Often undervalued as a form of training, rowing is more than just great for cardio; it provides a great full-body workout! The advantages of a rowing machine for maximising health and fitness are massive! From cardio to strength, endurance to HIIT, the benefits of rowing doesn’t stop at one type of fitness.
Let’s explore why you should incorporate rowing into your workout regime.
A Rowing Machine is a Full-Body Workout
Rowing machines, also known as ergometers or ergs, do more than just work the arms. If you’re rowing correctly, the arms should only account for about 10% of the effort involved.
Rowing engages the whole body, from head to toe, to create efficient movement patterns and strength. Most of the power (about 60%) should come from strong leg pushes. Your glutes, quads, hamstrings, ankles, and calves engage and contribute to this movement! The rest of your power should resonate from the core (30% of your effort), keeping your trunk stable as you push back with your legs and pull through with your arms, back, and shoulders.
Incorporate rowing into your weekly workouts to engage your whole body, burn more calories, and efficiently build muscle!
Row Your Way to Better Heart Health
A healthy heart is a not-so-secret key to longevity. Rowing machines are some of the best cardio gym equipment for improving our vitals, putting good stress on the heart and lungs. The consistent rhythmic motion of push and pull (at pace) increases blood flow around the body, firing up muscles and keeping blood vessels and heart valves clear, strong, and healthy.
A rowing machine can help you easily get your 30-40 minutes of steady-intensity cardio three to four times a week. Furthermore, rowing is great for the heart and lungs and also benefits cognitive health—helping you learn, think, regulate emotions, reduce stress, and more.
Rowing Machines are an Efficient Way to Exercise
You can use a rowing machine to perform diverse types of exercise. Whether your focus is steady endurance, high-intensity, or more traditional strength training, a rowing machine can be modified to fit your training objectives.
High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is a type of exercise many swear by. These short, intense workouts are great for everyone, but especially for people constantly on the go, with minimum time to spend in the gym. The objective of HIIT is to work out until the point of exhaustion. Training should alternate between short periods of explosive or intense anaerobic exercise and short recovery periods.
Try HIIT on a rowing machine by going hard for 200m or 30 seconds, followed by ten seconds of rest, then repeat! Do five rounds of this, and we’re sure you’ll feel it! Just be sure to warm up your body and get your heart pumping BEFORE going into HIIT, or you increase the risk of injury.
Circuit Training on the Row Erg
A rowing machine is a great piece of equipment to incorporate into circuit training. A rowing erg is great to have on hand for a cardio kicker between strength moves or just to keep the heart rate steady in a partner workout.
Get Creative with Rowing Machines
It might feel a little silly, but you don’t just have to row on a rowing machine. A rowing machine’s many benefits include how you can incorporate its components into different exercises.
- Bicep curls and static rows: try pushing your legs out to extension and do simple bicep curls or static rows for upper body isolation.
- Ab Exercises: from abs rollouts, plank position rollouts, and oblique twists to knee tucks and hikes, single leg knee tucks, and resisted knee tucks, you can easily use a rower in your core workouts to get the abs burning with the best of them.
Rehabilitate with a Rowing Machine
One of the main benefits of rowing that is often overlooked is its low-impact nature. There are no jumps or hard hits to jolt the joints, so you can build bone and muscle strength without shocking the body.
For those getting back into fitness or recovering from injury, it’s a great way to facilitate recovery and get back on track with your fitness.
Get Fit, Get Strong, and get Functional with the Advantages of a Rowing Machine
See our range if you’re convinced of all the benefits a rowing machine can give you and your fitness. DB Fitness stocks rowing machines and home gym equipment for every space and every level of rower.
For those with a little more space in their gym, try our self-generating rower. It’s strong, sturdy, can cater to even the most vigorous rowing regimes, and features a screen to easily track your workout. Our water-rower is a great low-impact machine that gives you the feel and sound of rowing on the open water. Both rowing machines can fold to fit into tight spaces, so they’re the perfect cardio gym equipment for the home.
DB Fitness offers free shipping Auckland-wide and free shipping for purchases over $2000 throughout New Zealand. It’s high-quality equipment, without the high prices. Get in touch today to take your fitness further.
