You are not alone if you have questions about indoor rowing exercise. There are many of us out there that at some point weren’t sure if rowing machines were right for our fitness needs and household, or if they would hurt our back and knees. I wrote this piece to cover those doubts and questions that you might have.
This article is specifically for those who have questions and doubt about rowing exercise. Here I will go through some of the most frequently asked questions about rowing at home and I answer them to the best of my knowledge. If you have any question about indoor rowing that’s not covered here, please leave a comment below or get in touch with me via my contact us page.
Is indoor rowing good exercise?
Yes, indoor rowing is good exercise. The reason for this is that indoor rowing is a compound exercise. This means that you can use your legs, gluteus muscles, back, arms and abdominal muscles all at the same time to row through the water.
What are the advantages of an indoor rowing machine?
There are many advantages to owning an indoor rowing machine. Some of these are: it is low-impact on joints so better for people with arthritis or bone problems; it can burn up to 800 calories per hour depending on how hard you work out; they come in different price ranges so anyone can afford one; you have complete control over workout intensity level due to ability to adjust speed/resistance for each stroke according to your needs which gives opportunity to set personal records; you can take indoor rowing machine workouts to the next level with even faster speeds for advanced rowers.
What are the disadvantages of an indoor rowing machine?
Some disadvantages rowing machine is that they can take too much space, especially if they are not folding. They can also be noisy so it might bother other people in your home; if not placed on a suitable surface, it could possibly vibrate floors and damage wood flooring or cause vibrations that lead to noise transfer to downstairs neighbors.
Is indoor rowing good for losing weight?
Yes, indoor rowing can be a great workout to help you lose weight. Because rowing is a full body workout, it can burn more caloric energy than other forms of cardiovascular exercise.
Is indoor rowing good for toning up?
Indoor rowing is very effective in toning up your muscles and providing a great resistance workout by pulling on the muscles from your arms, through your torso to your legs. Indoor rowing puts you in an upright position and develops the back and chest muscles which leads to better posture and strength in day-to-day living. Also, because there is no impact with this form of fitness activity you will help prevent injury to your bones and joints when exercising regularly. You’ll improve muscle tone in thighs, hips, buttocks and stomach maintaining flexibility.
Is it bad to not let my knees come all the way up when I row?
No, it’s not necessary to have your knees come all the way up when you’re doing indoor rowing exercises. However, if you are just beginning or learning proper technique, having your knees come all the way up will ensure that you are using proper form and getting the most out of your workout safely. Once you have mastered proper form, this requirement will fall away on its own as part of natural progression in your fitness level without compromising safety or effectiveness of your workout.
Is indoor rowing exercise good for cross training?
Yes, if you are trying to improve your overall cardiovascular fitness for other activities or sports, you can certainly use indoor rowing exercise as part of your cross-training regimen. However, because this activity is often not an integral part of most people’s lives (i.e., one may not normally get on a stationary rower machine at their local gym and just go through the paces), it may not come anywhere close to providing the same benefits that another form of “cardio” exercise would provide in terms of building endurance which is needed to perform well in other disciplines.
How many calories does rowing burn?
It really depends on how hard you work out on the machine and how big you are. The calorie expenditure will increase as your heart rate increases, so it would help to have a common HRM (heart rate monitor) with which you could use as a reference. It’s important not to overestimate how many calories you’re burning, as this can lead to disappointment if your weight loss doesn’t show up quickly enough.
What is better for cardio fitness: Indoor rowing or spinning?
Spinning is generally better than indoor rowing exercise for cardiovascular fitness because it provides both an upper-body workout along with lower body training whereas indoor rowing exercise does not provide any upper body benefits (besides potential strengthening of back muscles due to stabilization required by pulling on handles).
Can you do indoor rowing exercise everyday?
Yes, it is okay to do indoor rowing exercise every day, though it may be easier on the body to space out your workouts throughout the week because of how strenuous this activity can be. If you are just beginning or learning proper technique, it could be beneficial to space out your workout days until you have mastered proper form and built up strength in the lower back. An alternative would be taking one day off per week for rest and doing cardio workouts similar to spinning on other days (or vice versa if you prefer). However, this all depends on what works best for your fitness level in terms of conditioning and injury prevention. Therefore, if something doesn’t feel right in your body, listen to it and don’t push yourself too hard.
What is the best indoor rowing machine?
There isn’t necessarily one best indoor rowing machine because everyone has different needs – what may work well for you could be very uncomfortable for somebody else, so trial and error is important in finding the right workout equipment or fitness routine that works for you. I have already picked the best of resistance air rowers, waterresistance rowers, and magneticresistance rowers.
Can I injure myself doing indoor rowing exercise?
Yes, if your form during your workout is incorrect it can lead to injury which can prolong recovery time between workouts as well as result in lost training time overall. This happens most often with people who attempt to do “too much” or overestimate their abilities in terms of work capacity.
How many calories do rowing machines burn?
Rowing machines tend to estimate higher than what is actually burned, so it’s important to take this into consideration when planning out your exercise routine and caloric intake in order to not be disappointed in the results and give up too early on indoor rowing exercise because you don’t see the weight loss that you had expected within a certain timeframe. This can also build unrealistic expectations for people who haven’t established a basic level of conditioning, which may eventually lead them to drop out (i.e., quit) from their workout regimen entirely because they feel like nothing they do seems to make a difference in terms of weight management or physical fitness results.
How can I avoid back pain while indoor rowing exercise?
It’s important to take the time to establish proper technique in terms of posture and body mechanics when beginning any new workout regimen, but especially something as strenuous as indoor rowing exercise because it is easy for your form to slip without regular focus on your fitness performance. It may be beneficial for you to consult with an experienced coach or personal trainer who might be able to identify problems in your stroke early on before they develop into more serious issues that could also lead to injury.
Is Indoor Rowing Exercise more effective than running/biking?
No one type of cardio exercise is more effective than another because they all burn different amounts of calories depending on how much body weight you are carrying, so it’s important to not focus too heavily on the “most effective” aspect of exercise because this tends to be very subjective.
What are some indoor rowing machine benefits?
Indoor rowing machine benefits include increased total body strength and muscle endurance as well as improved cardiovascular fitness due to higher intensity work capacity which means that your cardio respiratory system has an increased ability to take in oxygen during periods of strenuous work (i.e., intense physical activity). This works especially well for athletes who want to develop their base level of strength and endurance prior developing into more specific training goals related to their sport.
How can I make my indoor rowing machine workout harder?
There are a few ways to make your indoor rowing machine workout harder: modify your training routine by incorporating different types of workouts (i.e., swap out “easy” workouts for more difficult ones), increase resistance, or decrease the time that you rest between intervals/reps/skills in order to build up anaerobic conditioning. More information here:
Is rowing good exercise?
Yes, because it is a total body workout and raises your heart rate continuously for an extended period of time which means that you will burn more calories overall than with other types of cardio exercises.
Conclusion
I think I answered some of the most frequently asked questions about rowing exercise at home. If your doubts are gone and you are ready to buy an rower, I highly recommend you to read my rowing machine buying guide. It’s a detailed guide that will help you make an informed decision when looking rowing machines. With that out of the way, you should know that if you don’t wear the right rowing clothing, you may not be comfortable or enjoy the exercise.