To most people, rowing machines seem overly-simplistic and not as productive as other cardio machines.
But, the truth is, the rowing machine is one of the safest and most effective ways to get fit. Unlike most gym machines that only focus on one thing, the rowing machine encompasses many athletic characteristics.
The result is clear:
Even if you use nothing but a rowing machine, you will develop yourself into a great athlete.
Today, we’ll go over seven incredible ways in which a rowing machine gets you fit. If you want to know even more about Rowing Machines, here is an article on EllipticalHub that discusses in detail on how to get the most out of an inexpensive rowing machine.
1. The Rowing Machine Improves Your Endurance
A rowing machine for home use is an excellent option for everyone who is looking to improve their stamina and endurance.
Rowing is an excellent activity that stimulates the heart and lungs, and slowly improves the body’s ability to use energy. All of this means that your heart will pump blood more efficiently, your lungs will be able to hold more air, and your muscles will, over time, start using less energy to perform their tasks.
What’s even better about the rowing machine is that you can vary your workouts and focus both on the aerobic and anaerobic aspect of training. Steady-state rowing will help develop your aerobic system (the production of energy with the help of oxygen). More high-intensity interval rowing will help strengthen your anaerobic system (the production of energy without oxygen).
2. The Rowing Machine Develops Your Pulling Strength and Muscles
Aside from the rowing machine’s impeccable ability to develop your cardiovascular system, it also helps strengthen your pulling muscles.
More specifically, rowing is a great way to strengthen your grip, forearms, biceps, shoulders (particularly the rear deltoids), traps, rhomboids, lats, and lower back.
For a seemingly simple movement, this is quite an impressive list.
What’s more, thanks to the option to vary the level of resistance the machine provides, you can focus more on hypertrophy (moderate intensity for longer periods) or strength and power (higher resistance for shorter bursts).
3. The Rowing Machine Improves Your Core Strength and Stability
The rowing machine is perhaps the best option for core strength and stability.
Most cardio machines severely neglect our core muscles and don’t do much to improve our stability.
But, thanks to the unique design of the rowing machine and the incredible movement pattern, rowing often is a great way to develop your core muscles and improve your stability.
More specifically, rowing is a great way to strengthen the lower back, rectus abdominis, and transverse abdominis. Rowing also strengthens our obliques and serratus anterior.
Thanks to all of that, you can also expect to become much more balanced and stable – two athletic measures which are quite beneficial for a range of different activities and everyday tasks.
4. The Rowing Machine Strengthens Your Legs
Unlike most activities and cardio machines that only work a particular region of the body, the rowing machine involves both the upper and lower body.
To perform a full stroke, your upper and lower body need to work equally. Just as your pulling muscles need to exert force, so does your lower body. More specifically, your quadriceps, glutes, adductors, hamstrings, and calves.
Thanks to that, you can expect to develop both your upper and lower body incredibly well.
Many folks even suggest that rowing alone has been incredibly beneficial for their leg development and lower body strength.
5. The Rowing Machine Makes You Faster And More Explosive
When it comes to safety, very few activities score as high as rowing does.
Most beginners who sit on a rowing machine for the first time, find the activity to be such a pleasure because it feels natural and straightforward. One significant reason as to why that is has to do with the fact that the rowing machine allows the body to work as intended – as one whole unit.
Rather than having to learn how to train one particular region of your body, you get to train everything at once.
This ease and comfort
6. The Rowing Machine Helps You Lose Fat
One of the primary reasons why folks use the rowing machine is to burn calories and lose fat.
Many experts agree that the rowing machine is the best fat-burning piece of cardio equipment out there. Period.
For one, rowing machines are one of just a few pieces of equipment that involve both the upper and lower body. Thanks to that, you can expect to train twice as many muscle groups and burn as much as 50 percent more calories for the same amount of exercise. The more calories you burn, the easier it will be for you to put yourself in a calorie deficit and force your body to melt fat for energy.
Second, we also need to consider the fact that the rowing machine is low-impact. Meaning, it doesn’t cause undue stress on your joints. So, even if you’re healing from an injury or are overweight, you can still use the rowing machine with a lot of success.
And finally, the rowing machine offers many ways to exercise. You can go with slower and more consistent rowing if you’d like, or you can do several 200-meter-long sprints, push yourself to your limits, and be done much faster.
7. Rowing Machines Make You More Competitive
The first time you sit on the rowing machine, you probably won’t be able to set some earth-shattering records. But, as time goes by, you will slowly improve your performance.
For example, if you can only do five 100-meter sprints at first, it won’t take you long until you can do twice as much work. Sometime later, you’ll bump it to 250 meters. Then 300 meters. Before you know it, you’ll be doing several 500-meter sprints.
Unlike most fitness activities, rowing predisposes us to push ourselves and become more competitive. It’s not uncommon for complete beginners to transform themselves completely – both physically, as well as mentally – precisely thanks to rowing.
And while being more competitive doesn’t mean that you’re fitter, the mindset makes it easier for you to challenge yourself during each workout, and achieve better results in the long-run.