If the weather won't let you practice rowing on the water, or if you regularly use a stationery rowing machine for exercise, you can get burn calories, tone muscles and improve muscular endurance using an indoor rower. Depending on how you set your resistance settings and the pace you work, you can create a variety of resistance and cardio exercises and workouts.
Considerations
Before you develop a workout around an indoor rower, also called an ergometer, determine your exercise goals in order of importance. Aerobic exercise has health and fitness benefits, ranging from improving blood cholesterol to calorie burning to improving muscular endurance to increasing cardio stamina. Separate or combine exercise and workout types to create a training routine that meets your goals. Competitive rowing uses primarily the aerobic energy system, according to the article, "Rowing - The Physical Demands," at the website of British performance coach Brian Mac.
Cardio Training
If you are training for on-the-water rowing or other athletic performance, you can use an indoor rower to improve your cardiovascular stamina, or your ability to exercise over time. If you are new to exercise, you will start at a pace similar to a brisk walk so you can maintain your workout for 30 minutes or longer. As you continue to exercise, you'll build cardio stamina so you can train at higher levels. Training at a pace that approximates jogging puts you in the aerobic training zone. You can sprint train working at or close to your maximum heart rate for up to 90 seconds, taking a rest of several minutes between sprints.
Breathing
If you are training for competitive rowing, you will want to practice the time of your breathing during your indoor workouts. You can inhale as you pull, exhaling as you finish or do the opposite. Whether you are training for water racing or just to lose weight or build muscle, it's important that you maintain regular breathing to prevent a sudden spike in blood pressure.
Muscle Use
You can use all of the major muscles of the body during rowing training. Relying more on your legs to push the machine will work the quadriceps, calves, hamstrings, hip flexors and buttocks. Using your upper body to do most of the work will work your biceps, triceps, pectorals and latissimus dorsi. You will use your core muscles during both types of workouts. Use more resistance to tone or build muscle, and decrease resistance to promote muscular endurance through longer workouts.
Avoiding Injury
Training on an indoor rower is non-impact, but the repetitive movements can create muscle, tendon, ligament and joint stress. Learn the correct technique for operating the machine you use so you can avoid lower back, knee, spine and forearm pain. Take a break from using the machine if you feel pain or develop problems that stay with you after the exercise.
Warm Up And Cool Down
Start slowly on a rower for the first five minutes of your workout to allow your body to coordinate different functions, such as heart rate, breathing, blood flow and muscle flexibility. Finish each training session with a five-minute cooldown to lower your heart rate and prevent muscle pain later. Stretch after each workout to decrease the onset of muscle stiffness and soreness, and promote increased flexibility.
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