IF you want a workout that’s strenuous, frightening, frustrating, thrilling, exhausting, challenging and serene all at the same time, try rowing in an eight-oared boat on the Harlem River.

I sampled the Harlem River Community Rowing club’s Intro to Rowing class early this summer on the banks of the river, which separates Manhattan from the Bronx. Our coach, Alex Gordon, explained that if we signed up for the eight-session intensive Learn-to-Row course after the introduction, we’d be doing sweep rowing. For that, each rower in the boat (or shell) has one oar, as opposed to sculling, which is done with two oars.

For a taste of what was to come, he led us to a wide, stable “barge” floating near the dock and went over the basics: how to get into the boat safely and how not to tip it. “Never let go of your oar,” he told us, pointing out that the 12-foot-long oars provide balance. “The boat is long and skinny and not very stable,” he said. “With the oars out, it’s like a water bug with a little itty-bitty body and long legs.”

Once seated in the barge, we secured our feet at one end of a two-and-a-half-foot-long track; the seat slid up and down the track as we performed each stroke. “Arms, legs, back — back, legs, arms,” Mr. Gordon called out as we stretched out our arms, shifted our backs and pushed off with our legs.