|
By David Van Horn, HealthAtoZ contributing writer
At 270 pounds and never having exercised a day in her life, Kathi Strichman decided to try indoor rowing at a gym. A year later, she was 100 pounds lighter and happy living a "healthy, very rewarding lifestyle." She is profiled on the Web site of Concept 2, a maker of ergometers for 20 years in Vermont.
Indoor rowing on a machine (called an ergometer) is a low-impact exercise that's easy on the joints and relatively simple for people of all ages to learn. As an aerobic exercise, rowing gives you an outlet to relieve stress, reduce your blood pressure and lose weight. By working your biceps, upper and lower back muscles and quadriceps, hamstrings and gluteals, indoor rowing also provides the kind of variety that's hard to find on other aerobic exercise machines.
Try a gradual introduction
Ergometers simulate the action of outdoor rowing and are designed with a large wheel at one end, a sliding seat and a handle connected to a chain. Before you start, it's important to adequately warm up your joints and muscles, learn fundamentally sound form and posture and stick to appropriate training times to help avoid injuries.
As a novice, don't be discouraged if the ergometer is harder than you thought. Rowing can be highly strenuous, so start with a five- to-10-minute workout and then see how your muscles feel the following day before increasing your training time, Cotton says.
You should progress gradually. You can be in great shape and feel like a beginner on a rowing machine because your body isn't used to such activity.
Advocates say the value of indoor rowing is its simplicity - anyone of any age or experience can do it. The U.S. men's national rowing team uses ergometers during the winter, doing 2,000-meter tests (the equivalent of the 40-yard dash in football) and 6,000-meter endurance runs, says U.S. men's coach and former Olympic rower Mike Teti.
Ergometers aren't only for athletes. Many fitness centers include ergometers among their aerobic machines, and cardiac rehabilitation patients do rowing exercises while recovering from surgery or a heart attack, said Robert Brody, indoor race coordinator for Concept 2.
It's a worldwide happening
Two thousand years ago, the Greeks discovered rowing with oars was better and faster than paddling. Rowing was used mainly for transporting warships and cargo boats. In the 1800s racing became popular in England and the United States in a small number of high schools, colleges and clubs.
Indoor rowing has become a highly competitive worldwide sport. Exercise gyms and rowing clubs hold "regattas" in a wide variety of categories for men and women. The best in the world meet annually in Boston for the world indoor rowing championship, which is known in racing circles by its tongue-in-cheek title - C.R.A.S.H.-B (Charles River All-Star Has Beens).
"It started as a joke, then it just blossomed, and now it's just huge," says Teti of the world event.
You can e-mail Concept 2 at: rowing@concept2.com to get a free technique video on learning how to row.
|
Related Articles
|
|
External Sources
 |
U.S. Rowing
|
|
American Council on Exercise
|
|
Concept 2
|
|
This article was reviewed and updated June 2007.
Return to the previous page
|
