3 Awesome Rowing Machine Workouts for Cardio and Strength

The rowing machine popularity is anchored on its ability to give you a full body workout. Both the upper and lower body are needed for a complete rowing stroke. This might be good or bad, depending on how you view it. The good is that you get an intensive workout. On the ” flip side”, you can never cheat on yourself. The rowing machine forces you to give your all as long as you are working out.

Rowing machine benefits

The best way to work out and get fitter is to work on your weakness. To many people, this means spending more time on the rowing machine. If you are in Australia, you can check out top rowing machines to buy in Australia. Owning a decent unit will make working out convenient considering that you do not have to commute to the gym.

Exercising on the rowing machine allows you to work out on every stroke. Close to 90% of your body muscles are actively engaged when working out. Thus, you progressively build muscle size, strength, and power by rowing often. Even better, high-intensity workouts on the rowing machine will see you improve your aerobic capacity for endurance and your anaerobic fitness for more speed. This leads us to the question, are there specific workouts that target both the cardio and strength? Read on for more insights.

Before engaging in any rowing workout, you need to learn how to do it right. Here are a couple of rowing tips worth remembering.

1. Warm-up
2. Row efficiently
3. Focus on maintaining a good workout rhythm
4. Have a plan
5. Warm down

Rowing Workouts

The High-intensity Interval Training (HIIT) Sprint

High-intensity interval training sprint is an excellent calorie burning option for individuals that are short of time. To start, you need to dedicate at least 10 minutes for warming up. The 30/30r program installed on concept 2 menu is meant to guide you through the high-intensity rowing session. This program inspires to vigorously row for 30 seconds, take a 30-second rest, and then get back to action. A stroke rate of 26-32 in only 20 minutes of rowing will see you burn close to 300 calories. The high-intensity nature of this workout allows you to build your strength and work out your heart’s muscles at the same time..

The Pyramid Power

This rowing workout is designed for endurance and strength. The pyramid power is an intermediate challenge workout aimed at improving endurance. It also injects some consistency in your rowing. Thus, your primary objective should be to achieve high intensity in each workout. This workout is best left for those times when you feel like you need a sharpening session.

The Leapfrog Rowing

While most rowing machine workouts tend to be aerobic, the leapfrog workout is entirely anaerobic. It engages your muscles and pushes them to limit similar to what weightlifting sessions do. You need to pay close attention to your stroke rate. Your primary goal should be to maintain or step up the distance rowed in each session. This challenge should take you close to 40 minutes and could see you burn more than 500 calories in a single session depending on your consistency and intensity.

A rowing machine provides a solid full-body workout, efficient fat burning properties, and preserves your joints (it is a high-intensity & low impact workout). The good thing about rowing workouts is that they are suitable for persons all fitness levels.