The Rowing Machine Ultimate Buyer’s Guide - Choosing the Perfect One
The Ultimate Guide to Rowing Machines
Are you considering investing in a treadmill for your home gym? With so many options available, it can be overwhelming to choose the right one. In this blog, we'll provide some valuable insights and tips to help you make an informed decision when buying a treadmill. Whether you're an experienced runner or just starting on your fitness journey, a treadmill can be a convenient and effective tool to help you reach your fitness goals from the comfort of your own home. So, let's dive in and explore what to look for when purchasing a treadmill.
#1 Ensure you have the enough space
It’s a smart move to check first if you have the place for that machine! Sometimes it can be deceiving. What’s the point of spending time researching on the web when, after purchasing, you realize you don’t have enough room to store it?
To avoid this situation from happening, you should figure out your exercise space before purchasing your equipment. A typical indoor rowing machine has a similar size to a small sofa. Use this as a reference when figuring out the available space in your household that you plan on using.
Different machine type also tend to take up more or less room Water and Air operated machines can be bigger than their piston or belt type machines.
#2 – Stick to Your Budget well try to.
When it comes to your budget it can be hard to stick to one, there are dozens of different indoor rowing machine that offer a variety of features and range in price from under $200 to over $5,000.
Hence before you figure out what rowers will work best in your home, you need to figure out how much you have to spend.
It's important to keep in mind when establishing a budget that, while you may find a model with the "latest and greatest technology", it typically isn't always necessary to buy the most high-end version of something. Often times this comes back to bite you in the behind later because having less comparable technology is just fine and you can then spend the money saved on other items for your home gym.
Generally speaking Low End Rowing machines will be sub $300 with par $800 being the high end, even at the low end you can find great features and added extra's so be sure to decide on what you will be using it for and for how much - If you have a large household or plan on using it every day it might be worthwhile spending a bit more and getting on towards the commercial end of the scale, this will ensure you get the best longevity and reliability from your machine.
Things to consider when choosing your rowing machine are
- How much use will it get a week
- How big is it - Do you have the space
- What optional extra's do you need it to have - Heart monitors etc
- Does it need to fold for easy storage
- Is it adjustable or a good fit for your size or height
- Does it have an adequate maximum weight
#3 Your use of your Rowing Machine
So we talked about this a little bit before but lets look into it a little more
Do you need a commercial or residential Rowing Machine?
Quality rowing machines are a popular choice for rowers of all skill levels and most rowing machines will generally be ok in a Home Gym Environment. However some of these indoor rowing machine are more suited for use in commercial facilities such as gyms, health clubs, and boathouses than others. That being said a commercial rowing machine will generally outlast a residential one and often be made of better technology such as hydraulic rowers.
A good consideration to use here is the number of people who will be using the rower, if you have a large family that will use the rower on a regular basis or if the indoor rowing machine is in a local club or gym then a commercial machine will be the way to go.
Are you looking for a perfect rowing simulation?
If your used to rowing on water or are a competitive rower a rowing machine that best simulates being on the water will be one worthwhile investing in. This can help you maintain a better fitness routine and technique for out of season times when the rivers can be too cold or rough to utilise.
How many people are going to use the rower?
So we have talked about this before but If you’re not going to be the lone operator of this contraption, you need to make sure that everyone who is going to use it will do so without creating a nuisance for others.
Hence we would recommend looking for a model with varying strength levels so as not to irritate or make it difficult for those around you.
Also note that rowing machines are different in their strength and each one has a different weight capacity and height requirement. Make sure you choose a rower that will incorporate people of various weights and fit in with the space available.
#4 Choose you Prefered Resistance Type
Rowing machines often have air resistance, hydraulic-piston, magnetic, or water based resistance. Or some of them are made to include all of these kinds by way of air/magnetic combination systems.
Each of the different types of resistance a rower machine offers has its own set of characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages.
To give you basic understanding of what each kind of resistance does while rowing let's have a look at them below.
- Water operated machines are the most realistic simulation to actually rowing on water, they are best suited to rowers who want to continue their training out of season purchaps when the weather is to bad to get out on the water.
Water rowers tend to also create quite a bit of noise, although it does make it sounds like you on the water, they also tend to be the most expensive.
Air operated rowers, operate by having to force air through restrictions, they give a good approximation to actually rowing on water as they still operate unders pushing a fluid (air) through a restriction. However don't expect this to be as realistic as a water operated one, for instance water will require a higher initial torque at the start of the stroke than air.
- Magnetic operated rowing machines are a good choice if you want a more compact and lighter machine taking up less room. Magnetic rowers give you a semi realistic feeling, but you won't get as a realistic feeling as water or air.
Magnetic rowers tend to be the quietest of all the rowers, they are also very smooth as they rely purely on magnetic resistance and hence have no wearing parts in the resistance part of the machine so they tend to be virtually no maintenance which makes them a great choice for a very reliable machine.
The downside to magnetic rowers is that they don't increase the effort required with increased intensity or speed of rowing, they maintain a strong resistance even at lower speeds hence they give a less realistic feeling.
- Hydraulic piston rowing machines tend to be the cheapest but can offer a good low cost machine for a rowing exercise, they tend to be compact, easy to store, quite and are easily adjustable to different resistance levels.
- Hybrid rower equipment a popular option can often be Air and Magnetic combination machines, they essentially give you more control over your adjustment levels, plus the fan on the air side can help keep you cool during those hot rowing sessions.
#5 Buy from a Reputable Business
At this point in the buying process, you are probably deciding whether to go with a particular rowing machine based on price and performance. You might have a general idea the different resistance type i.e. air or water, and which one you are after.
It's important at this stage to buy from a company you can trust who specialise in trusted brands. at The Home Fitness Store we provide you with a range of some of the best rowers that cover all budgets, we also provide you with brands who specialise in building commercial gym setups to give you the best your money can buy. Check out our rowers by clicking here
as a general rule when buying your rowing machine its good to consider all of the below point
- Is the rower made from good quality materials and designed to last?
- Does it have all your extra's you require like a heart rate monitor - at the minimum does it have a performance monitor – Does is display workout data and other special features?
- How comfortable is the seat and machine to use?
- Are you comfortable with the noise levels - are you sharing your house for instance?
- How many users will utilize it and will a commercial rower suit you better
- How compact is the machine and what are the storage capabilities in your house?
This is just a few consideration to take into account. Why not see our partners store for a huge range of rowers that deliver to your home by clicking here
What workout benefits does having a rowing machine bring
Are you looking for a full-body workout that is low impact and can be done indoors? Look no further than the indoor rowing machine!
Using proper rowing machine technique and a rowing stroke that engages your legs, core, and upper body, rowing machine workouts provide a great cardiovascular workout that can help you build strength and endurance.
To get the most out of your rowing workout, start with a warm-up and focus on maintaining proper rowing machine technique by using proper rowing form and using the whole rowing stroke throughout your workout. This includes keeping your core engaged, driving with your legs, and finishing with a strong pull of the arms.
There are many different rowing machine workouts to choose from during you rowing training, including intervals, endurance workouts, and even rowing races. You can also vary the intensity by adjusting the resistance on the machine or by incorporating sprints into your workout.
One of the benefits of using a rowing machine is that it provides a full-body workout throughout the rowing session without putting as much stress on your joints as other forms of exercise, such as running or jumping. Plus, it can be done indoors, making it a great option for those who prefer to exercise at home, it can even be used for hiit workouts.
In conclusion, if you're looking for a challenging, full-body workout that is low impact and can be done indoors, consider giving the rowing machine a try. Focus on maintaining proper rowing machine technique and mix up your workouts to keep things interesting and challenging.
To Sum up our Rowing Machine Buyer’s Guide
Ultimately the description on what rower to buy comes down to your needs, budget and available space. Many people choose to include a rowing machine in their household due to the range of muscle it engages and great cardio benefits.
The rowing machine really is a versatile piece of fitness equipment
They work the following muscle groups areas
- Triceps Workouts
- Upper legs - Hamstring, Glutes, Calves
- Neck muscles
- Hands
- Chest
They also
- Provide low impact exercise
- Core strength training
- Burn Fat
- Improve cardiovascular fitness
- Tone and Improve muscle strength
- Great afterburn effects
Essentially they can work almost every major skeletal muscle region in your body, they also bring incredible cardio effects whilst improving your core strength and because they include Cardio and Muscle Training together they provide great afterburn effects where your body will continue to burn fat for upto an hour after the exercise.
You can why the rowing machine is such an essential piece of equipment for your home or commercial gym. At the Home Fitness Store we offer a large range of home gym and commercial fitness equipment for sale at competitive prices so why not check out our range of Rowing machines, such as our competitive range of the best rowing machines for under $500 like the bluefin rowing machine and the lanos hydraulic rowing machine