Ever wondered about rowing machine benefits? There are many reasons to consider using an indoor rower in your home. If you need to lose weight, gain muscle, or just add some extra activity into your daily life, you will get far more benefit from a rowing machine than a treadmill or elliptical trainer. If you are an athlete who needs to stay fit during the off season or you want to cross train at home, you will also benefit tremendously from using an indoor rower over most other types of home exercise equipment.
Rowing machines may not be as common in homes as treadmills, elliptical trainers, and recumbent bikes, but the rower does have a couple advantages over these other types of workout equipment:
1. Most treadmills do not incorporate your upper body, but a rowing machine will help you exercise all major muscle groups.
2. An elliptical trainer may incorporate the upper body, but doesn't offer the strength training and toning benefits that you can get from an indoor rower.
Depending on what your health and fitness goals are at this point in your life, these benefits will mean different things to you.
A rowing machine requires you to pull with your arms and push with your legs, while balancing and controlling your body with your core muscles. Every major muscle group in your body--plus many smaller muscle groups--is worked through this motion. You can row at a slower pace with more tension to deliver more strength training benefits, or take the tension down and row faster to get a great cardiovascular workout.
While you are challenging your muscles to grow stronger and encouraging your heart to pump faster and more efficiently, you will be burning a ton of calories. It is estimated that you can burn around 600 calories for every hour you row, but that figure can go much higher depending on a few factors:
- Your body weight
- Your age
- The intensity of your workout
The best thing you can do to increase your calorie burn on the rowing machine is to put all of your heart into the workout process. Do not cut your workouts short, and make sure to put full effort into every stroke. There is no sense in working out if you aren't going to get the most benefit possible in the end! When you put full effort, you can also workout for shorter lengths of time while still benefiting.
Rowing is surprisingly enjoyable for many people, too. It may seem like an intense upper body workout that you aren't looking forward to, but you may be surprised at the balanced workout it offers for the lower and upper body. Many people who do not enjoy running or biking find that they really love rowing.
The only risk for a rowing machine is straining your back muscles. If you learn proper form, your risk will be very low. Never row faster than you can handle, keep proper technique throughout, and you will enjoy a tremendous full body workout that will help you achieve your fitness goals.
