Rowing To a Much Better Health

Cardio Benefits of Rowing

Rowing machines are excellent at raising your heart rate and burning calories. A 150-pound person can burn around 592 calories in an hour of rowing. This is more than you’d burn with many other cardio exercises, including the stationary bike and the elliptical. Rowing also increases your metabolic rate for several hours after you finish your workout. As a result, you’ll end up burning more calories even if you’re not on the rowing machine. Rowing is also a highly effective way to improve your overall fitness and strengthen your muscles. It builds strength in your arms, core and back, while also improving your posture and flexibility. Rowing machines provide a great all-over body workout. The sliding seat moves your body backwards and forward as you row, which increases the range of motion and the number of muscles worked.

Burning Calories with Rowing

One of the biggest benefits of rowing is that it’s a low-impact cardio activity that works your whole body. You’ll primarily be using your arms to pull the handle toward you and then pushing it away again, but as you row, you’ll also be working your core and back muscles, which have to stabilize your body during the movement. Rowing is a low-impact exercise, so it doesn’t put much stress on your joints, particularly if you use an indoor rowing machine more on that later that allows you to use your legs to propel the machine backwards and forward. Rowing burns a decent amount of calories, but you’ll burn even more if you choose to row outside on a lake. You’ll have to balance yourself on the rowboat and use your core to keep your body stable. This requires significantly more energy than rowing indoors and will increase both your heart rate and calorie burn.

Low-Impact Activity

Rowing is considered a low-impact exercise, meaning it’s easier on your joints than activities like running. Low-impact cardio exercises are particularly useful if you’re recovering from an injury, have knee issues or are generally out of shape and overweight. Rowing machines are a great low-impact cardio option. You can use them indoors or outside, regardless of the weather, and many machines have a sliding seat that allows you to increase or decrease the intensity of the workout. Rowing also lowers the impact on your joints, particularly if you use an indoor rowing machine and don’t have to worry about balancing yourself on a rowboat. On the other hand, rowing outdoors on a lake will put more pressure on your knees because you’ll be balancing yourself.

Build Lean Muscle

Because rowing machines give you a full-body workout, they’re a great way to build lean muscle. The more muscle you have, the faster your metabolism will be, so this can help you lose weight faster. Rowing is a full-body exercise, meaning it works many muscles simultaneously. This is one of the reasons why it’s such a great exercise, it tones your arms, burns calories improves your posture and helps you build endurance. Rowing machines give you a great upper-body workout. Working your arms and back muscles means you’ll build lean muscle and increase your strength.

Good for Bad Knees

If you have bad knees, then you might have to give up many activities that other people enjoy. Fortunately, rowing machines are an excellent option for people with knee issues. Rowing is a low-impact activity, so it won’t put your knees under too much pressure. Rowing on a machine is particularly good for your knees because it allows you to maintain a good posture. You’ll have a handle in each hand and won’t have to bend down to grab the bar, which can overstretch the knees.

Summing Up

Rowing is a full-body exercise that’s low-impact and easy on your joints. It works many muscles and burns a decent amount of calories while improving your overall fitness, strength and flexibility. Rowing machines are great for people who want a full-body workout but are looking to avoid high-impact exercises that put more stress on the joints. If you want to get the most out of your rowing workout, focus on maintaining proper form and not letting your body sway from side to side. You can also add some extra resistance and make it more challenging by using a rowing machine with weights or attached resistance bands.