Rowing as exercise has exploded in popularity, with the number of people rowing indoors increasing by 20% over the past ten years. Referenced as one of the most efficient workouts because of its combination of strength training and cardiovascular movement, The New York Times declared in late 2022 that rowing was “having a moment.” The Sports and Fitness Industry Association predicts that the global rowing machine market will exceed $1.8 Billion in value by 2031.
Right on cue, Peloton announced its newest piece of equipment last September, the Peloton Row, along with classes, content and a host of new instructors. Among them, Ashley Pryor, who tells me to call her Ash when we sit down in a massive conference room at Peloton’s New York City midtown headquarters. Only her mom calls her Ashley.
Ash Pryor on the Peloton Row
Pryor became certified as a fitness instructor while working at the front desk of central Ohio’s Lifetime Fitness gym. This came just after her years spent on the rowing team as a student at Ohio State University. She went on to work at trendy boutique fitness studios Row House and Orange Theory before landing her job at Peloton.
“I started out teaching strength classes,” Pryor said. “I was very clear that my focus was strength. I did not want to be the one Black instructor teaching hip hop.”
Pryor has always worked to address the inequality in fitness instruction since her early days of college rowing. In fact, she created an organization, Relentless Rowing Academy, that sought to bring the sport to marginalized communities, offering access historically reserved for wealthy, predominantly white athletes. As of 2020, the demographic breakdown of NCAA rowers was 73% white, 5% Hispanic/Latino, 3% Asian and 2% Black.
Pryor’s colleagues commend her ability to bring fun to a sport that has the perception of being very rigid and exclusive. “I always learn something new from her,” said fellow rowing instructor and former Olympian Alex Karwoski. “I've been continually impressed by her ability to bring originality to a fairly static fitness machine. She has such a genuine desire to share and teach what rowing can do for everyone."
Yet she was hesitant as a young athlete to pick up an oar or get on a machine. “I never saw anyone who looked like me in rowing,” Pryor said. “My mom wanted to make sure I was part of something that was diverse. She didn’t want me to be a part of a space where I’d be the only one like me there.”
Rowing is considered one of the most efficient, and one of the toughest, physical exercises a person can do. Many attribute its recent increase in popularity to the rise of CrossFit, where rowing is a core part of daily routines. After our interview, Pryor took me to Peloton’s sleek Hudson Yards showroom that houses their three main pieces of equipment - the bike, the treadmill, and the newest edition, the Row. She hopped onto the machine with the ease, grace and comfort of someone who has done this a million times, demonstrating the basics of rowing with perfect, fluid form, pausing only to wave to colleagues as they walked by. She made the sport look easy in the way only a professional athlete can.
This scene was a stark contrast to what happened only moments later as she suggested I hop on for a mini training session. I attempted to mimic what I observed in her demonstration, but with terribly awkward and clunky movements. Despite her incredibly patient coaching, there was nothing graceful about what I was doing, or rather, attempting to do. For a machine that claims to work 86% of your muscles and give you an efficient cardio and strength workout in 15 minutes, it’s no surprise that only five minutes in, I stumbled off the Row, sweating profusely through the button down shirt I had worn to the interview, or as Pryor would say, “sparkling.”
It’s hard to believe that Pryor was also once a rowing novice. She credits those first grueling days of training on her college rowing team with the discipline she now applies to all areas of her life.
“It was one of the hardest but also one of the most rewarding experiences,” she reminisced. “You're waking up at 4 a.m. You're rowing in all conditions, in rain as long as there’s no lightning, in snow as long as it's not icy. When you think about understanding grit, this was it. I was giving my blood, sweat and tears, getting blisters and calluses on my hands while learning about patience, discipline and routine. It was the hardest I've ever worked, but I loved it.”
Showing Off Her Championship Ring at Ohio State University's Boathouse, Where It All Started
“Nothing is free when you’re rowing,” Pryor said. “Every stroke matters. You can’t read a book or check your phone. It’s not a mindless experience. It requires a lot of intention, assessment and mental agility.”
Pryor drew on that grit and perseverance just before enrolling in that fitness instructor certification program back in Ohio. Shortly after graduating college, she experienced an onslaught of life-changing events. “I had been diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease, my boss who I was very close with had just passed away, I was going through a terrible break up and felt like I was slipping around,” she said. “I needed an outlet that would motivate me to get back to who I was. I wanted to find my strength again and I knew if I could achieve this far fetched goal of becoming a fitness instructor it would signify that I could achieve anything."
When Pryor first started teaching strength classes back in Ohio, she remembers how surprised people were to see someone who looked like her leading their workout. Over time, she developed a loyal following, growing from a handful of people to dozens of regulars week after week vying to get a spot in one of Pryor’s classes.
“I wanted to show people the weight room is not their enemy,” she said. “Because the history of fitness has really been about women being dainty. The message was always, ‘don't lift too heavy, you don't want to be bulky.’ I wanted to shift the narrative of what it means to be strong.”
The past few years have seen a small shift in societal perceptions of what a fitness instructor can and should look like alongside the body positivity movement. Megg Boggs, Latoya Shauntay and others have amassed massive followings on social media, as audiences flock to those challenging societal standards of what health, fitness and athleticism look like. But with the rise of Ozempic culture, Gwyneth Paltrow’s bone broth fasting fiasco and waiflike models walking the runways of Fashion Weeks around the world, that progress is threatened.
“When you think of yoga, you think of a thin, white woman. When you think of fitness, you think of a body that doesn’t look like mine,” Pryor said. “So I didn’t want to go into any lane that was expected. I wanted women to own their body and their strength. There was very little representation when I started out, but now we’re starting to shift the narrative. Now it’s sexy to have muscles, have curves and lift heavy things.”
Ash Pryor Peloton Instructor Portraits
The rise of body positivity and diversity in fitness didn’t stop Pryor from receiving all kinds of hate when she was announced on Peloton’s Instagram account as their new rowing instructor last year.
“I’ve fought to be this healthy, to be this proud of myself. I have fought so hard to love every inch of me,” she said. “I’m not interested in shrinking any part of myself. I support anyone on a weight loss journey but that is not my journey.”
“I’ll let my work speak for itself,” Pryor said. “The haters ought to Google my credentials before they look at me and say I’m not qualified to teach fitness. You don’t get to Peloton by being mediocre.”
The instructor vetting process is lengthy and intense. When Peloton direct messaged Pryor to let her know they were looking for row instructors (yes, that’s how she was recruited to her role,) she first had to confirm it was not spam. From there, the interview process was intense. She sent in videos, flew back and forth from Ohio to New York to audition in person, a process that continued for months before landing her role on one of the biggest fitness platforms in the world.
Peloton continues to add new programming to its rowing offering. The company introduced live rowing classes in January, and it hopes to invite members into the studio for live classes soon. While rowing content is only available to those who have a Peloton Row right now, the company does have plans to share classes for app users at some point in the future.
“I have loved the live classes. I’m a different instructor when I’m live,” Pryor said. “Seeing those names on the leaderboard, especially in my 6 a.m. classes, is thrilling. I love rowing because you can find it at any age. It's for everyone. Grandma’s rowing. Auntie is rowing. Family means a lot to me.”
“Athletics is about bringing people together and then having critical conversations,” Pryor said, “Rowing is my form of social justice.”
