Can rowing machines build muscle?
“All show and no go”.
That’s what my friend said to me after an easy (for her) run. She barely broke a sweat while it felt like I was sucking oxygen through a pipe.
It was humbling and a wake up call.
All these years in the gym but I’ve neglected the most important muscle - the heart!
With tail between my legs I was motivated to find something that could maintain muscle mass but still train the cardiovascular system.
Running was great (and still part of my routine) but this didn’t help build muscle. I then looked at the physiques of other endurance athletes: swimmers and rowers stood out.
I gave swimming a go but it wasn’t accessible (my gym didn’t have swimming pool so it required a membership to another club).
Then the rowing machine (a staple in any gym) came calling. Such an awesome piece of equipment.
Simple to use, easily accessible and the answer to my cardiovascular problems.
The indoor rower is a full body workout:
Arms and lats engaged on the catch phase;
Legs, glutes, core engaged on the drive phase; and
Back and biceps engaged on the finish.
So can rowing machines build muscle?
Yes. They provide a full body workout whilst also working your cardio.
Is it an effective muscle builder?
Well…if you could only choose one thing and one thing only to build muscle and cardio then probably.
But we don’t live in a world where you have to make that choice!
You can supplement weight training with 10–15 minutes on the rower (I finish leg day with a 10 minute row: 1 min warm up 2 min ON 1 min OFF x3).
