rowing machines do ya any good?

just wondering cause i am picking up an old one from my girl friends family for the hell of it ...

where's my beer?

rowing is great for the back muscles and lats.

if the seat's on a sliding rail, you can get good leg exercise out of it too.

real rowing is also good, but to buy a sculling boat is very expensive.

peace

Kung Lek

Martial Arts Links

is it a good cardio workout though?

where's my beer?

if you do it for a while, yeah.

5 rows = not a cardio workout

20 minutes = good cardio workout

Don't expect any huge strength gains tho, it's not like doing weighted pullups or anything :p

Iron

i was actually thinking of using it strictly for the cardio.

something constant that i might actually do.

i wont run, i wont jump rope, i wont do taibo, and when i hit the bag it's just too easy to not catch your breath for just a second between combos.

i just want something menial and repetative that i can zone out and do 3 or 4 times a week to build my wind.

where's my beer?

A good rowing machine is a great piece of equipment to have. The kind with the chain and flywheel assembly are great.

LEARN HOW TO ROW PROPERLY OR YOU WILL HURT YOURSELF.

I don't get mad.
I get stabby.

Kung Lek,

You can enter rowing clubs without buying your own shell. It is a great activity to become involved in. Crewbies are very well conditioned athletes.

I don't get mad.
I get stabby.

Man, today, i tried rowing without using my legs- kinda like a high rep bent row...dayumn... didn't last five minutes; of course that was trying to maintain a high pace after I'd just finished 45 min on another machine....but still...

Strangely enough I noticed the front part of my shoulders burning the most.

http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezin...images/gk1.jpg
Just some thoughts from an ignoramus.

I'm trying to come up with a good plan for cardio when the weather is sour and I can't swim. I've pretty much decided on getting a rowing machine. They're less expensive than elipticals and steppers, are a no-impact workout (good for the knees), and give a good cardio workout. I'm up to the figuring out which type/machine to go for. I'm trying to decide on whether to get one that uses air resistance or pistons (the ones that use water resistance are too expensive). I've used both at one point or another, and don't necessarily have a preference. I thought the piston machines have more resistance, while the air machines have a smoother feel. My main priorities are an effective cardio workout, and a durable machine. Anywhos, I'm open to all advice and information about rowing machines that anyone would have. Thanks. :)

The world-wide standard for rowing machines is the Concept II. They're also one of the most expensive, but IMHO well worth it. I don't have one, but there are 4 at my gym. It's an air resistance machine, but you won't find it's lacking in resistance. At the max setting, you'll be able to get right up near your max heart rate.

They are definitely durable. The ones at my gym have been there for at least 5 years and take a beating but I've never seen them out of service, unlike some other pieces of equipment. If you were getting one for personal use, I doubt you'd ever break it.

I haven't used other machines to compare it since the Concept II is everywhere, but the features are nice. Adjustable resistance from 1 to 10 (although I always just use 10). Obviously you can adjust your strokes per minute to increase the workout too. Display has a few screens as well as HR monitor capability. I usually leave it on the screen that displays time taken to row 2000m and try to keep it under a certain time. It adjusts every stroke you take, so you always know how much effort you're putting in.

Overall, 10/10 for the Concept II. The only problem is the price.

http://www.concept2.co.uk/rower/

Hope that helps.

First, I thought the C2 used water resistance? It doesn't really matter though.

As much as I know how great the C2 is, it's also a bit more than I was willing to spend. I'm not a pro-style rower or anything, I'm just looking for a good cardio workout to complement my MA training. I think $900 is a little much to spend on that. Has anyone had good experience with something in the less expensive range?

Well, it was my (wife's :D) b'day last week, so I got (her :D) a 2ndhand Concept 2 Model C from my old high school. Mmm, Concept 2. I'm gunna do my HIIT on this over winter so I can avoid the rain and dark nights. I only did HIIT sprints once at night and it wasn't easy in the dark. It has built in interval counting so I don't need to use my HRM for timekeeping. I can watch TV as I go. Oh, man, it's sweet. Nice all over workout feel, too. Like doing multiple lightweight deadlifts. I haven't used one for a few years and had forgotten how good they are.

On the down side, the 5 yr old ergo that has seen many puking school kids cost me more than a new Model D costs in the U.S. :mad: On the down side part 2 I did a session with bare feet the other day. I felt the pain as I was going, but I didn't want to stop my intervals. After I stopped I was almost scared to look down at the dime-sized raw circle on my left heel. WC class sucked last night - my shoe rubbed right on the sore spot. Also, last night was lots of footwork. My squats this cycle are being done with thongs until it heals.

Agreed, good bit of kit,C2s are the stardard and vitually bullet proof.Sorry to hear you didn't get a 2 hand for a reasonable price,they are regular features at a low prices in the trading posts over this side.(God bless are those short lived fittness fanatics)
I am pondering why you did a row session bare foot?

You're truly a hopeless romantic.

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Originally posted by Ka
Agreed, good bit of kit,C2s are the stardard and vitually bullet proof.Sorry to hear you didn't get a 2 hand for a reasonable price,they are regular features at a low prices in the trading posts over this side.(God bless are those short lived fittness fanatics)
I am pondering why you did a row session bare foot?

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It cost me $1200. That's the norm for others I've seen here. I looked on the internet and saw Model D's for US$850. Sykes' price for D's in Oz is $2400ish :eek:.

I rowed barefoot because I used to often row barefoot or with socks on (in shells). I should've put socks on :o. It didn't hurt through the whole 8min warmup or until the 3rd or 4th interval and I didn't want to stop then. Guess I'm stupid like that.

Ford, I also got (her :D) some sweet leather focus pads a few weeks back. She loves them when she gets to hit. Not so much when I get to hit. I also got her a double end bag after Iron's glowing review but I haven't put it up yet. Funny, OTOH she thinks I'm stupid to want to buy a bunch of chains. I rang a few specialty rigging stores to get prices and she didn't understand why I didn't just go to the hardware store. I didn't have the heart to tell her I want $100+ of chains and I can save and get quality from a rigging shop.

What exactly do you do with $100 worth of chains? Excuse my naivety, im new:confused:

This.

so the point is when the bar is at chest alot of the chain lays on the ground, lightening the load, allowing you to push faster from the lowest position?

Yeah. Also, the weakest part of e.g. benchpress is at the lower ROM. From about 1/2 way up to all the way up you have strength in reserve so you could potentially lift much more up there. It's like how some people do partial squats, like a 1/4 squat. They might do e.g. 600lbs full squat, but 1000lbs 1/4 squat because they are moving in their most advantageous ROM.

on topic, i agree the rowing machine is great. Builds endurance and cardo quicker than most things i've tried. Also uses your whole body. You've convinced me to start looking for one in Perth:cool:

Yeah, I'm in Perth too. As I said, my old high school was selling them a few weeks back for $1200. If you're interested, try calling Scotch College and ask for Grant Ford (head of rowing). Other places I've seen include the Quokka . A company advertises ex-hire units on there. Dunno the price. I just knew the school ones were relatively well looked after, even though they're bulletproof anyway. Only thing I dislike is they don't use the legs as much as I'd like. I remember in school rowing season finished and the very next day we had some guest coach come in and give us a killer training session for our 1st rugby session of the season. I remember a lot of guys puking, etc. I also remember my legs were nowhere near up to the task, despite a fairly intensive rowing season.

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A doctor told us that rowing on a machine will get you 'more bang for your buck' than running on a treadmill — here’s why
Rosie Fitzmaurice

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Dr. Cameron Nichol, a medical doctor and former Olympic rower.Instagram/rowingwod

Rowing is enjoying a resurgence in popularity in the fitness world.

Business Insider spoke to former Olympic rower Dr. Cameron Nichol.

He talked us through an experiment he conducted on a Channel 4 TV show that compared the impact of rowing on a machine vs. running on a treadmill.

He believes rowing gives you more 'bang for your buck' as it activates more muscle groups.

It works both the upper and lower body, the heart, and the lungs.

Rowing is having its moment in the fitness world, and the rise of the indoor group rowing class was one of the big fitness trends predicted for 2018.

It might not have a glamorous reputation, and it may not look like the easiest exercise to get to grips with. Still, the next time you're queueing for the treadmill, there could be good reason to consider a stint on the rower instead.

That's according to Dr. Cameron Nichol, a doctor, former Olympic rower, and two-time world silver medalist who says that rowing is the "most time efficient total body workout" out there.

Despite this, it's taken a while for the sport to become part of the latest fitness boom. For many, the rowing machine is a piece of gym equipment that's been collecting dust in their parent's garage since the 80s.

"As a rowing industry we've known for decades that we're responsible for not communicating how to row well," Nichol told Business Insider. "It's a really valuable movement, but the problem is we don't grow up with it, whereas we do running and cycling."

Nichol is on a mission to spread the word on rowing and has even founded Rowing WOD to help do so.

As a former Olympic rower and all-round rowing enthusiast, he may be slightly biased, but Nichol said one of the reasons it's such an effective workout is that it uses virtually every muscle in the body — and he proved this in a recent experiment.

Putting rowing to the test

On Channel 4's How to get Fit Fast TV show, Nichol conducted a small experiment at the University of Roehampton that compared the impact of running on a treadmill to rowing on a machine.

Athletes of a similar level of fitness performed 20 minutes of each exercise, and a number of output measurements were taken using electrodes.

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Channel 4/How to get Fit Fast

First was calorie expenditure, the way that many people measure their workouts — and in these terms, running won.

The subject on the treadmill burnt 350 calories, while the person on the rowing machine expended 300 — but Nichol says you shouldn't just think about calories.

He pointed to another measurement — muscle activation — to prove the effectiveness of the workout. The electrodes showed how much electricity was going through each muscle group during the workout, which means "how hard and how fast those muscles are working," according to Nichol.

The results showed that rowing activated more muscle groups than running.

Rowing activates nine muscle groups and 85% of the body's musculature, according to Nichol. It will work your upper and lower body, tone your arms, and strengthen your back.

He concludes that you'll get more "bang for your buck" working out on the rowing machine than on the treadmill.


Plus, he added, there's the additional bonus that the machine is usually free.

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Threads:
rowing machines do ya any good?
Hmmm Treadmill

Does your gym or school have an AED? Are you CPR certified?

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'I almost died on rowing machine': Gym heart attack on CCTV
Ashley Carter, Sunshine Coast Daily
February 15, 2019 11:00am

A YOUNG Sunshine Coast woman is calling for defibrillators to be placed in all gyms, after she almost died from a massive attack while using a rowing machine.

Emily Counter was working out at Anytime Fitness Noosa when she had a seizure and went into cardiac arrest in October last year.

If it wasn't for the quick thinking of owner Aaron Petterson and gym member Ben Duffy, Emily might not have survived.

"One of the young members just came running to me and said 'something's happened to a girl',” Mr Petterson said.

"Em was just laying on the ground. She just wouldn't respond.”

While she has no memory of the incident, Emily, now 21, is forever thankful for the two men who saved her life.

Mr Petterson said everyone at the gym was in shock as Emily "started to go blue”, but Mr Duffy jumped into action and started performing CPR.

Mr Duffy started trying to resuscitate Emily as Mr Petterson rushed to get the gym's defibrillator.

"You learn how to use those things in your first aid course, but you never really use it,” he said.

He said even though he was in shock, the defibrillator was so simple to use that he knew exactly what to do.

"I pressed the shock button and her body sort of jumped off the ground like it was in the movies,” he said.

With the defibrillator and CPR, they were able to get Emily's heart going again before paramedics arrived.

"Thank God. That thing is just absolutely brilliant and was able to save her life in the end,” Mr Petterson said.

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Emily Counter was in a coma for three days after she collapsed at Anytime Fitness Noosa. Now, after undergoing open heart surgery, she wears her scar with pride.

Emily was taken to Noosa Hospital, where she was in a coma for three days before being transferred to Sunshine Coast University Hospital.

Mr Petterson said the entire ICU team were commenting on how well the CPR process was done, the speed of 000 call, removal of obstacles, compressions, stability of the head and correct use of the defibrillator.

After a week of numerous tests, she was diagnosed with Bland-White-Garland Syndrome (BWGS).

The rare disease is characterised by anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary trunk and affects one in every 300,000 births.

Without surgical repair, most children die at infancy. Emily lived 20 years with no knowledge of her heart condition.

"I was getting heart pain and I was struggling breathing when I was running, way before I had this happen, and I thought I just wasn't fit enough,” she said.

A week after the incident, Emily was taken to The Prince Charles Hospital in Brisbane to undergo open heart surgery to have the anomaly removed.

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Emily Counter says she feels like "Wonder Woman" after surviving a serious cardiac arrest from a rare heart condition she never knew she had.

She now has a scar down the middle of her chest, which she wears proudly as a token of her survival.

"I have stages where I'm up and down about it, but ... I've just survived such a massive thing and I should be proud,” she said.

"I've got a completely replumbed heart now, so it's basically like a brand new heart.

"I just feel like Wonder Woman.”

Four months after her surgery, she's been given the all-clear to start exercising again.

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Emily Counter says she feels like "Wonder Woman" after surviving a serious cardiac arrest from a rare heart condition she never knew she had.

Emily was a member of a gym that was required to have a defibrillator under its terms and conditions.

Now, she wants to see defibrillators in every single gym.

"If I had of had it [at my old gym] then I probably wouldn't be alive,” she said.

"It saved my life and it will definitely save someone else's.”

Mr Petterson was extremely thankful he had one handy, and wanted them to be placed not just in gyms, but in all businesses.

"We really need to start getting these out everywhere, because they're even quite affordable these days,” he said.

"It's literally life and death.”

The defibrillator at Anytime Fitness Noosa cost just $1500, Mr Petterson said.

He said if the government provided funding for defibrillators in businesses, it could prevent incidents like Emily's from going a lot worse.

Struggling to find the words to thank the men who resuscitated her, Emily said without them she would not be here today.

"It was just amazing, the help that they gave me,” she said.

"Just a massive thank you to Aaron and Ben for giving CPR and jumping straight into it, and not hesitating.

"It's just so great to be going to a gym who had that type of people.”

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