What to Expect From a 1:1 Hydrow Personal Coaching Session

My name is Bri Dalton, and I manage Hydrow’s blog, The Boathouse. When I asked Megan Hanewald, Hydrow’s Lead Personal Coach, to share what members can expect from a 1:1 Hydrow personal coaching session, I assumed we’d simply hop on a video call, discuss her typical coaching experiences, and wrap things up.

Instead, Megan surprised me by saying, “Why don’t you do a session yourself so you can see what it’s like?”

And that’s how I ended up in my basement on a Thursday morning, lacing up my sneakers, putting on my baseball cap, and getting ready for my very own 1:1 Hydrow personal coaching session.

If you’re considering trying personal coaching yourself, here’s exactly what to expect—from the booking process to the session itself—based on my own amazing experience with Megan. 

How to book a 1:1 Hydrow personal coaching session

Booking a personal coaching session with Hydrow is really simple. Just visit our 1:1 Personal Coaching page and schedule a session for $79.

After booking, I received a follow-up email with a link to confirm my session. I entered my order number, chose a date and time that worked for me via Calendy, and provided details about my rower, including the model and how long I had my Hydrow. 

Before my session, I also completed a short questionnaire about my current fitness level, rowing habits, goals, and any injuries or limitations Megan should be aware of to ensure my coaching session was entirely tailored to me. 

Related blog: Meet Megan Hanewald! A Q&A With Hydow's Personal Coach

What a 1:1 Hydrow personal coaching session is like

Our initial connection and background information

I have to admit, I was pretty nervous before I started. As the working mom of a toddler, regular exercise hasn’t exactly been at the top of my to-do list these days. And even though I rationally knew that Megan sees tons of members just like me every day, I was still a little anxious about looking foolish (or getting too out of breath too fast!). 

My Hydrow is located in my basement, so a couple minutes before our session, I rolled over a storage bin to serve as a makeshift table for my computer (and draped a blanket over one of my more impressive piles of clutter in the background). Hey, it worked! 

Megan and I connected over a Zoom call, and right away, my anxieties about the session started to fade. We began by discussing an injury I had mentioned in my questionnaire and how it affected my rowing. Megan even took the time to walk me through some foam rolling techniques to help ease my discomfort.

From there, we talked about how often I was rowing—along with my frustration at how tough it is to maintain a routine with toddler germs constantly disrupting my plans. Megan reassured me with a simple but comforting reminder: “Life happens!”

Next, we explored strategies for establishing a consistent rowing routine, finding a time of day that would help make it a habit rather than something that kept getting pushed aside. She also gave me the chance to ask any questions before we got started and share any specific areas I wanted to focus on during the session.

Time to row!

From there, I put a Journey row on my Hydrow screen and rowed for a minute while Megan watched my stroke and filmed me on her phone. It felt like it took me a little while to get into a groove knowing I was being watched, but eventually I got more comfortable and that one minute went by very quickly! 

From the get-go, Megan had a ton of advice for how to adjust my stroke to generate more power and maximize my efforts. First, she had me adjust my footplate to the next size up to account for the wider sole on my sneakers. Then, she had me wiggle back on my seat so I was sitting back on my “sit bones,” rather than my tailbone, to help me keep my core more engaged. 

Then came the biggest piece of advice: the fact that I was completely missing the part of the Recovery phase where I was supposed to lean my body forward! Megan pointed out that as I rowed, I wasn’t rocking my core forward first to create the strongest position at the Catch position—instead, I was melting all three movements into one while keeping my back either straight or tilted back. I was stunned, since I had been rowing this way for over 200,000 meters and had never realized something was off. 

Megan demonstrated the correct stroke on her Hydrow while I followed along. Rowing properly felt really weird at first, but the more strokes I did, and the more I listened to Megan’s suggestions, the more I started to get the hang of it. 

After that, Megan and I watched my “before” and “after” videos on her phone so I could see exactly what she was talking about when it came to the differences between my strokes. She watched me practice some more and advised me to make form adjustments as I was going along, encouraging me when I was doing something right or directing me when my form was off or I slipped back into old habits. 

When I got it right, it felt incredible and so different from what I was used to with my rowing. I could feel myself activating different muscles and I was even getting a bit out of breath, meaning I was working my body harder than usual and getting more out of my workout! 

Wrapping up!

After my coaching session, I did a short five-minute row and was blown away by how amazing it felt. It definitely took a lot more mental work and coordination than I was used to with my rows, but I could feel myself generating more power out of each stroke, with less pressure on my arms and more power coming from my legs and core muscles. In just that short row, I also took around 20 seconds off of my usual split—not too shabby! 

Megan followed up via email with a detailed recap of our session, along with recommended warm-ups, cool-downs, and full-length rows from Hydrow’s library to help me fine-tune the Recovery phase of my stroke.

I walked away from our session feeling much more confident in my rowing technique and excited to stick to a more consistent fitness routine—especially with some (fun!) homework to keep me on track. If you’re looking to refine your stroke, confirm you’re on the right path, or jumpstart a more regular fitness routine, I highly recommend booking a personal coaching session with Hydrow.

Thanks, Megan, for an amazing session—see you on the water!