The Most Undervalued Piece of Equipment in the Gym

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The Most Undervalued Piece of Equipment in the Gym
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Are you sick of the same-old cardio machines at
the gym? Bored by the treadmill? Tired of the
elliptical? Can't stand to do another mile on the
stationary bike or another flight on the stair
climber? 
Well, then, it's time you head over to the indoor
rower. Yes, that rowerthe dusty piece of
equipment over in the corner of your health club
that doesn't get used very often. The one that
has a big handle and straps for your feetthat's
the one!
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The indoor rowing machine is awesome. It used to
be fairly popular back in the early health club
days but fell out of vogue when the newer and
fancier stair climbers, treadmills and
ellipticals came on the market. Now though,
with more people looking for a complete full-body
workout, indoor rowing is experiencing a
resurgence in popularity, no doubt thanks to the
popular Crossfit style of exercise that often
uses indoor rowers in their workouts. And it's
with good reason that rowing is becoming trendy
again
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9 Reasons to Try the Indoor Rower
1. Anyone can do it. Old, young, good knees or
bad knees, indoor rowing is a low-impact
exercise that is easy on the joints.
3. Strength and cardio in one. The reason why the
calorie burn is so high is because rowing
requires you to use both strength and cardio
endurance at once. 
2. Rowing burns big calories. Hop on the rower,
start moving, and burn some major calories. A
160-pound person will burn about 250 calories in
just 30 minutes of rowing, which is as much, if
not more than, what you would burn on the stair
climber or the elliptical.
4. Rowing uses your full body. When it comes to
indoor rowing, the question isn't which muscles
are used, but which muscles aren't used? From
your shoulders to your chest to your back and
biceps and triceps, your entire upper body is
used.
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5. Good for the mind, too! All kinds of exercise
have been shown to boost mood and decrease
anxiety, but rowing is particularly relaxing due
to its rhythmic nature. 
6. New option for cross-training. For runners and
endurance athletes, rowing is a fantastic option
for cross-training, yet it's usually one that's
forgotten. Many times people don't cross-train
(even though they know it's important!) because
they either get bored with activities or they
simply don't enjoy them. 
7. Its range of motion rocks. Rowing has a very
unique push-and-pull motion of both the upper and
lower body that you don't see in a lot of
stationary cardio machines. Not only that, but
this movement allows your muscles to work in a
full range of motion.
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8. You can track your progress. Just like
tracking your speed when running or logging how
many miles you walked, you can track your
distance, speed, calories burned and time on the
rower, too. As you get fitter and accustomed to
the rower, have fun with setting goals based on
how fast you can row a 5K or how far you can row
in a set amount of time.
9. It's fun! Did we mention that rowing is a good
time? Sure, you may not be outside on a lake
rowing the day away, but just rowing back and
forth on the sliding seat is kind of enjoyable.
And it's fun to focus on your form using your
legs to push off with power, pulling the handle
toward your core to generate more speed as you
lean back, and then controlling your body as you
bring the handle back up and toward the rower.
You can time your row speed to the beat of a
song, your breathing or just go "out for a row."
Photo Credit http//www.totaltrainer.com.au/
Source http//www.sparkpeople.com/resource/fitness
_articles.asp?id663