There’s a cardio machine in your fitness center that you may have never considered using. There may be only one of them, placed unassumingly amidst the rows of stationary bikes and elliptical machines. You may not even know what it is. But this piece of cardio equipment hits about 85 percent of your muscles, and can burn about 600-1,000 calories per hour.
If you haven’t tried the rowing machine, you need to. A vigorous workout on this baby burns the same amount of calories as running on a treadmill at an incline, and more than a stair climber, elliptical, or stationary bicycle.
What’s more, it works all your major muscles simultaneously: The quads, hamstrings, glutes, lats, core, shoulders, triceps, back and biceps. This ups the calorie burn and increases efficiency in your workout. In a nutshell, you burn more calories and work more muscles, in less time than other cardio machines.
Don’t think you can get the hang of it? Think again. The rowing machine is suitable for all fitness levels, easy to operate, and is one of the only cardio machines that will give you a low impact, non-weight bearing cardio workout at a high intensity. Can’t run or jump due to an injury or weak joints? You can still work up a great sweat on the rowing machine.
If you’re new to the rowing machine, make sure you have the correct form and posture down before increasing your speed and resistance.
This is a great machine for interval training. Start with a 5 to 10 minute warm-up, then alternate fast and slower intervals for 20 minutes, followed by a cool-down.
