Row, an exercise you might enjoy

Published: 10/12/2012 - Updated: 07/26/2016

Some time ago, rowing was considered a sport for men. However, rowing is an excellent choice of exercise, which adults and seniors can enjoy.

Rowing is a complete workout that benefits both the upper and lower muscles, works as a basis for many sports, such as running, swimming, cycling, among others.

Rowing is an ideal exercise to strengthen muscle tone and gain mass, as you increase the mobility and flexibility after an injury.

Benefits for the entire body

In rowing, upper and lower muscles work in unison. By involving many muscle groups simultaneously, rowing causes an improved cardiovascular health, as the heart increases its rate in relatively intense way.

While rowing, we will be doing aerobic work without realizing it, and with an intensity that we can keep while training. Within the large spectrum of muscles that work in this sport, stand the postural, so your back will benefit.

The natural movement of the rowing makes it highly efficient at burning calories. In short, it is beneficial for all the body.

Thanks to its low-impact nature, rowing involves a high percentage of muscle work with minimal risk of injury. Well, it is important to learn well how to perform this exercise correctly to avoid injury, and get all the benefits.

Comprehensive exercise

The biggest myth about rowing is that it only works the upper body. It is actually an amazing exercise, with low impact, that improves strength and also cardiovascular system. With this exercise, you're working nine major muscle groups: quadriceps, hamstrings, buttocks, dorsal, core, shoulders, triceps, back, and biceps. The position is a great benefit of rowing.

Low Impact

The reason why rowing is good for rehabilitation, it’s because this is a lower impact alternative, especially suitable for runners.

Teamwork

If you're doing a rowing training at home is not exactly the same. In a class, community spirit can be experienced as it would an actual race. Each class ends with a race, measured by the monitors (total time, distance, calories, strokes per minute and flow rate) on each machine.

Easy to learn

The movements themselves are relatively simple, so it’s easy to learn. People in general can get the basics in 10 minutes or less.

You have the control

The resistance can be moderated at the level of your training; in fact, the practice rowing machines use about 17 liters of water, which even makes splash sounds, to provide the resistance.

Calories burned

The average class rowing burns between 400 to 800 calories, in less than one hour.

Rowing is a good alternative that can be fun and healthy. It allows you to practice a coordinated muscle action that requires application of force in a repetitive and maximal way. The rowing action can be divided as:
The beginning, emphasis with legs, emphasis on balancing the body, emphasizing through arm pull, the final and the recovery.

It's definitely an exercise that you may want to do, now that you know all the benefits. An ideal exercise to lose weight and to tone muscles. It is a good idea to share with friends and experience teamwork, very similar to rowing a boat.

About the author
  • Miriam Reyes

    Miriam Reyes is a professional expert in nutrition and dietetics. She has more than 12 years of experience in caring for patients with overweight and eating problems. She studied at the Universidad del Valle de Atemajac (UNIVA), where she obtained a degree in nutrition. Linkedin profile.

2 Replies to “Row, an exercise you might enjoy”
  • Jacob says:

    I used to row when I was younger, it was so much fun! I was wondering how many calories do you burn doing this sport, it?s awesome! I?ll try it again and maybe I?ll take my friends too. I think that going to one lesson is enough to row on a boat, right?

  • Stacy says:

    Wow!! Rowing sounds great! I definitely want to give it a try. I really like the idea of rowing in teams…not only does it create such a tight bond when you do activities like that (in small spaces) with people, but it sounds like just a great exercise. I’ve seen a few rowing teams paddling down the river in town…maybe I’ll look them up!