10 Ways Rowing Machines Can Benefit Your Health

May 08, 2024

In the realm of fitness, where the quest for the ultimate workout companion never ceases, the rowing machine stands tall as a beacon of health and strength.

Embracing the rhythm of rowing isn't just about breaking a sweat; it's a transformative journey toward vitality and strength. Let's delve into the myriad benefits of incorporating a rowing machine into your home or gym workout routine, unlocking a gateway to unparalleled fitness.

Benefits of Rowing Machine

Rowing machine workouts benefit your upper and lower body at each stroke. The best part about rowing is that you don’t have to be a pro-rower to reap its benefits. Let’s dive into the benefits of using a rowing machine:

Works Your Full Body
While it’s common to think rowing machines can only work your upper body, that’s where you go wrong. Yes, rowing machine benefits are not limited to the upper body – you can work your entire body, including arms, legs, back, and core! Here is how this multi-functional champion helps you work your full body:
1. Arms:
  As you pull your arms towards you and extend them away with each stroke, you are working your biceps, forearms, and triceps – so the entire arm.
2. Legs:
  Apart from the upper body, your legs – including hamstrings, calves, quads, and glutes, are also actively participating in the rowing stroke motion.
3. Back:
  During the rowing stroke's drive phase, your back muscles, including the laterals, traps, and spinal erectors, come into play. As you wrap up this phase, you'll find yourself at the finish position, leaning back, legs stretched out, and arms drawn close to your chest.
4. Core:
  Throughout the entire rowing motion, your core muscles, including your abdominal muscles, oblique, and pectoral muscles, play an essential role in stabilising your body and upholding correct posture.
Improves Your Body Posture
Another rowing machine workout benefit is overall improvement in posture. As stated earlier, rowing targets not only your upper body but also your entire body, targeting the major muscle groups. The core and the back targeted by the rowing machine improve your posture. Further, you can also improve flexibility, hence improving your overall posture.
Provides Stress Relief
With the consistent and repetitive rowing motion, you are put in a zone, relieving you from the tension and stress of the entire day. This participates in improving your mental well-being.
Breaks Up Cardio Monotony
Another benefit of using a rowing machine is breaking up the monotony of traditional cardio. Sometimes you might just want to add some diversity to your monotonous cardio workout routine, and rowing can help you alternate your daily cardio schedule.

While including a rowing machine benefits in breaking the monotony, it is also superior to your regular cardio workout. Rowing exercises are great for strengthening your cardiovascular system which is important to transport oxygen and nutrients through your body. Cardio is necessary for your heart to work hard to transport more blood to your body, rowing can help act as a superior cardio workout by working your entire body without being too stressful on your joints.
Builds Endurance and Power
Rowing offers a unique blend of strength training and cardiovascular exercise, which can enhance both power and endurance. Power refers to the capacity to generate maximal force within a brief duration. This involves jumping, sprinting, or delivering force to objects like a punching bag or baseball.

When rowing with proper technique, you engage your leg muscles to push back and your arm muscles to pull the oar, necessitating power from both muscle groups. Endurance denotes the body's ability to maintain an activity, such as rowing, over an extended period. The health benefits of rowing machines contribute to cardiovascular and muscular endurance development.
Adapts to Every Workout Routine
Whatever you want to aim with your workout, you can deliver with this super adaptable machine. With the constant push and pull motion, you can control your workouts and make them as hard or as easy as you want. You can adopt rowing in your HIIT routine, where you have to put maximum effort in short spurts of time, or you can also reap benefits of using a rowing machine by incorporating it into your heavy strength training.
Improves Grip Strength
Rowing machine benefits also include improving grip strength. As you hold and pull the handle of the rowing machine, you strengthen the muscles of your hands and forearms, improving your grip strength and upper limb functioning.
Helps with Cross Training
The advantages of cross-training are widely recognised. According to Sports Medicine, incorporating cross-training into your fitness routine can offer numerous benefits for overall health, rehabilitation, and addressing issues like overtraining or mental fatigue.

Regardless of your preferred exercise regimen, there's a rowing machine routine to match your goals—another great benefit of using a rowing machine. To improve speed, prioritize sprint intervals; for endurance, opt for extended, low-intensity sessions; and to enhance overall fitness, vary your workouts with a combination of exercises.
Fits Perfect in Your Home Gym
Apart from the health benefits of using a rowing machine, this multi-functional fitness companion is a great home-friendly machine. Setting up a weight rack or a treadmill will take a whole chunk of your home space, but another rowing machine benefit is minimising this space issue. Some rowers are also foldable, saving more space in your home gym.
Is High Intensity but Low Impact

Rowing is an excellent low-impact exercise option. Unlike activities involving running or jumping, rowing doesn't subject your joints to jarring motions. Nevertheless, despite its gentle nature on the body, rowing remains quite demanding. A rowing machine workout benefits your overall fitness improvement. Through rowing, you can enhance various aspects such as power, strength, speed, endurance, and accuracy, all with the use of a single machine.

Incorporating Rowing Machine Benefits into Your Fitness Regime

Once you include a rowing machine in your fitness regime, you will be surprised by the benefits you will reap. Whether it’s a home gym setup or a professional gym, SF Healthtech’s range of rowing machines can help you get into a workout routine for maximum efficacy. Explore our Rower, RX 99 Air Magnetic Rower, and RX 100 Air Magnetic Rower machines to amp up your plan today!

FAQs:

How long should rowing workouts be to see benefits?
Every workout is different in terms of intensity. Rowing machine sessions are usually shorter than those on other cardio machines as they target larger muscle groups. So, good 10 to 15-minute sessions should suffice.
How many calories burn with a rowing machine?
The calories you burn from using a rowing machine entirely depend on your body weight. According to a Harvard Health study, someone weighing 125 pounds can potentially burn 255 calories, while a person weighing 155 pounds might burn 369 calories, and a 185-pound individual could burn 440 in a half-hour rowing session.
What can a rowing machine do for your body?
A rowing machine benefits the muscles of your entire body, making it a perfect total-body workout. It strengthens your core, legs, and arms while also increasing your cardiovascular endurance. Once you use a row machine consistently, you can see strength building and might even see some muscle gain over time. But do note that a row machine alone cannot help you gain muscle; you need to follow a good diet plan and be consistent with your routine to see results.
Is a rowing machine workout good for weight loss?
A rowing machine is an amazing addition to your workout plan; however, rowing alone is not enough to lose weight. In order to see visible weight loss, you need to create a calorie deficit plan. This means you have to consume lesser than what your body burns.
Which gives a better workout, a rowing machine or an elliptical?
When it comes to fitness, no machine is better than the other. You can say one can be safer than the other depending on your fitness level and health condition. If your joints can cause a problem when cycling or running, a rowing machine can be a great fit for you, this way you can get your cardio without having to endure pain.

Further, machines differ based on your fitness goals. For example, a rowing machine workout benefits you by raising your resistance levels. This is great for people searching to build their resistance rather than focus on muscle building. On the other hand, elliptical machines can offer muscle-building benefits.

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