There are 4 stages in a Rowing Stroke all working a different combination of muscles throughout the body. When performed correctly significant effort is made by the thighs, hips, torso, and the pelvis while also working the forearms, triceps, and shoulders since a significant amount of resistance is placed on the upper body. As you’ll see from the diagrams Rowing also helps to strengthen the core and to a certain extent the calf muscles.
Stage 1: The Catch
Stage 2: The Drive
Stage 3: The Finish
Stage 4: The Recovery
It Gives You a Fantastic Cardio Workout
If you’ve done any rowing at the gym instinctively you know this, many experts agree suggesting that a workout on the rowing machine is more effective in burning calories when compared to other machines like the treadmill or the elliptical trainer or cycle as the ‘full body’ movement effect of muscle contractions, bending, stretching requires more energy. Because your entire body is constantly on the move, your heart pumps faster as the body demands more oxygen to meet the stress. This improves heart function thereby reducing the chances of diseases like hypertension, diabetes, angina, and so on. It helps your lungs as well as they tend to open up to accommodate the increased demand of oxygen for the body.
It Brings the Body to a Calorie-burning Mode
Dependent upon the intensity of your workout you can burn about 800 calories in an hour. On the Concept 2 performance monitor you can select a variety of workouts including set distances, set times and intervals, many which can be set to match a ‘pace setter’.
The best place to start is by using the correct technique and setting the ‘damper’ to an appropriate level. So pick up the challenge now. The Rowing Machines in the club are the world standard and designed in such as way that, although it provides a wide range of motion to your body, including the joints, it still has a low impact on them.