Rowing Machine Exercises for Beginners

Video Transcript

"We’re going to talk a little bit about for people who are just starting out on the rowing machine. The biggest thing, if you’re just starting out or you’ve only been on it maybe a handful of times, is to go really slow. You want to learn to love the machine. When you first get on to the rowing machine, you can go through all the setup of making sure your feet are at the proper height, the damper is at the correct setting, the monitor is working. When you first get on the machine to start rowing, just go for a very short period of time. As with anything, start slow and build. You’re going to start maybe with about 3-5 minutes of actual rowing, and then take about 5 minutes off. Maybe stretch a little bit, maybe do a different exercise, and then come back, if you’re feeling good, to that machine. Try again. If your body is feeling good, you can continue that. Repeat that maybe 2-5 times, but go really slow. Just do small portions. The next time you get onto the machine, you might want to increase the amount of the time that you’re on the machine for just by a little bit. Instead of 4 minutes, maybe do 7 minutes, and do that 3 times if you’re body is feeling okay. The most important thing is to really listen to your body, and to know if you’re feeling a little wiggly something somewhere, it’s probably a good indication that you should slow down or not try that exercise again. We’re going to go over again the rowing stroke, just very briefly. Have a look at how I’m taking the stroke. I’m going to talk you through it just a little bit. Strap your feel in, grab the handle, your seat is underneath your shoulders, your stomach is nice and tight, your arms are straight; you’re at the catch position. You’re going to press with your legs, keeping the arms straight as you go through the drive. Come to the finish, arms out straight, knees pop up in between the arms and the handle. Have a listen to the wheel of the rowing machine. You want it to sound something like that where you can hear the power phase and then there’s a break as you come up to recovery. A lot of people in the gym end up zipping back and forth really quickly. It’s not really doing much, except for getting your heart rate up. It’s not very effective rowing, so think about getting that whish from the wheel and then recovering as you come back up to the catch. Listen again. Rowing is a pretty neat sport, because when it’s done really well, it looks effortless. The trick is always coming up to recovery nice and relaxed."