It can probably be called the king of all cardio workouts. The rowing machine might seem intimidating at first, but once you get the hang of it, it can be an effective way to spice up your cardio routine. Out of all the cardio machines which are far more prominent and bigger in size, many might wonder, why rowing? It provides the best total-body workout, as the movement requires equal effort from both your lower and upper body, leading to more calories being burned.
Some might call it the indoor rower, but it was initially used to simulate watercraft rowing for rowers to improve their performance. The rowing machine in itself gives us a clear insight of what exactly the body goes through once you grip the hand bar. The rowing machine is a full body cardio workout tool and it helps one torch a lot of that fat. It is an efficient functional cardio equipment, with regards to multiple body parts being engaged at different stages of the exercise. It also helps gain upper and lower body strength and enhanced core engagement depending on what mode is used. And the best part is that rowing doesn’t put much pressure on the joints, so you have a much better chance of staying injury-free.
—Niran is a fitness manager at Fitness First
Benefits:
- Rowing is a total body workout and is an excellent calorie burner, as it uses the major muscle groups demanding extra energy and higher blood flow due to an integrated upper and lower body resisted movement.
- It helps improve co-ordination, fat burn, and power when used for interval training improving cardiovascular output and strength.
- The muscles at work are the quadriceps, glutes, core musculature, latissimus dorsi (upperback), rhomboids (muscles in between shoulder blades), biceps and forearms.
- It strengthens the back, shoulders and arms and works on the trunk and core.
Steps
- Place your foot on the foot rest and strap your feet to make sure your forefoot is firm.
- Start by holding the handle slightly closer than shoulder level , knees bent and bending forward from the hip and arms extended.
- Press your foot down like a leg press using your quadriceps and glutes, following through using your hip extension muscles of the lower back to slightly lean back.
- Use upper back (latissimus dorsi) and shoulder blades to retract and bend your elbows to get the hand just above the naval (belly button) to complete the move.
- Breathing pattern — breathe out as you pull and breathe in as you go back all the way to start your next pull.
- Make sure your rowing and breathing is done in a rhythmic manner.
How to make it work
- Frequency depends on individual fitness levels and goals. A beginner could start with a short warm-up routine on the machine. Then the intensity can be increased by including a 20 second to one minute, circuit training and metabolic conditioning exercise.
- Slowly you can increase your stamina to work-out for 45 minutes on this machine. You can burn about 350 to 450 calories in 30 minutes, based on the intensity of the exercise. Rowing should be done two to four times a week in variable methods.
