves have amazing flexibility as well as Velcro straps on the wrist so that they do not fall off during your rowing workouts. There is one disadvantage with those buckles: judging by reviews, they often break, and it does not even take much effort to do so.
Even the best gloves are hard to remove after an intense workout because they are tight enough to grip your hands. The gloves here have thought of that, with fingertips equipped with buckles for easy removal. For those who like to choose among a variety of colors, nothing good awaits here.
The gloves are available in just three colors: pink, black and gray. The price for them ranges from thirteen to fifteen dollars. In principle, this is quite cheap, and the quality is quite acceptable.
Additional information:
These gloves are made of foam, microfiber, mesh and Lycra. Almost all sizes are available, but if you don’t find yours, choose a size larger. No warranty terms come with the gloves, although if you believe the company’s website, they have a hotline that you can call for any questions about the gloves.
| Pros | Cons |
| · One of the cheapest options
· Designed with special care for your hands, comfortable and breathable | · They are quite easy to damage, especially the buckles and Velcro
· Few colors available to choose from |
Contraband Women’s Lifting Gloves
These women’s gloves have the strange word contraband in their name, but there is nothing illegal about them at all. These are women’s rowing gloves that are much smaller than the models we’ve parsed before, which is why they are often called minimalist gloves.
This allows you to use the handle for rowing, while at the same time part of the hand will be free and breathe.
The medium-sized insulator that comes with the rowing gloves fits perfectly with indoor rowing activities because it’s not so bulky that it interferes with your normal grip on the handle of the machine, and it’s not so lightweight that it contributes to blisters and blisters.
Among other things, the silicone rubber balls on the palm side of the glove give a good grip on the surface, much better than the skin we’re used to. This, too, helps protect your hands from blisters. Like the previous gloves, these will be easy to remove after a long workout, thanks to the special tabs.
There is a choice of colors, but it’s pretty small: black, pink, purple and gray. The main disadvantage of these gloves is their price.
They cost $22, and of course they faithfully perform all the functions, but they don’t offer anything new in return. There are gloves much cheaper and with the same excellent set of useful benefits.
More info:
These gloves are made of high-quality leather, silicone with mesh, polyester inside, and goatskin on the fingers. Sizes are available in a wide range.
You can buy a size smaller or larger, depending on how dense your hand girth you are counting on. They come with a twelve-month warranty, and another month is given to you for returns.
| Pros | Cons |
| · This is a very comfortable glove with an unusual design tailored to the comfort of handling
· Fingers remain free and palms are carefully protected against blisters · Good warranty terms included | · They are very expensive for gloves that don’t have any fancy features.
· Because the design is minimalist, they wear out rather quickly |
Yaayan Pink Indoor Rowing Gloves
These rowing gloves in a pretty pink color are a little different from the others on our list because they are made primarily for women. They are equipped with an elastic bandage that makes these gloves tight enough, but not much tight enough to interfere with the normal circulation in your hands.
There is a special material between the fingers that eliminates sweat during rowing exercises. It sounds better in words than it actually is, because you are holding on with your whole hand while rowing, which prevents this material from working properly.
The fabric that was used in the production of these indoor rowing workout gloves is elastic Lycra, which gives good breathability and reduces the percentage of sweat produced during your workouts. Now let’s turn to another important factor, blister protection.
It is provided by a specially added piece of silica gel on the palm, which forms safe blisters, without the risk of tears and pain. The color of these gloves is only pink, they simply do not exist in any other color scheme. They are very cheap, you can easily find them in any store for eleven dollars.
But herein lies the main disadvantage of these gloves. They don’t have enough strength and endurance. During training, they tend to come undone all the time. This comes from the fact that a fixed and tight wristband is used.
Additional information:
The gloves are made of silicone, microfiber, elastic mesh and special sweat-proof fabric. The weird thing is that there is no normal size chart for these gloves.
Believe us, we’ve been looking for that for a very long time. One thing we do know is that they come in large and medium sizes. We also couldn’t find a single word about a warranty or refund.
| Pros | Cons |
| · These gloves are great for any woman who doesn’t want blisters on her hands, but wants to paddle
· They are very cheap and quite comfortable | · The durability of these gloves is nowhere near good, but there are worse models
· Very strange sizing and no guarantee at all, which will alert the attentive buyer |
Palmyth Stubby UV Fishing Gloves
And last on our list, but not least, rowing fishing gloves. You’re probably wondering now: what other fishing gloves and what does a rowing machine have to do with it?
That’s what we thought at first too, but after trying them out, we came to the conclusion that these gloves are good for both fishing and rowing machine exercises. They are made partly from synthetic leather and a silicone lining that will keep your palms from blistering.
Plus, this padding helps hold the handles of the rowing machine more effectively. The manufacturers say that their fabric that these gloves are made of leaves your hands cool and dry so well that even without the gloves, you’ll have them soaking up more sweat.
We think that’s an exaggeration, of course, but a certain amount of coolness and dryness can be achieved from them. These are another pair of gloves with special tabs to make it easier for you to take them off. Stylistically, they look like typical fishing gloves.
You can find three colors: black, blue and green. They are also reasonably priced at about $17. It’s not the cheapest option, but you can’t call it expensive either.
| Pros | Cons |
| · You can take them not only to rowing lessons, but also to fishing
· The material is very comfortable and feels good in your hands · Price is not too cheap but very reasonable with all features | · The gloves were not originally designed for rowing
· If you use them often, they can easily deteriorate · The camouflage style may not be to the liking of many users |
Buyer’s Guide to Help You Find the Best Rowing Machine Gloves
How to choose the right gloves for training?
- It does not matter what you do – bodybuilding, crossfit, floor exercise – the gloves must be the right size, not too big or too small. They should fix the wrist tightly, not to fall off and not to dangle. This will help to avoid some injuries.
- The thickness of the lining. Despite the fact that the thicker the lining, the less comfortable it is to perform the exercise, you should still choose the thick one. It is a factor that allows a passive increase in grip strength. In addition, a thick pad indirectly affects safety, as it allows you to safely throw a heavy projectile without fear of tearing your hands into blood.
- Traditionally they are made of leather, leatherette, cotton or neoprene (synthetic). Leather gloves look spectacular and allow you to clearly fix the projectile in your hands. Their disadvantage is that the hand can sweat a lot. Leather is a similar material, but less durable. Cotton gloves are the cheapest, but they are suitable only for light fitness because they are of little use in strength exercises. Neoprene creates a good grip with a barbell or dumbbells, and perforations allow hands not to sweat.
- Finger grips. If there are no fingers, the palms will be protected from overheating, perspiration, and, consequently, unpleasant odor. If the fingers are perforated, this disadvantage can be avoided.
- The presence of special locks. Such locks are used in powerlifting and allow you not to worry about the position of the bar, especially when working with an open grip.
- Another important factor is the ultimate strength. Rowing trainings include jerking exercises with a large amplitude, which creates a lot of friction and, as a result, easily grinds the classic gym gloves.
- Lining thickness. Because every muscle group is important in competition and training, the gloves have a reduced lining thickness despite all their strength. This allows for a better feel of the projectile in the hands and a partial relief of the wrist muscles, allowing full control of the major muscle groups in the exercise.
- Uncut fingers. As a rule, rowing gloves are made with closed fingers for their better protection.
FAQs When Buying Rowing Exercise Gloves
Why do I need rowing gloves?
The more you row on a rowing machine outside or inside your home, the more you get blisters on your hands. These calluses get bigger and there is a chance that they can burst, thus turning into very painful but unprotected blisters. This happens if you practice without proper protection. Gloves will be your protection. Blisters will still form during intensive training, but the chance that they will burst now tends to zero. Thus, you will save yourself from pain and blisters. That’s why buying gloves is a must for rowing.
What types of rowing machines are there?
Depending on the mechanism of operation, rowing machines are divided into the following categories:
- Aerodynamic – used in fitness rooms. They are distinguished by a high price, bulky, noisy, while perfectly perform all the functions, they are popular among professionals.
- Aeromagnetic – they create resistance to human effort with the help of magnets. The generator built into the apparatus allows to work without connection to the network. A distinctive feature is a variety of load modes, a precise imitation of a real rowing, so that regular training can pump your muscles well, strengthen the respiratory and cardiovascular system;
- Water – hydraulic shells, which have gained popularity due to the ease of regulation, as well as adjustment. The workout is similar to working with an oar in a boat in a real body of water;
- Magnetic – some of the best rowing machines for the home. They work quietly, compact, comfortable, easy to use;
- Mechanical – budget models, suitable for beginners who do not want to buy expensive simulators for classes at home. Usually, these models have a display for displaying training data, which runs on batteries;
- Electromagnetic – control is carried out by means of built-in electronics. The operating mechanism is based on magnetic resistance. They are good for home as they do not make much noise.
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