Were you aware that rowing is one of the most effective ways to develop aerobic fitness? It not only allows people to enhance their cardiovascular system, but as an added benefit, it places a degree of anaerobic stress on your muscular system.
A rowing machine, unlike other equipment such as bikes, ellipticals, and stair climbers, exercises the upper body in addition to the lower body.
A typical rowing stroke is 65-75% leg work and 25-35% upper body power.
When searching for the ideal rowing machine, you are presented with many options.
There are four different types of indoor rowers: flywheel rowers, piston or cylinder based rowing machines, water rowers, and, magnetic resistance indoor rowers.
A hydraulic rowing ERG may be the best bet if there is not ample space, or if you are on a limited budget.
These machines receive their tension from the amount of fluid and air that's compressed with piston, and usually allow for easy adjustment to the tension.
Although they are low-cost, they differ substantially from air, magnetic and water rowers because the rowing technique doesn't allow you to pull in a rectilinear fashion.
So you will not be executing a proper rowing stroke.
A rowing ERG based on a flywheel or air offers a similar feel to actual outdoors rowing.
Its tension is based on the resistance of the flywheel or fan blades.
Increasing the resistance is usually very simple with these models.
In addition, they have the benefit of a non-linear response to stress.
So the harder you pull, the harder it gets.
Which rowing ERG you choose depends on factors such as price, the amount of space you have, and how natural you want the rowing motion to be.
For professional rowers, there is basically only one choice, and that is the WaterRower.
Its natural-inspired motion is the closest to the real thing.