For a long time, rowing machines (also known as “ergs”) sat idle on gym floors, unused and collecting dust. But today, the rowing machine has become an increasingly popular workout tool, appearing in everything from CrossFit WODs to House of Cards episodes. Not to mention, boutique indoor rowing studios keep popping up all over the country, making it easier than ever to learn how to use the rowing machine — and get in all those awesome rowing machine benefits.
But what exactly is all the indoor rowing hype about? Read on to find out.
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What Are the Benefits of Rowing Machine Workouts?
Indoor rowing is a great bang-for-your-buck workout, for both cardio and strength. Here are just a few reasons why.
1. It’s a total-body workout
Rowing separates itself from other cardio exercises, like running and cycling, because it works your entire body. “The rowing machine is one of the few steady-state cardio exercises that taxes muscles from head to toe, building both upper-body and lower-body muscular endurance,” says Trevor Thieme, C.S.C.S., Openfit’s director of fitness and nutrition content.
“There is a push-then-pull sequence in a correct rowing stroke,” says Chelsea Moore, cofounder and president of Rō Fitness, an indoor rowing studio in Austin, Texas. Every time you push away from the machine, you engage muscles throughout your lower body — especially your quads. Then, when you pull the handle toward your chest, your delts, lats, and biceps take over. And let’s not forget about your core — it’s engaged the entire time.
The result: a full-body endurance and cardio challenge.
2. It’s low impact
Cardio activities like running and plyometrics can be great for building fitness and shedding fat, but they can also be tough on your joints. That’s where rowing stands out — there’s no loading or ground striking, so the wear and tear on your joints is minimal. In short, it’s a low-impact cardio workout. “The rowing machine is one of the few workouts that works all the major muscle groups without much impact on your joints,” Moore says.
3. It can boost fat loss
The fact that rowing is a total-body effort means it’s also an effective cardio exercise for fat loss. “Because you’re using about 84 percent of all your muscles in each stroke, the calorie burn [from rowing] is intense,” Moore says.
To put the caloric burn from rowing into more concrete numbers: In 30 minutes, a 150-pound person will burn roughly 164 calories rowing at a moderate intensity, and 205 calories rowing at a vigorous intensity.†
When you’re exercising for fat loss, you want to find an activity that will burn maximum calories not only during exercise, but also afterward (through a phenomenon called excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, or EPOC). Because of this, rowing can definitely fit into your plan to shed fat and lose weight.
4. It helps increase cardiovascular endurance
As with any form of cardio exercise, rowing machines can help you build cardiovascular endurance (the ability of your heart and blood vessels to supply your working muscles with oxygen during sustained activity).
Having greater cardiovascular endurance offers a plethora of benefits beyond mere “exercise capacity,” not the least of which is greater cardiorespiratory health.
You can build greater endurance by rowing at moderate or high intensities. Don’t know how to measure your workout intensity? Check out this handy guide.
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