What is your opinion on row vs running or rucking for steady cardio? at Tactical Barbell they say that running is the best form of cardio along with rucking, because these are more natural to us than other exercises. This was discussed here at the forum short ago.
Both have pros and cons in relation to each other.
the rower works more muscle mass, they work concentrically almost exclusively, therefore it may be more sustainable and suitable to use it more frequently, than running (for a beginner or heavier human). On weekends I was sometimes 3-5 10k on the rower, with running I could not do that.
At the same hr the rowing PRE is significantly higher than running (IIRC Andrew Read's advice is when applying MAF to reduce 5bpm on the rower, personally I gravitate to go 5-10bpm lower than running). Rowing feels more engaging. Even going at a relatively low hr can get kind of "hard" when you want to pull your maximal power for that hr. Then breathing has to be totally on point accompanied by efficient strokes, this requires focus.
With rowing one surely can build muscle, as far as I know it is the only endurance event with weight classes.
@Sean M.
Rowing makes the heart walls thicker and wider also, because racing rowers use high tension and valsalva on the pull to generate tremendous power. Because of the cyclical nature and almost no excentric, blood can move well to and from the heart. Running does that not (valsalva)
Running demands no equipment. Good running technique in my opinion is for most people a much harder skill than a safe indoor rowing technique. Running has excentric loading and impact through gravity this is good because it builds up bone density, cyclists or rowers when not lifting heavy occasionally don't get that. This is bad because it is impact: the devil is in the details of volume, frequency, technique, weight...
With running you run through environment you actually have a kind of an aim in space. With indoor rowing you literally go nowhere.
From a pure heart-muscle-breath working standpoint I would say rowing is in front of running. But with running you can really build some springiness into the legs, and if you will it is more "natural" or call it "functional" or a "reset".