Water Rower -- Just Like a Cruise Down the River Without Getting Wet

I used to row competitively in my youth, but since then, my rowing exercise had been limited to occasional workouts on an aging hydraulic machine.

I had no idea how much technology had advanced in this area, until I was offered a trial of a new WaterRower exercise machine.

The first obvious difference that I noticed was the use of a flywheel which used paddles to connect to a moving mass of water. Just like rowing on water, the connection was fluid, with none of the jerkiness and jarring typical of other rowing machines.

The WaterRower’s flywheel has been designed to emulate the dynamics of a boat moving through water. When rowing, the workout is generated by overcoming the effect of drag as the boat moves through the water… So with the Water Flywheel the workout is generated by overcoming the effect of drag as the water moves past the tank.

Many rowing machines imitate the action of rowing, but they do so mechanically and often lack the natural dynamics experienced when a boat and crew glide down a river. When a crew row down a river they work to overcome the effect of drag which acts against the hull of the boat. The faster the boat is propelled the greater the drag and the harder the crew must work.

The flywheel reproduces these same natural dynamics.

Like other naturally performed aerobic pursuits such as swimming, running and cycling, to increase your intensity you don’t increase resistance, you simply swim, run, cycle or row harder. The faster you go the higher your intensity.

When each crew member on a boat pulls a stroke, he or she works to accelerate the mass of the boat and crew. The effort is applied evenly throughout the whole stroke, utilizing the muscles of the legs, torso and upper body in unison, exercising the whole body uniformly.

Similarly, the rowers flywheel responds to the work applied, allowing constant effort through the whole stroke. This is unlike resistance based machines where effort is high at the beginning of the stroke and fades as the resistance is overcome.

My old hydraulic rower replicates the rowing action mechanically. This harsh action (as most rowing machine users will be aware) creates a mechanical fatigue, generating soreness and aching which are not experienced when actually rowing on water. The WaterRower replicates the action naturally, and hence is free from this mechanical fatigue.

This makes the exercise as pleasant as a row down the river. When rowing, an oarsperson works to overcome the effect of drag acting on the boat. The faster the boat moves, the more drag is created the harder the oarsperson must work to maintain that speed. The limit to how much work can be done is the oarsperson, their physiology, their ability to do work. The WaterRower’s flywheel replicates this self paced dynamic.

Ask most fitness equipment users to work harder and they will immediately reach for the knob or button designed to increase resistance. Naturally performed aerobic exercises such as rowing, swimming, running and cycling dont have knobs to turn or a buttons to push, so how do you work harder?

In naturally performed aerobic exercises you increase or decrease your exercise intensity simply by going faster or slower. You do not increase an imposed resistance on yourself, you simply choose the intensity at which you wish to exercise and go at a speed which relates to that intensity.

The equipment seemed to exercise all muscles evenly, and even a brief workout should burn calories and tone your body whether you are young or old, fit or unfit, ( like me!)

Just like a cruise down the river and I did not even get wet!

Tony Wilton writes regularly on health and fitness issues at his site http://www.fitness-health-beauty.com

Work Out Properly on Rowing Machines

When you are working out on rowing machines or any other type of exercise equipment its possible to hurt yourself. As you travel the road to fitness you will find that you experience many aches and pains. The best way to avoid this is to work out properly.

Before you begin workout you must begin the warm-up and cool-down exercises that go with it. To warm up do some simple stretches or yoga. This will stretch out the muscles and limit your risks of sprain. In a cool-down routine you would do a similar set of stretches after your workout to ease your muscles and help to prevent cramps.

If you are injured on rowing machines limit the activity which initially caused your injury. If this was working out for too long or setting the tension too high reduce the one or other, or both. Though try to get back to exercising as soon as you can because exercise has actually been shown to speed up the healing process.

When you get a cramp from using rowing machines, you can try to get up and slowly walk around to ease the cramping. Sometimes you can stretch the cramp out until the muscle stops seasoning.

You can use alternating hot and cold on the injury to keep it from swelling up and hurting. Ice will slow down blood flow initially and keep it from swelling. A hot pack will seep in and ease the pain, relaxing muscles. Be sure to alternate every five to ten minutes.

Lastly for cramping, muscle pain and pinched nerves you can gently massage the area to ease away pain. This also helps to work out any kinks that may have occurred during your exercise routine. Be sure to check out some rowing machine reviews to see what others suggest to help prevent minor and major injuries.

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