15 Minute Rowing Workout

15 Minute Rowing Workout allows you to build your Aerobic base keeping your heart rate in the 75 % range and allows you to burn a higher percentage of fat.  Plus it is one kick ass workout.

52 Tips for Health and Fitness Success #12; Rowing Workout with A Healthy Life For Me.

I have been noticing a lot of fitness publications putting out rowing workouts.  So for Week #12 of my 52 Weeks of Health and Fitness Tips; Rowing Workout I asked my son who is a collegiate rower to write up a quick and simple workout for all of us to use on the rowing machine.

Why try out the rowing/erg machine? You’ll burn up to 50 percent more calories while strengthening nearly all the muscles from your shoulders to your calves.  You especially work your leg and back muscles, and with summer around the corner, those are areas of our bodies we all would like to see a little stronger and firmer.

How to Row Properly:

The best way to pick up the proper technique for rowing is to break down the stroke into the different body parts movements.  The first body movement to master is the arms.  Keep the body in a stable position and pull the arms gently from an extended position to them lightly brushing the lower ribs.

The next part of the stroke to focus on is the body pivot.  While the arms are fully extended pivot the body at the hips forward to a position where the spin is flat, not curved, to a position where a slight pull is on the lower back.  From a body position of 11 o’clock to 1 o’clock.  Then to engage in the next pull start with the pivot of the body back from 1 o’clock to 11 o’clock before you pull your arms in. It is key to making sure you pivot the hips of the stroke before you engage the arms.

Once you feel confident with the body pivot, you can incorporate the legs.  While the body is at the 1 o’clock position and the arms are extended your hands should be past your knees.  While in that position unhinge the knees and let the body float forward holding the flat spin in the 1 o’clock position until your knees come to a 90 degree angle to the floor.  Do not go fast 90 degrees, this will lead to knee issues and a serious degrees in power.  Once in this new position with you knees at 90 degrees engage the legs first, then the back and finally end the stroke with the arms.  The key to erging is using you legs.  Your legs are the most powerful part of your body.  If you try to use your arms or back before the legs you will feel a quick fatigue level that could easily be avoided.

This is a great video to show you how to break down the rowing stroke step by step with a little description below.http://www.concept2.com/indoor-rowers/training/technique-videos.

How to Use the Rowing/Erg Machine:

A standard screen on a rowing/erg machine looks like below and should pop up once you start rowing.  This is the screen you will want to use for the workout below.  If you start rowing and the that shows up is not the one below, press the most upper right button.  Here are what those numbers represent.

• The box in the top left is your time spent or your time remaining of your workout.
• The top left box is your strokes per minute.
• As a beginner, you should not exceed a stroke rate of about 28.
• Then the big number with the /500m by it is your split that you are currently pulling.  It is measured in how long it would take you to pull 500 meters.
• The last important number to look at is the one below that box tells you how many meters you have pulled in your current workout

 The Workout:

This 15-minute total body rowing workout allows you to build your Aerobic base keeping your heart rate in the 75 % range and allows you to burn a higher percentage of fat.  For me, that heart rate zone is between 135 and 155.  The longer my heart rate stays in this zone the higher my fat burn percentage during an individual workout.  Add in that this workout uses over 10 muscle groups you are in for an all over body blasting workout.

I need to stand up and stretch during the rest period.  I would recommend doing this for beginners, like me.  If you want to really work those legs do lunges during the rest period, this still allows the much-needed stretch of your muscles while continuing to work.