(Newswire.net — August 1, 2021) –Once considered to be nothing more than an old relic of an exercise past that had long ago left it behind, the rowing machine has now regained the popularity it once had and also is undergoing a rise in status that it never had. This is because of its truly amazing full-body workout advantages. You don’t need the best rowing machine on the market to be successful, although there are some differences between them, even an average machine is capable of giving you the fitness experience you need. So let’s discuss how to use a rowing machine properly for a full-body workout:
1. Don’t Hunch Your Back
Big mistake here because then you are allowing your shoulders to do all the hard work. You need to start out by using perfect posture. Push your shoulders all the way back to expand your chest area, and also downward to ease any tension that there may be in your neck. Use your core muscles to keep your back straight and take deep breaths.
2. Don’t Raise Your Arms Too High
You don’t need to pull the oar up to your chin. This is a very bad form, and it also causes you to use more energy than you need to. The way to fix this issue is to only bring the oar up to just below chest level. Enlist the aid of your upper-back muscles in pulling the oar inward toward your chest. Once you have completed a row, your elbow should be bent at an angle that is over 90 degrees, and your forearms need to be level with your ribs.
3. Don’t Allow Your Knees to Fall to the Side
If you do this, even the best rowing machine can’t help you because you are effectively giving up on certain muscles. By allowing this to happen, you are failing to use your inner thigh muscles or your hip flexors. This is an important part of a rowing workout.
Finish up each pulls with your inner thighs straining to keep your knees close together, as you push out and then slide in.
4. Don’t Hold the Oar Too Tightly
There’s no reason to put your hands around the oar in a death grip. This will only cause extra tension in your forearms. Many people do this without even realizing that they are.
The answer is to hold the oar using only 3 fingers. Problem solved. Now don’t worry. This isn’t as difficult as you might think. In fact, it’s relatively simple, it’s just a matter of getting used to it.
Be sure to set your hands on the outside of the oar and not the center as instinct tells you to do. Keep your little fingers off the oar and rest your thumbs on top. It is not necessary to wrap them around. Then concentrate on gripping the oar with the middle and ring fingers of each hand.
As time goes by you will remember that when you pull back you need to use your upper back, not your shoulders and biceps. This will remove the stress from your hands. Forgetting to do this is why people often go home with aching hands after their first rowing experience.
5. No Scooping Motion
Yet one more common mistake that people make when using a rowing machine for the first time is they make a scooping motion while rowing. If you bend your knees without waiting until your arms are completely extended on the return, you will be forced to make this motion so that you don’t hit your legs with the oar. Now, this can indeed break your rhythm, so you do want to avoid doing it, but that isn’t the way
Conclusion
When exercising there is probably nothing that’s more important than finding a way to achieve a full-body workout. If you can do this, then you’ve already won half the battle when it comes to maintaining your exercise routine. Using a rowing machine correctly will give you a fantastic full-body workout, however, if you fail to do it appropriately, like with anything else, you will fail. It’s essential that you know the basic rules of rowing and stick with them in order to accomplish the most for your body when rowing.