Originally Posted by
MWM
In the rower's case I think the same argument is applied to a less extreme case: the upper body is used in the rowing stroke, but only in a certain way. Since during the stroke it only pulls and doesn't push, the rower doesn't care about making those muscles stronger which contribute to a push, so there's no point in doing the bench press. He should just train the pulling movements so he gets stronger at pulling the oar towards him. Unlike the cyclist, he cares about the strength of the upper body, but only part of the upper body.