Rowing machines compared with other fitness equipment

A rowing machine will give you an all in one workout which most other pieces of fitness equipment cannot match. They combine gentle to intensive cardio with consistent strength training depending on what you do. They will help you lose weight due to the potential for burning calories because of the targeted muscle groups of both your lower and upper body. Many people wonder how it compares to other exercise equipment. The truth is, it’s superior in almost every way yet when people walk in the gym they will probably skip by and it head straight treadmill.

Stationary Bike

The exercise bike can’t compete with the calorie burning capabilities that you will get with a rowing machine. The reason being that it only really works the legs and lower half of the body. A rower will burn more calories in less time at a lower intensity than a stationary bike. The calories that are burned riding for about 40 minutes at roughly 12-13 mph is equal to rowing for 25 minutes at a lower intensity. You should note that the number of calories that are burned actually depend on the effort that you put into your workout and also on the physiology of your body.

Stationary bikes are easy on your joints and tend to provide fluid motion, but don’t allow for the strength training of the various muscle groups. A rower does the same thing, it has a low stress workout with the advantage working the whole body.

Treadmill

A treadmill will put strain and stress on your hips, knees, and ankles. This can be dangerous as well as painful. The calorie burning potential of having a treadmill, as well as a stationary bike, is actually a lot lower than a rowing machine. 30 minutes of being on a treadmill at 3.5 mph, for a 125 lb person, will burn 120 calories. Rowing will burn around 270 calories during a low intensity workout in same time without all the stress on your body and joints.

Elliptical

An elliptical machine is similar to a treadmill due to the fact that is basically a walking or running motion, but with more fluid movement and lower impact. The elliptical will tone your body, but it will not help you build muscle mass. A rowing machine will provide the toned body you want as well as increase your muscle mass, while giving you a low impact, fluid but highly intensive workout.

Intensity Control of Your Workout

There is a huge advantage that rowing has over any other exercise machine when it comes to strength training and cardio for you. You will be able to have complete control of the everything when it comes to your workout. You can adjust the resistance, which means that you will be able to have a varied exercise regime. With adjustable resistance you will have the option of switching between anaerobic and aerobic training, depending on the intensity that you want.

As you can see, a rowing machine has many more benefits that any other exercise machine. It will give you the cardio workout that is needed for your overall health especially when it is combined with good eating habits. It will also give you strength training for your whole body. There isn’t a need for having multiple machines that only target specific parts of your body, and no need for adding a cardio machine on top of those others. The rower is basically a gym on its own. Many people don’t have a lot of time to have a complicated or long workout, and this is the true answer to that problem. Less time that is spent combining exercises with all the other advantages make a rower the perfect exercise machine for anyone.