Using A Rowing Machine Info
In this article I want to quickly outline how to use an indoor rower effectively whilst ensuring that you don’t injure yourself. You see, many people just think that they can jump on and start using it, but if you do this and use it incorrectly you can end up sustaining damage to your back and other body parts.
Safety Checks
If you use rowing machines properly and you’ll have fun immediately. It is possible thought to get hurt if you don’t use them right.
The first thing to check is to make sure that the rollers are covered and out of the way. If they are not then I don’t recommend using the machine as you can easily get your shirt caught up in the rollers and it can literally be torn off your back!
Make sure that there are solid footpads which are easy to grip. These are to help balance and support you so they really are critical if you wish to get a good workout.
Another place to check are the straps which should also be fully checked over every 30 days to make certain that they aren’t worn out and ready to snap on you.
On your own safety, observe the specified maximum weight your rowing machine can be loaded with.
Monitoring Your own Workouts
With almost every rower there is an on-board computer which can help you keep track of some of the key metrics of your exercise.
If you want to use this computer whilst working out (and you do) then make sure that it’s in a good position so that you can clearly see the readouts as your exercising.
Most rowers will just have basic readouts but the”re still important. Just about the most basic but very important ones is of course how long you have been on the machine for. This is great for setting targets and milestones.
As you begin to look at more expensive rowers, like the ones at big gyms, you’ll find a range of different features and programs and more data than you could hope to use. Some of the more important ones are the calorie readouts, heart rate monitors and energy burnt.
Before you start training you can feed all important data to your com-puter. You can enter the time you need to row, the strokes (number and frequency), the desired energy consumption and your pulse range (optimum, automatic target, ceiling).
With this information you can build up enough stats on yourself to set goals and push yourself as far as you like. This is one of the best ways to motivate yourself to get results. You can also plug the information into an actual pc where you’ll be able to get even more data, but in my opinion unless your a professional athlete it all gets a bit over the top at that point.
Now that you have read and understood the basic workings and safety checks for rowing machines, you should easily be able to get a fantastic workout out of them and really enjoy yourself.
Check out our rowing maching blog.
