Olympic rowing will little question be a buzzy sport on the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the place athletes plan to compete throughout a distance of 2,000 meters in groups of two, 4, or eight.
If the joy round this historic sport has you contemplating dusting off the rowing machine in your basement or checking one out at your gymnasium, it’s not a foul thought: There are lots of advantages of a rowing machine—and it’s not nearly sturdy arms.
Right here’s what to find out about the advantages of a rowing machine you will love, methods to use one accurately, and ideas for newbies.
The way to accurately use a rowing machine
First, let’s get the rowing method down. Once you see somebody utilizing a rowing machine, it could look like they’re performing one fluid motion—nevertheless it’s truly a sequence of actions which are carried out in a selected order.
Listed below are step-by-step directions for how to use a rowing machine, in response to Sarah Pelc Graca, CPT, licensed private coach and proprietor and head coach at Strong with Sarah Health Coaching.
- Regulate the foot straps: Sit on the rowing machine and place your ft securely within the foot straps. The straps needs to be comfortable (however not too tight) across the balls of your ft, permitting each ft to maneuver freely as you row.
- Place your self on the seat: Sit tall on the seat along with your knees bent and ft resting in opposition to the footplate. Your shins needs to be vertical and your heels needs to be barely raised.
- Seize the deal with: Attain ahead and seize the deal with with an overhand grip, retaining your arms straight—however not locked on the elbows—and your shoulders relaxed.
- Carry out the catch: That is the beginning place of the rowing stroke. Your arms needs to be prolonged and your again straight, however you ought to be barely leaning ahead on the hips. Hold your knees bent and your shins vertical.
- Carry out the drive: Provoke the rowing stroke by pushing by way of your legs, driving them down, and increasing your knees. Hold your core engaged and lean again barely as soon as your legs straighten.
- Carry out the pull: As soon as your legs are totally prolonged, proceed the movement by pulling the deal with towards your decrease chest close to the underside of your ribs, retaining your elbows near your physique. As you pull, concentrate on participating your again muscular tissues, notably your latissimus dorsi (aka the lats, the massive muscular tissues discovered proper beneath your shoulder blades and throughout your again).
- Carry out the end: On the finish of the stroke, your legs needs to be totally prolonged, and the deal with needs to be pulled to your decrease chest, slightly below your sternum. Your shoulders needs to be relaxed and your wrists flat.
- Get well: Reverse the movement by extending your arms, leaning ahead on the hips, and bending your knees to slip again to the beginning place. Hold your actions clean and managed, avoiding jerky motions.
The advantages of a rowing machine you will love
1. It builds power in your legs and again
Once you assume “rowing,” bulked-up biceps might come to thoughts—nevertheless it’s truly a standard false impression that rowing primarily targets your arm muscular tissues.
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“Whereas it does have advantages to the arms, the principle muscular tissues utilized in rowing are your legs and again,” says Kate Knifton, a member of Crew USA Rowing for the 2024 Paris Olympics and coach for Myrow. “The rowing stroke might appear like a ‘pulling’ movement utilizing the arms, however as a substitute it’s a ‘pushing’ movement utilizing the quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves.”
Plus, your again muscular tissues (particularly the lats and rhomboids) are strengthened as you convey the deal with towards your physique. All through your entire stroke, your core muscular tissues interact to guard your decrease again.
The advantages of a rowing machine additionally lengthen to your general posture, serving to you to straighten out your again, which is very useful after hours of working at a desk.
“Rowing requires correct posture and method, which can assist to strengthen each the again and core muscular tissues whereas bettering general posture,” Pelc Graca says. “This could alleviate discomfort related to poor posture and scale back the danger of growing postural imbalances, particularly for individuals who sit at a desk all day at work.”
2. It’s a low-impact cardio exercise
Rowing is an effective way to get your coronary heart price up, whereas being decrease affect than many different types of cardio like operating or leaping. (Lean extra about rowing versus running right here!)
“It’s the excellent alternative for folks recovering from sure accidents or joint points,” Knifton says. “Rowing can be one of many solely sports activities that gives a full-body exercise. This use of muscular tissues enhances cardiovascular health and endurance.”
You’ll be able to even save time by combining your cardio and power workouts with a rowing machine exercise.
“Rowing with correct kind recruits roughly 85 % of the muscular tissues in your physique when finishing one full stroke, whereas on the identical time steadily rising your coronary heart price for an environment friendly exercise,” Pelc Graca says.
3. It’s customizable
Once you use a rowing machine, you’re not caught with one kind of exercise or degree of problem.
“Rowing machines sometimes provide adjustable resistance ranges, permitting customers to tailor their exercises to their health degree and objectives,” Pelc Graca says. “Plus, rowing exercises can differ in depth and period, offering flexibility for particular person preferences and desires.”
Many health companies like MyRow or Peloton additionally provide rowing courses which you could digitally stream. These exercises train you methods to row correctly and problem you thru completely different routines—excellent for for those who are inclined to get bored shortly along with your exercises.
4. It’s handy and accessible
Though you do want gear for rowing, these machines can be found in lots of gyms and health facilities. You may also select to put money into one in your residence gymnasium (they sometimes run wherever from $300 to $3,000).
“This makes it a handy possibility for incorporating common train into your routine,” Pelc Graca says. “Plus, as a result of rowing tends to be a bit much less fashionable than operating in the mean time, there’s by no means often a watch for the rowing machines on the gymnasium.”
As a result of rowing places much less stress and affect in your joints, it’s additionally an accessible possibility for folks of all health ranges. That features those that have joint points or who’re simply beginning to train once more after an damage.
“Rowing with correct kind recruits roughly 85 % of the muscular tissues in your physique when finishing one full stroke, whereas on the identical time steadily rising your coronary heart price for an environment friendly exercise.” —Sarah Pelc Graca, CPT
The muscular tissues you’re employed when rowing
Rowing is an environment friendly method to slot in a full-body exercise that engages muscular tissues throughout your complete physique. Right here’s a breakdown of the assorted muscular tissues focused throughout a rowing machine exercise, in response to Pelc Graca.
- Legs (quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves): A robust leg push drives the rowing stroke. “As you push off the footplate, your quadriceps [front thigh muscles], hamstrings [back thigh muscles], and calf muscular tissues interact to increase your knees and drive your physique backward,” Pelc Graca says.
- Glutes: Your gluteus maximus, the biggest muscle in your butt, performs a key function within the leg drive part of rowing. That is the muscle that helps to increase your hips and supply important energy throughout that preliminary push-off.
- Core (abdominals and decrease again): “Rowing requires your core stabilization muscular tissues to interact, so to preserve correct posture and switch energy out of your legs to the higher physique,” Pelc Graca says. The rectus abdominis (entrance abs), obliques (facet abs), and erector spinae (decrease again muscular tissues) all work collectively to assist your backbone and pelvis all through your entire rowing stroke.
- Again (latissimus dorsi, trapezius, and rhomboids): Once you “pull” in a rowing stroke, that motion primarily targets the again muscular tissues. Your lats are the principle muscular tissues chargeable for pulling the handlebars towards your physique. Plus, the trapezius and rhomboid muscular tissues in your higher again assist stabilize your shoulder blades and help with that pulling movement.
- Arms (biceps and triceps) and shoulders (deltoids and rotator cuff muscular tissues): Your arms and shoulder muscular tissues crew up throughout the closing part of the rowing stroke as your arms flex and also you pull the handles or oars towards your decrease chest.
Suggestions for newbies attempting rowing
1. Take into account rowing as actions in a sure order
Bear in mind, rowing doesn’t contain only one motion, however relatively a sequence of motions that come collectively.
A easy method to consider the proper kind for a rowing stroke is on this sequence, in response to Pelc Graca: legs, core, and arms throughout the energy part—and arms, core, legs throughout the restoration part.
2. Take your time throughout the restoration part
Enable the deal with to return easily as you bend your knees and lean ahead on the hips throughout restoration. Rowing is about powering up your legs, not velocity.
“Neglecting the restoration part of the rowing stroke by speeding again to the beginning place can disrupt your rhythm and respiratory, whereas reducing the effectiveness of your exercise,” Pelc Graca says.
3. Regulate the machine to your liking
With rowing, one dimension doesn’t match all. One of many advantages of a rowing machine is that there are customizable options you need to use to verify it matches your wants.
“Begin by adjusting the machine to be most comfy to you,” Knifton says. “Regulate the straps in your ft in order that they match comfortably over the widest a part of your ft.”
Security precautions to remember when rowing
Once you’re figuring out on a rowing machine, preserve the following tips in thoughts to remain protected and injury-free.
1. Keep away from pulling too onerous along with your arms
Rowing shouldn’t rely solely in your arms. As a result of it’s primarily a leg-driven train, your focus needs to be on initiating the motion with a strong leg drive.
“One of the widespread errors is relying an excessive amount of on the arms to drag the deal with, neglecting the legs and again,” Pelc Graca says. “This could result in fatigue and pressure on the arms and shoulders, in addition to low again ache.”
2. Hold your again straight
Give attention to sustaining a straight again all through your complete stroke. Your core needs to be engaged and your shoulders pulled again.
“Permitting the again to spherical or hunch over throughout the rowing stroke can put undue stress on the backbone and improve the danger of damage,” Pelc Graca says.
3. Don’t attain too far
Stretching too far ahead originally of the rowing stroke, or the catch, can pressure your decrease again and hamstrings.
“As an alternative, intention to take care of a snug attain ahead with out overextending,” Pelc Graca says. “Your shins needs to be vertical on the catch, along with your knees bent and your again barely leaning ahead on the hips.”
4. Watch your foot placement
For those who put your ft too excessive or low on the footplate, it may shift your rowing method and trigger discomfort or damage.
“Place your ft securely within the foot straps, with the balls of your ft resting in opposition to the footplate,” Pelc Graca says. “Your heels needs to be barely raised earlier than starting and your ft needs to be flat all through the remainder of the stroke.”
“Rowing machines sometimes provide adjustable resistance ranges, permitting customers to tailor their exercises to their health degree and objectives. Plus, rowing exercises can differ in depth and period, offering flexibility for particular person preferences and desires.” —Sarah Pelc Graca, CPT
FAQ
How excessive must you set the resistance?
Begin sluggish with resistance: A common rowing mistake newbies make is setting the resistance too excessive. If the machine’s resistance dial goes from one to 10, follow a quantity between three and 5, per the Hospital for Special Surgery (HHS).
This may most carefully resemble rowing on water—even aggressive rowers follow this center vary for resistance. Going too excessive for too lengthy will improve the load in your decrease again.
When must you use a rowing machine?
For those who’re simply beginning out, intention for 5 to 10 minutes of rowing. Work as much as half-hour or longer, per the HHS.
For those who go longer than half-hour, break your exercise into completely different chunks. As an illustration, row for 20 minutes, then stroll and stretch for 5 minutes earlier than persevering with your rowing for an additional 20 minutes.
Begin by rowing two to 3 instances per week. Ultimately, you may improve your frequency to 4 to 5 exercises weekly. To provide your physique time to get better, keep away from rowing each single day.
Can you utilize a rowing machine for those who’re injured or recovering from surgical procedure?
One of many main advantages of a rowing machine is that it may be adjusted to your wants, so it caters to fairly quite a lot of folks, per Northwell Health. This consists of those that are recovering from surgical procedure or damage. (It might probably even be supreme for these with underlying circumstances, like arthritis, who can’t use their physique weight by way of a full vary of movement.)
Right here’s only one instance of a modification you can also make: You probably have an damage in your ankle or knee, place your injured leg on a slider subsequent to the machine on the ground. This may can help you gently shift your injured leg backwards and forwards when utilizing the machine, when you use your unhurt leg as you usually would.
For those who use a wheelchair, you can even detach the rowing machine’s seat and use the deal with whereas remaining within the wheelchair.
