For hybrid & fitness racing
For hybrid & fitness racing, trap bar deadlift rates higher on our research criteria: more injury protection.
Rowing machine carries over more directly to hybrid & fitness racing.
Both are good choices that build different things for hybrid & fitness racing, so a plan can use both.
The research score comes from these, scored by hand from the studies. Lifter scores appear once an exercise has 10 ratings. How scores work
Rowing Machine. A race station. Train it at race pace.
Trap Bar Deadlift. A strength base for carries, sleds and lunges, and quick to learn.
For functional fitness, rowing machine rates well ahead on our research criteria: more carry-over to functional fitness, easier to learn and fit in. Trap bar deadlift does more to prevent injuries.
For hybrid & fitness racing, trap bar deadlift rates higher on our research criteria: more injury protection. Rowing machine carries over more directly to hybrid & fitness racing. Both are good choices that build different things for hybrid & fitness racing, so a plan can use both.
About the same: both are easy to learn.
Rowing machine needs a rower or SkiErg, so for most people it’s a gym exercise. Trap bar deadlift needs a trap bar, so for most people it’s a gym exercise.
Trap bar deadlift: it rates Strong for injury protection in our research rubric, against Fair for rowing machine.