5 Benefits of Indoor Rowing
5 Benefits of Indoor Rowing
Here at Fitness Matters, we’re big fans of Indoor Rowing. We’re building a thriving community both online and offline for beginners and experts alike. With the recent announcement of our second indoor rowing event, we thought we’d look into the benefits, both physically and mentally of the exercise.
1. Conditioning for the Upper & Lower Body
As you might expect, indoor machines provide a great upper-body workout. They involve the rhomboids in the shoulder, trapezius in the upper back and lats in the lower back. You’ll also reap the benefits in your lower body – the main leg muscles involved are the quads in the upper front of the thighs, but the calves and glutes (buttocks) will also see improvement over time.
2. Efficient Calorie Burning
An indoor rowing workout burns an average of 600 calories an hour, a more efficient rate than most other gym equipment. On a stationary bike without arm involvement, you’d need to ride about an hour and 18 minutes to equal an hour of indoor rowing.
3. Improves Cardio Fitness
Rowing is great for the heart and lungs because it engages every major muscle group of your body. That, in turn, requires your heart to pump more blood to your working muscle tissue to deliver energy and nutrients to your cells while buffering away waste by-products, including carbon dioxide and lactic acid.
4. Low Impact
Because your feet remain in contact with the foot pads and your hands keep contact with the handles during rowing, there’s little to no impact being placed on the ankles, knees, hips, elbows or shoulders, all of which are prone to injury. This also makes it an appropriate form of exercise for those who are nursing an injury, or who feel physically uncomfortable during weight-bearing exercises, such as walking, jogging, or certain other aerobic activities.
5. Mental and social benefits
Much like spinning classes, indoor rowing sessions have transformed what is usually an individual workout into a fun, highly social environment. We are actively building our community and it’s so great to see everyone helping each other, discussing their workouts and having fun, both online and offline. Here are three ways you can get involved: