Now you surely must have noticed how ripped the rowing team in college was. Everybody wanted to be them. Luckily for you, you can do just that and from the comfort of your own home. Indoor rowing has become more and more common these days for several reasons. We’re going to discuss them right now.
A rowing machine targets about 85% of your muscles, as you require a lot of muscles to move to perform full and clean strokes. The majority of the muscles exist in your legs, arms, core, and back, they all become activated and engaged whenever you workout.
Rowing movements start to finish will force you to utilize all the muscles in your body. You’re working out your legs, core, back, and arms and developing stronger hands and forearms since your hands are gripping the handle the entire time.
First, you start with the Catch position; you push off with your legs. This works out your quads, hamstrings, buttocks, and calves.
Next comes the Drive. This phase begins by straightening your legs while starting to lean back and pull the handle to your chest. The Drive will work out almost 84% of the muscles in your body!
Then you’ll start the Finish. You will have pulled the handle to your lower chest and leaned backward slightly. Your entire core is engaged and ready to spring yourself back forwards.
The last phase is called Recovery. This is when you return to the Catch position or the beginning of the motion. Again this requires your core and all your stabilizer muscles to spring yourself forward. You also engage your hamstrings to help slide your body to the front of the rowing rail.
Rowing machines can work your entire body. They allow you to get both aerobic and anaerobic exercise. This benefits both your cardiovascular, muscular and immune systems; it gets your heart racing, bringing you all the benefits of improved circulation. Having such exercise daily will undoubtedly prove as an essential contributor to your overall health.
Rowing exercises can help prevent chronic conditions such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes type two, metabolic syndrome, etc. If already you’re suffering any of them, rowing can always help to keep them in check.
One more thing is that it helps in releasing endorphins that help improve your mood and sleep quality. Finally, it helps increase your lung and tissue capacity for oxygen.
‘With a rowing machine, you can work at the highest intensity you like, with the lowest impact on your body,’ says Heron. ‘I get so many people who have injured their ankles and knees by running too far, too quickly.’
Either due to injuries, old age, or extra weight, our joints don’t always work the way we would like them to work. In such cases, high-impact workouts will prove to be quite risky. This sometimes requires us to find low impact workouts that are easier on our hips and knees. The answer to that is indoor rowing, a low impact, and non-weight-bearing exercise. The smooth and minimal movement of a row makes for much less impact on joints, decreasing the likelihood of injuries. It’s a natural flow that doesn’t involve any twisting. This makes it a fantastic choice for older people who want to enjoy a vigorous workout without the risk.
Like stationary bikes, rowers work slowly yet steadily on your muscles and joints, making them an excellent choice for injury prevention and are also a great way to strengthen and condition the knees after surgery. While the back strain is always a concern, You can decrease or minimize the risk by using a proper posture as it will take all the pressure off your back.
Rowing exercises sit on top of the training hierarchy. It trains your cardiovascular system while toning your entire body. Rowing boosts your endurance significantly. In the beginning, you’ll find yourself exhausted, but as your training progresses, you’ll feel all the extra energy you’re gaining and your strength increasing.
Contrary to many exercise machines in the market today, rowing machines tend to exercise muscle groups in both your upper and lower body. This sort of dual-action keeps you strong and well balanced. Rowing regularly will strengthen your shoulders, arms, and back muscles, as well as your glutes and hamstrings. It will also improve the strength and tone of your core muscles.
Upper back fat is a problem that numerous people suffer. It’s not only an indicator of bad eating habits, but it also indicates possible hormonal imbalance. Rowing machines provide a stellar upper-body workout. They exercise the trapezii in the upper back, rhomboids in the shoulders, and lats in the lower back. The benefits of a stronger back and shoulders include improved posture as well as a reduction in back pain and fat. The better shape your upper back is in, the better any outfit fits you – be it a backless dress or your gym clothes.
In addition to your backside, rowing machines also provide an excellent workout for your biceps, pecs, and abs, which helps you develop a stronger core. Because you need to maintain a firm grip on the oars, you’ll also develop stronger hands and wrists, which is a big plus for anyone who enjoys activities such as climbing or yoga.!
Flexibility, balance, toned legs, faster weight loss are all reasons that encourage rowing enthusiasts to classify rowing as a lower-body workout. The main leg muscles involved are the quads in the upper front of the thighs. However, the calves and glutes (buttocks) also feel the burn.
A rowing machine is a lean, mean calorie-burning machine, as cheesy as that sounds. As specified before, rowing allows for significant weight loss in your upper body, lower body, and back. A rowing machine has proven to be more efficient in regards to weight-loss than a home gym. Because your entire body has to work hard during rowing, it’s a great exercise to help you achieve a healthy weight.
Fact; rowing burns 600- 1,000 calories per hour; this makes it an excellent way of shedding all those extra pounds. Combined with eating a healthy, balanced diet, using a rowing machine consistently is a great way to help you achieve your fitness goals.
Right now, fitness trainers are rushing to incorporate them in their routines, and several Hollywood stars rely on them to stay in shape or even get in shape for a specific role.
One of the perks of a rowing machine that really stands out is that if you happen to live in an upper-floor apartment or condo, you can exercise quietly and don’t have to worry about your downstairs neighbors complaining about the noise of you jumping around overhead. It causes hardly any noise.
Most of the time, getting yourself off the couch and onto an exercise machine proves to be the hardest part of an exercise. Getting motivated doesn’t come by easily, but having accessible, uncomplicated machines can help a lot with that. Just because you don’t live on the water with a rowing boat sitting at the dock doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the same physical benefits from rowing.
You can easily purchase an affordable rower to use in the comfort and convenience of your own home.
Rowers are generally designed to fit against a wall when opened and to be stored under your bed when closed. They’re easy to move around so they can be placed in front of a TV, a window, or a full-length mirror.
Also, as a result of the full-body workout that it gives you, a rower is an excellent method of saving time. Instead of hopping from one machine to the other to try to exercise your entire body, one machine does it all for you. This can cut down on your gym-time almost three times, in a good way, of course.
Who wouldn’t want to build muscle, burn fat, and get a cardio workout all at the same time! This triple effect makes a rower quite an efficient machine.
While it’s not hard to spend a pretty penny on high-end rowers, you can find many primary machines that won’t break the bank. You don’t have to sacrifice quality on your rowing machine to save a buck, as there are numerous models with extensive features for under $200. You may have access to a rower at your gym, but if rowing is your primary form of exercise, you can save money in the long run.
If you’re a beginner, the maze of the gym with all its machines can be quite overwhelming. Rowing machines are the perfect choice for you; they’re simple and don’t require any preparation except for learning the right posture as that makes your exercise both efficient and risk-free.
Your feet should be securely fastened in the stirrups with your shins close to a 90-degree angle to the floor. It’s best to keep your back straight, your core engaged, and to row in a smooth, fluid motion.
Calling all those hunched over a desk right now. ‘Women are often weaker in their upper bodies – and this can mean their posture is worse as a result,’ notes Heron.
‘Rowing – if done correctly without slouching or over-compressing – requires you to be upright as you pull.’
Vicky Thornley, a pro-GB rower who uses the indoor rowing machine to train for races on the water, gives us the 101. ‘The first part of the drive should be using your legs – many people forget to isolate them,’ she explains. ‘Then, towards the end of the drive, you enlist your glutes and back to bring in extra force.’
When done correctly, rowing exercises help improve your posture. As a result, you look taller and add definition to your shoulders, upper back, and lower back.
Like other machines, you can tweak the rower’s settings to fit your ability. Just don’t crank up the resistance too early on, make sure you’re perfectly comfortable before moving up. If you choose too high a resistance, that’s a lot of force going through your back, which can lead to serious injury.
Always observe your ‘drag factor’ stat on the rower’s screen. The baseline is that a woman of 61KG or more should aim for a drag factor of 120-130. If you’re above or below that number, change the settings.
Rowers have zero momentum; therefore, you can’t be on them without giving your all. If you are not working, the machine will simply grind to a stop. Unlike a bicycle, you can’t go freewheeling here.
Some rowers who have stuck to their training routines say that they were able to see results after only five sessions. With rowing, your body is wholly challenged; every muscle is doing hard-work, that’s why you tend to notice results much faster. This could be the equivalent of working smarter, not harder.
The rhythm of the strokes is what makes it really good for your wellbeing in addition to the flow. Of course, if you’re outside on the water, the effect is even more soothing. The repetitive movements followed by the rhythmic sound always manage to put you in a zone that turns the whole workout into a meditative experience.
Rowing is not a very known sport, at least not like baseball or football. Therefore, as you work on a rowing machine, you are learning a new skill, and that can keep you motivated. With less time spent training and a fitness plan where you actually learn new stuff, you’ll not be dreading your exercise anymore. Because rowing works out your entire body, it’s easier to stay engaged while doing it.
These are the words of a rower who discovered the machine after undergoing knee surgery and needing low-impact exercise.
“It truly is amazing that you can get a challenging full-body workout without feeling beat up like what running for an extended period can do to your joints. There are some times when I intensely row for 45 minutes, and when I stand up, I immediately want to collapse because I wasn’t expecting my legs to feel like jello. However, my joints don’t feel achy or worn out as I do after running for the same period.”