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Rowing Machine: A Comprehensive Guide

When it comes to cardio training in the gym, there are various cardio machines available, such as the treadmill, elliptical trainer, stair climber, and the rowing machine. The latter might be the least popular of the bunch, but it’s no less effective. After all, rowing not only improves your cardiovascular fitness but also engages muscles in your back, arms, and legs. This can contribute to strengthening your muscles while improving your overall fitness and fat burning. Read on to discover how effective the rowing machine can be.

Rowing on a Rowing Machine

In essence, the rowing machine simulates real rowing on water. The rowing machine consists of a seat and a footplate. You push yourself off this footplate with your legs and then pull the handle towards you with your arms, and voila: you’re rowing. Often, you can set a program or determine the intensity on the machine itself. When you increase the intensity, it logically becomes harder to pull the handle towards you, requiring more effort from your arms and legs to perform the movement. Depending on your own level, you can adjust this or choose to follow a training program.

Types of Rowing Machines

Over the years, several types of rowing machines have been developed, all aiming to simulate actual rowing on the water. Did you know that the concept of rowing machines dates back to the early 1900s? Rowing machines started appearing in gyms in the 1980s. Initially, these machines were developed to provide competitive rowers with the opportunity to train, but due to the increasing popularity of these devices, rowing machines became available to everyone.

The rowing machines you encounter in gyms today are mostly air-magnetic or operate with hydraulic pistons. Many older models use water as a resistance factor or utilize magnets or air.

Losing Weight with Rowing

You can use the rowing machine to lose weight and shed pounds. With this machine, you can burn quite a few calories, which can lead to a calorie deficit and weight loss. Besides training on a rowing machine, nutrition is also important when it comes to losing weight. You shouldn’t consume more calories than you actually need. If you do, you’ll gain weight. Eating fewer calories than your requirement will result in weight loss. A simple way to limit calorie intake is by taking protein shakes. The proteins in these shakes help you maintain muscle mass and provide a feeling of fullness over a longer period. By maintaining muscle mass, your body’s energy expenditure remains higher because your muscles use energy even at rest, and due to not feeling hungry for a longer period, you’ll eat less.

Muscles You Train with Rowing

As we mentioned in the introduction, rowing engages a large part of your upper and lower body. Your arms work to pull the handle towards you. You also use your back muscles during this movement, and finally, you use your legs to push off. Let’s list these muscles:

Back Muscles

One of the largest muscle groups in the upper body is the back muscles. This muscle group is most engaged during rowing, and these muscles work the hardest when you train on a rowing machine. By the way, if you want to develop a wide back, don’t expect to achieve that with rowing. You can better train the muscles in your back with the seated row exercise, where you set the weight so that you can perform no more than 8 to 12 repetitions.

Muscle growth occurs with sufficient resistance (progressive overload) and hypertrophy. Unfortunately, you won’t achieve that by spending half an hour on a rowing machine. However, you do burn a lot of calories. This can make rowing interesting when you want to cut weight or when you’re unable to train on other machines due to knee issues, for example.

Shoulder Muscles

In addition to the back muscles in the upper body, rowing also engages the shoulder muscles. When you extend your arms forward, these muscles are primarily engaged. This is called the eccentric phase, also known as the negative phase, of the exercise. When you pull your arms back towards you and use your back muscles again, this is called the concentric phase.

Leg Muscles

The muscles in your legs are engaged when you push yourself off on the footplate. The leg muscles are the largest muscle groups in your body and consist of the quadriceps at the front and the hamstrings at the back. These muscles are used both at the front and at the back when you push off and extend your legs. When you’re all the way back to the starting position and extend your knees from a bent position, you use the gluteal muscles, also known as the gluteus maximus.

Abdominal Muscles

Finally, the abdominal muscles at the front and sides keep your upper body upright and balanced. Your entire core works during rowing, so the muscles in your lower back are also an important part of this exercise.

Advantages of the Rowing Machine

• • Relatively easy to perform
• • Suitable for all fitness levels
• • Very effective for training cardiovascular fitness and burning calories
• • Many muscles are engaged during the exercise
• • Trains both upper and lower body
• • Low risk of injury
• • You can also row at home, while watching TV or listening to music

Setting Up the Rowing Machine

1. You start on the rowing machine by placing your feet on the footplate. Make sure you secure your feet properly.
2. Next, grab the handle with both hands and pull it towards you.
3. Keep your back upright when pulling the handle towards you. Extend your arms and push your legs away from you, pushing yourself off.
4. You pull the handle up to your chest and then return to the starting position in a controlled manner, bending your knees. Repeat this for the duration of the program or number of minutes you desire.