When you see a rowing machine at the gym, consider giving it a try next time. The main reason short workouts on a rowing machine are effective is that rowing is a full-body workout. Rowing activates nearly twice the muscle mass of other activities like running and cycling. As a result, your fitness and body goals could be here faster than you think. Here are five things to know about rowing machine exercises, so that you can get the most out of your time at the gym.
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8. Build Lean Muscle
If you are looking to build that muscle and get that lean look, rowing exercises do just that. This machine activates your muscles and causes wear and tear. When you rest and sleep, these muscles rebuild themselves stronger and thicker to give you a slim look. It helps improve your upper body strength and increase endurance, which is a goal that many share at the gym. Rowing machine exercises are known to build muscle in the back as well. This can be helpful whether you’re hoping to tone your back appearance or improve your back mobility.
7. Form Matters
When using a rowing machine, your form absolutely matters. While it’s not common to injure yourself using a rowing machine, it can be risky for those with weak back and core muscles. As a result, you should ask for a demo at your local gym or look one up online. Diving into a workout with the wrong form can end up hurting you in the long run. Plus, it’s always best to know how to use a machine and target your desired muscle group for the best results.
6. Power From Your Legs
In addition to good form and posture, you should build your leg strength in other ways. The reason for this is that rowing actually uses a lot of lower body strength even though it also works your upper body. When using the rowing machine, be sure to push off with your legs before you pull back the bar. This will ensure you are using the right power in your body to move the seat back and forth. Otherwise, using too much upper body can hurt or tire you out faster.
5. Effective Calorie Burner
Rowing machine exercises are gasoline for stored fat. Ten minutes of a rowing machine workout burns 100-200 calories, depending on your body weight, intensity, and resistance used. This makes it a quick and effective workout that you can build up over time for even better results. It’s important to supplement this hard work with a healthy and replenishing diet post-workout.
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4. Great for the Heart and Lungs
If you want something to strengthen your heart and lungs, rowing exercises will improve that. Depending on the reps, sets, and resistance used for the exercises, you sweat and breathe in more oxygen, making your heart work harder to meet the oxygen demands.
3. Low-Impact and Low-Risk Activity
Rowing exercises are great for people with knee joint pain or arthritis. They are low-impact and easy on the joints. Rowing machine workouts also have a low risk of injuries. Make sure not to add too much resistance because if you start, you need to pace yourself until your strength increases.
2. Great Full-Body Workout
If you are looking for full-body workout, a rowing machine will help your upper back muscles, core, chest, biceps, forearms, hamstrings, and quadriceps. It’s the perfect compliment to lifting at the gym as it tones while also provides light cardio. When you repeatedly incorporate rowing machine exercises, you’ll see how different parts of your body are sore.
1. Tone Your Core
One of the biggest things to know about rowing machine exercises is that it tones your core deeply. While it’s not always advertised as a core machine, it works your abdominal muscles in addition to your back, which is all a part of your important core strength. If you are hoping to tone your core to improve your physical fitness in other activities, this is a great place to start. You will also noticed the physical changes after you stick with rowing for a while.
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