The Best At Home Cardio - Rowing Machine Workouts
Overview
Getting efficient and enjoyable cardio exercise done is a difficult task. Aside from the sweat and intensity of it, a number of factors can influence the convenience of cardio exercise. You might have to drive to the gym, or worry about your kids being at home alone. Doing at home cardio is a fantastic way of eliminating all of these issues. In this article we’ll be looking at our pick for the best at home cardio exercise, rowing machine workouts. We’ll also be discussing our top pick for the best cardio machine for this type of exercise, the Force USA R3 Air Rower, which possesses state-of-the-art technology to help ensure that your workout is efficient and effective.
The Force USA R3 Air Rower
What makes rowing machines workouts so good?
Let’s quickly go through the upsides of a rowing machine workout to help you understand some of the reasoning behind the decision to make this our top pick for at home cardio exercise.
Multi Purpose Exercise
Rowing machine workouts train a number of muscles simultaneously, while also being an effective form of cardio exercise (source). Several main muscle groups are trained, including:
Legs (quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves)
Back (lats and traps)
Arms (biceps)
Core (abs and obliques)
Various Workout Options
Rowing machine workouts can be greatly versatile in terms of intensity. Steady state zone 2 rowing involves rowing at 60 - 70% of your max heart rate for 30 to 60 minutes.
They’re also a great option for fitness testing. 2 kilometre time trials are a great way of pushing yourself as hard as you can for a short period of time (6 - 10 minutes) to see how your fitness is improving.
Non Weight Bearing - Knee Friendly
Rowing machine workouts don’t involve any form of weight bearing, with the intensity coming from the tension you exert through your legs and upper body throughout the stroke. The dynamics of the stroke engage a good amount of joint motion around the knees whilst developing leg strength. You’re also able to reduce your body weight through the calories that you burn during workouts, with these factors all being greatly beneficial (source).
Improves Posture
Rowing machine workouts are also beneficial for your posture. Sitting behind a computer at a desk for extended periods of time can be damaging. Rowing workouts train the trapezius muscles of your upper back, and the rear delts at the back of your shoulders, helping to counter the consequences of bad posture by strengthening these muscles.
How to structure a rowing machine workout
You might be wondering what a good rowing workout looks like, or how you put it together and execute it. If this is the case, don’t stress, we’ll give you a couple of different workouts to examine and potentially try if you have access to a rowing machine.
It’s important to acknowledge the importance of your technique when doing a rowing machine workout. Here’s a video demonstrating the right form to use when on the rower.
Workout 1
20 strokes per minute - 3 minutes
Rest 1 minute
22 strokes per minute - 3 minutes
Rest 1 minute
24 stroke per minute - 3 minutes
Rest 1 minute
26 strokes per minute - 3 minutes
Rest 1 minute
Optional stroke rate - 10 minutes (steady state)
Finished! (source)
Workout 2
1. 28 - 30 strokes per minute - 1 minute (hard)
2. Rest 30 seconds
Repeat steps 1 and 2 ten times
Rest 3 minutes
1. 28 - 30 strokes per minute - 1 minute (hard)
2. Rest 30 seconds
Repeat steps 1 and 2 ten times
Rest 3 minutes
1. 28 - 30 strokes per minute - 1 minute (hard)
2. Rest 30 seconds
Repeat steps 1 and 2 ten times
Finished! (source)
Why you should do rowing machine workouts rather than running and cycling
Rowing machine workouts are potentially the best form of cardio out there, promising to make significant improvements to your physical health. Let’s compare some of the factors relating to the rowing machine, treadmill, and exercise bike.
Cardio Expenditure
Professionals have discussed the similarities and differences between running, cycling, and rowing, coming to the conclusion that “energy expended while rowing is comparable to running and greater than cycling” (source).
Energy expenditure is obviously dependent on effort and personal output. If you find it easier to work harder on a rower than a treadmill, then you’ll be benefitting more from the rowing workout than the running.
Muscle Development
Rowing machine workouts offer superior muscular benefits to exercise bike workouts. While training on an exercise bike engages your quads, hamstrings, calves, and core, they don’t assist in building your upper body strength.
Training on the rower engages a number of upper body muscles, namely the back and biceps. The pulling motion associated with the driving segment of the stroke is stimulates growth to the lats, rear delts, traps, and bicep brachii, offering superior gains to workouts done on the exercise bike (source).
Knees: Bone and Joint Implications
Despite general similarities between exercise completed on the treadmill and the rowing machine in regard to energy expenditure, running involves weight bearing (of your bodyweight), while rowing eliminates this factor.
Despite the benefits of weight bearing exercise on the bone density of your knees, helping to minimize the risk of developing bone conditions with age, a study by the National Institute of Health found significant linkage between bone mineral density (essentially bone strength) and joint space narrowing (a painful complication commonly seen in the knees).
Your decision as to which form of exercise you prefer is up to you. It’s a good idea to consider whether you’re looking to prioritize bone maintenance and development (which a treadmill is favourable for) or bone and joint preservation (which a rowing machine is better for)
The Force USA R3 Air Rower detailed below - Click here to view or purchase
The Force USA R3 Air Rower: Our pick for the best rowing machine
Product Overview
The Force USA R3 Air Rower offers a myriad of revolutionary features that’ll enhance your exercise experience. Some of these include:
Bluetooth connectivity
Ergonomically designed handles
Adjustable footrests
Precision engineered flywheel
These additions separate the R3 from other more outdated rowing machines, with the bluetooth connectivity in particular allowing you to optimize your workouts by catering each session to your preferred training zone and set heart rate.
Specifications and Dimensions
240 width x 105 length x 65 height centimetres
Weight of 45 kilograms
Maximum user weight of 200kg
Lifetime warranty on the frame, 6 months on parts, 2 months on upholstery
10 levels of adjustable resistance
Battery powered console
Pros and Cons
Cons
Assembling the product may be difficult
Pros
Precision engineered flywheel provides for a smooth stroke
Bluetooth connectivity allows for extensive workout analysis
Adjustable footrests increase suitability
Economical, great financial value
Ratings
The Force USA R3 Air Rower has a number of high ratings from across the web, strengthening its credibility as one of the most premium pieces of cardio equipment available on the market.
Torpedo 7: 5/5 ★★★★★
Gym and Fitness: 4.7/5 ★★★★✮
Judge Me: 4.7/5 ★★★★✮
To Conclude
Rowing machine workouts are a fantastic way to get cardio exercise in and reach your fitness goals at home. In this article, we detailed what makes these workouts so good, how you could structure one, and why you should do them. We also discussed our pick for the best piece of cardio equipment, the Force USA R3 Air Rower. We hope this article provided you with the information and assistance you required to find what you were looking for.