I’m a big fan of fast food. My huge appetite for yummy but high-calorie foods leads me to temptation.
I was aware that sooner or later, things will turn thick.
It happened, and I found myself struggling to lose weight. I was uncomfortable with the prying eyes and was worried about the repercussions.
I decided to find a quick solution.
Most friends suggested I get myself a rowing machine for weight loss, and I did just that.
Since then, I’ve shaded more than 35lbs.
What’s a Rowing Machine?
Each piece of equipment at the gym has a different purpose.
Weight machines and free weights are excellent for strength training.
For cardiovascular training, you can use bikes, treadmills, ellipticals.
A rowing machine serves a different purpose. It offers a thorough workout to most of your muscles. It provides a full-body exercise.
A rowing machine, also known as an indoor rower, is a machine that stimulates watercraft rowing for rowing training or exercise.
The machine activates up to 86 percent of your muscles.
It helps to tone, strengthen, and create endurance in them, not forgetting the exponential benefits it has on your heart and lungs.
If you want to lose weight, a rowing machine is an excellent option you can go for.
Rowing Machine For Weight Loss
A rowing machine is a perfect aiding tool for weight loss, especially if you’re overweight.
However, you cannot reap the benefits by just sitting on it and rowing back and forth. It takes a bit more than that.
The good thing is it doesn’t have to hurt.
According to experts, if you want to burn fat using a rowing machine, you have to use a heart rate program.
Rowers use monitors to track their pulse rate to maintain an optimum training rate and a constant fat burning zone.
However, you will not be able to shed weight unless you reduce your calorie consumption.
You may read on the counter of the rower that you have used a specific number of calories, and decide to reward yourself with calorie-rich food.
You will be doing it all wrong.
Before kick-starting your weight loss journey with a rower, first, pay close attention to what you eat.
Do you eat too much sugar?
Do you consume a considerable amount of saturated fat?
Those are the foods that contribute immensely to your weight gain.
If you row but still eat those types of foods, you might not lose any weight.
Your diet should include more vegetables, fruit, and fiber.
It takes more than using the rowing machine and observing your diet. The driving factors to losing weight include:
- eating healthy
- Exercising more every day
- Remaining motivated in the whole course
It may seem hard for the first time, but what is more problematic than suffering heart disease and obesity, having a hard time moving from one place to another, and going to a health center more often?
Obesity itself is an epidemic.
It’s not supposed to happen to anyone.
According to studies conducted by The Harvard School of Health, 71.6 percent of American adults aged 20 and above are overweight.
A rowing machine can make all the difference.
Benefits of Rowing Machine for Weight Loss
To lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you consume.
You can only do that by managing your diet and also working out.
You should ensure that you burn 500 calories every day. One of the best ways of burning as many calories as possible is by rowing regularly.
Here are several benefits of rowing.
Burns Calories
The number of calories you burn while rowing depends on several factors.
The machine you are using, your exercise intensity, and your body size all determine the number of calories you will burn.
Varying your intensity directly affects the number of burned calories every 15 minutes of 1 hour.
Promotes Fat Loss
If you combine rowing and a proper diet, you will start losing the excess fat.
Exercises mobilize fats in the body before turning them to energy.
A diet of fewer calories than what you burn can also help burn fat.
To cut down on calories, add more protein and veggies to your diet and drink a lot of water than sugary beverages.
Studies have shown that cardio and weight lifting helps in losing fat. Rowing falls under the aerobic category, and it benefits every part of your body.
7 Reasons to Use an Indoor Rower For Losing Weight
- Puts little pressure on your body compared to other forms of training, as long as you use the correct technique
- It’s safe
- Some models are foldable for easy storage
- Most models are relatively quiet
- Variations in rowing workouts make rowing interesting
- Burn considerably more calories as compared to other equipment
- You can proceed with the activity even if you’re unfit
Why Include Rowing in Your Workouts
Improves your Psychological Well-Being
Exercising with a rowing machine improves your mental and physical health.
It boosts your self-esteem and mental wellbeing, reducing the likelihood of suffering from depression.
The endorphins released during a workout boost your mood and leaves you feeling more motivated.
Increases Endurance
Rowing machines are exhausting at first, but in the long-term, the exercise will not only increase your endurance but also give you more energy.
Rowing workouts all the major muscle groups, and it’s more productive than other equipment.
The more you use it, the more your stamina you get, and your metabolism gets a boost. More energy means you do more things.
Gives You a Full-Body Workout
No doubt you’ll truly get a full-body workout if you exercise with a rowing machine.
The machine uses 86 percent of your body muscles. If you smile a lot during a workout, then you can make that 100 percent.
Great for the Heart and Lungs
Rowing workouts help improve heart and lung health.
With your reps, sets, and the resistance while you sweat, you breathe more oxygen.
The more you breathe, the harder your heart and lungs work to meet the oxygen demands.
Allows You to Workout at Home
If you prefer exercising on your own and within your comfort zone, the rowing machine is the perfect fitness equipment for you.
Improves Lower-Body Conditioning
Because your leg muscles are very active during this workout and are doing the majority of the work, they benefit the most from exercising with the rowing machine.
The lower-body gains strength and endurance during the workout. You can develop more muscular legs in the process.
Improves the Upper-Body
As you might expect, rowing machines also work out your upper body.
As a rower, you will exercise the lats in the lower back, the trapezii in the upper back, and the rhomboids in the shoulders.
Rowing gives you a stronger back and shoulders to improve posture.
They also help to reduce back pain. The machine works out your pecs, biceps, and abs, which help to develop a stronger core.
Reduces the Risk of Diseases
According to experts, upper body fat contributes to metabolic complications of obesity.
Getting rid of fat helps reduce the risks of developing those diseases.
How to Lose Weight with Rowing Machine
To maximize the benefits of a rowing machine and ensure you lose as much weight as possible, here are some tips.
Sit Taller
You can be in good shape if you align your body correctly and fire up your core.
Sit upright, avoid rounding your back, and gaze out ahead of you with your chest lifted and your head high, and the overall workout will be effective.
This posture helps keep your airways open and engages your core muscles, thus boosting your posture.
Focus on Your Legs
Driving your legs towards the heel-rest with every stroke will exercise the main muscles in your lower half, such as the booty, and thus help burn calories.
This will in addition provide you with more power to considerably increase speed and burn fat in the process.
Twenty percent of your efforts will come from your arms, while 30 percent will involve your back, and 50 percent, which is the majority of the strength will be from the legs.
Do Power Stroke Intervals
You are required to have a primary routine, which varies according to your current state.
For instance, a perfect training interval would entail ten power strokes alongside 24 strokes per minute, and then you can increase to 26 and finally 28 per minute.
After finishing the ten power strokes, do ten recovery strokes.
You should increase the intensity gradually and follow with a short rest break. The short rest will interrupt your routine, but it’ll also support your efforts in burning maximal calories.
Work a Ladder Drill
First, start rowing at 22 strokes a minute, before increasing your strokes every 30-60 seconds until you crank up the rate to 30 strokes/minute.
The quicker the pace, the more calories you burn.
You’ll start at the aerobic zone and move to a sprint-style anaerobic zone. After you hit 30 strokes, start decreasing your speed until you hit 22 strokes/minute.
Focus on Endurance Training
Slow and relatively steady endurance workouts have the potential to burn calories exponentially.
Working very hard that you can’t speak a couple of words at a time will help you burn a lot of calories.
To get those calories burning at a high rate, row at 24-26 strokes per minute for a spin of eight minutes at a consistent pace.
Mix Up Your Daily Rowing Plan
Another smart way of keeping your body fat burning mode at its optimum is mixing your exercises and avoiding regular sets.
According to weight loss experts, rowing is more efficient because it combines strength and cardio training.
Try mixing up your sessions with longer endurance style rows and high-intensity intervals.
Frequently Asked Questions about Rowing Machines for Weight Loss
Which Rowing Machine is Best?
There are many row machines on the market at different prices.
There are different types of rowers, including budget rowers, air rowers, water rowers, flywheel rowers, hydraulic rowers, and magnetic rowers.
There are some factors to consider when buying a rowing machine. The price, durability, performance, storage space, and the features determine the rower of your needs.
Most beginners on a budget go for less expensive ones, while more advanced trainers prefer buying high-end rowing machines.
What’s The Ideal Rowing Machine for Weight Loss?
A lot of people who buy rowing machines are interested in losing weight. A rowing machine can be handy but which rower is the best for the job?
Any rower that is enjoyable and motivates you to work out is the best rower machine for weight loss.
If you buy a machine that you don’t like, chances are you will not be motivated to sit on it, and you will not lose weight.
How Long Should You Be on a Rowing Machine?
The time you should spend depends on your fitness levels and set goals.
However, a steady 20 minutes workout is sufficient but you can increase by 5 minutes per session in the second or third week.
If you are a beginner or non-athlete, you should row for approximately 500 meters for about 6 minutes, take a small break, before proceeding to do another 500 meters.
How Does a Rowing Machine Benefit the Body?
A rowing machine is considered the best exercise machine due to its benefits. A rower can burn 1,000 calories in one hour and boost your metabolic rate for hours.
The machine is also the only one that works both the upper body and lower body muscle groups.
Is Rowing Safe For Pregnancy?
It depends if you are a beginner or experienced.
It wouldn’t be right to take up rowing while pregnant. However, if you row often and you get pregnant, you should carry on at least in the early stages.
You may have to lower foot pedal holders to reduce pressure on the tummy area and also make sure your back is straight while performing the strokes.
What’s The Best Rowing Machine for an Apartment?
Living in an apartment and rowing in your unit can be difficult.
You are worried about disturbing people living below you and next door. Some rowing machines make more noise, while others vibrate.
If noise is an issue, don’t buy an air rowing machine. Water resistance rowers are the second loudest after air rowing machines, and you need to avoid them as well.
Is a Rowing Machine Good For Your Back?
Rowing is good for your back as long as you do it appropriately and use the correct techniques. Rounding your back while rowing is wrong and can strain your back.
The best rowing technique is to ensure your shoulders are in line with the chest, open up your chest, and row forward and back.
Rowing should be helping your back maintain strength.
Final Thoughts
A rowing machine for weight loss can be effective in helping you reach that goal.
Weight loss is a serious concern, and the only way you can lose weight is by exercising and shifting your diet to more vegetables, fiber, and fruits.
A rowing machine is not necessarily better than a treadmill or cycle, but there are many benefits of a rowing machine I’ve highlighted above.
Unlike an indoor exercise bike or a treadmill, however, the rowing machine exercises 86 percent of your muscles.
At the end of the day, a rowing machine and its ability to help you lose weight will depend on your commitment to your fitness goals.
If you’re looking for a piece of equipment that is effective in helping you lose weight, then rest assured that investing in a rowing machine will not be a mistake.
