When The Proclaimers sang about walking 500 miles, it sounded like quite a difficult feat; my challenge of rowing a mile every day for two weeks, however, seemed a bit more achievable.
Why a mile every day? Well why not? Rowing (on the machine) has been praised for its many body benefits: not only is it a great way to work on your cardiovascular fitness, it engages multiple muscles and, well, you can sit while you work out! What could not be loved?
Rowing is an excellent exercise for the whole body. Each stroke activates the muscles in your lower body, as well as your core, upper body, and back muscles. Essentially, you drive with your legs and use the muscles in your arms and back to pull the handle toward your torso. Also, rowing, like most exercises, is good for the mind thanks to the release of feel-good endorphins in the brain.
My gym has multiple rowers, but my usual choice is the Concept 2 rower. The units on the Concept 2 are set to meters, but a quick Google turned a mile into 1600 meters, so for two weeks, I set out to row 1600 meters every day. Read on to find out what happened.
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I worked my glutes, hard
At first glance, rowing seems like an upper-body workout, but after half a mile the first day, I realized how wrong I had been. I could feel my glutes firing up, and as I focused on my form, I could feel myself working my lower body as I stepped away from the footrests.
i got faster
Before this challenge, I was fairly new to rowing, so paddling a mile every day felt strange at first as I wasn’t used to the movement. After a few of my daily miles, I got into the swing of things and, in fact, by the end of my two weeks, I was much faster, hitting my mile in a casual time of 6 minutes and 40 seconds.
Rowing is a great way to get fit, plus if you’re looking to lose weight, research (opens in a new tab)has found that when incorporated into a training plan, over a six-week period, participants’ total body fat percentage dropped by a significant amount.
it was low impact
Unlike my usual mix of resistance training, Crossfit-style workouts, and running, rowing is a lovely, low-impact exercise that doesn’t hit the joints. Mainly, this is because you are sitting in the rowing seat. In fact, I will definitely be using the rower on my active recovery days in the future. Research (opens in a new tab) has shown that rowing is a suitable exercise for older people thanks to its low-impact capabilities, and that rowing can also prevent sarcopenia; loss of muscle mass and strength.
After two weeks of daily rows, I noticed that there was no pain and my body was not crying out for a good stretch. Although, this could have been very different if I had rowed longer.
It helped me improve my posture.
When you are paddling, your form is important. As a personal trainer, I often see people in the gym pulling the rower handle up to their knees, instead of up to their ribs, or pulling the handle toward their body before pushing back with their legs.
Do you want to learn the correct way to row? There are four parts to every stroke on the rowing machine: the catch, the drive, the finish, and the recovery. The drive is really the main part of the work, where as you lean forward from the hips, hands gripping the handle, you push back with your legs before pulling the handle just below your ribs. Then, extend your arms before bending your knees and slide the seat back to the starting position. When done correctly, rowing can help with posture, and it really forced me to engage my core and back.
i felt strong
The biggest surprise for me was how strong I felt every morning after my time on the rowing. There is something about the full body workout that left me feeling ready to take on anything. In addition to being important for physical strength, for me, exercise has a lot to do with taking care of my mental health. A to study (opens in a new tab)I found that strength training can lead to a more positive body image, and I definitely left the gym pumped after my rowing sessions.
I rowed a mile every day for two weeks: here’s what I learned
Two weeks later, I think I found my new favorite gym machine. Rowing every day for a fortnight was a great addition to my marathon training as it really helped me break a sweat, without putting any extra stress on my poor battered knees.
Will I keep rowing? The answer is a definite yes. All hail the rowing machine; This piece of equipment should be part of everyone’s exercise repertoire.
Inspired? Here’s more about how to lose weight using a rowing machineand the The best rowing machine workouts. attempt.
