Rowing for Weight Loss: Burn Fat & Protect Your Joints

There is absolutely no doubt that cardio is good for you, whether you’re trying to lose weight, just want to be more healthy, or want to be able to live longer. The incredible thing about cardio is that it can come in many different forms. If asked to give an example of cardio exercise, without knowing the actual statistics, I can confidently say that most respondents are going to say “running”.

Rowing for Weight Loss

While running is great and can be done just by stepping out your front door, some of you might not be fans and may be afraid that it’s going to cost you your muscle gains. Since running can be a moderately high-impact exercise, it can be what may hurt prospective muscle growth. That said, one of the most underrated exercises that I’m particularly fond of is rowing, which is also the sport that I competed in while attending at UC-Santa Barbara.

Low Impact

When you get to be my age, you start getting affected by joint discomfort in the knees, ankles, and hips, and, specifically for me and others who spend a lot of time standing up, foot pain is for real, in which one or all of these issues can detract from wanting to run. For many, the harsh landing with each step reverberates from the base of the foot to the lower back; as for rowing, when applying good technique, that reverberation does not exist, thus saving you from such discomfort.

When it comes to rowing, it doesn’t matter if you’re doing an all-out Tabata workout or a long, steady-state workout, you’re not pounding the feet as you would when running. Also, rowing is a series of smooth, controlled movements that when combined will create a fluid motion.

One of the ways that running can hurt hypertrophy is the eccentric load on the muscles for each foot strike. In English, I’m talking about the force taking place when each foot lands that your leg muscles have to overcome. Typically, when running, the force can be 2-3 times your body weight, so leg muscles have to work extra hard to prevent you from collapsing. On the contrary, rowing is mostly concentric-focused, meaning that the main challenge comes when pushing off, and since the resistance increases when you row harder, that can be a great supplement to help with building up your legs by doing short, yet intense, sprint intervals.

Great for the Core

Most people only think about the six-pack when asked to describe the core, but you have to remember that the core is all 360 degrees of your trunk. In other words, the core is not just the rectus abdominis (the six-pack), but also the lower back, obliques, and even the glutes. Since you have to maintain a good posture to row correctly and reduce the risk of injuring your back, this means you have to fully activate your core muscles to disallow the back from bending against the rowing machine’s resistance.

If you’re someone that works in an office, chances are that you’ve caught yourself slouching when working on the computer (there’s no shame about this since I’ve been guilty about the same thing). Since rowing encourages maintaining good posture, even when encountering resistance from the machine, this further strengthens core muscles that are prone to fatigue and the most common reason why people slouch when sitting.

Do you know that one of the most important tasks of the core is to function as a spinal stabilizer? When rowing, your posture should be nice and tall to prevent potential back injuries. As you’re rowing, there’s resistance coming from the chain, which means that for you to be able to maintain the tall posture, you must activate core muscles, particularly those lining your spine. Similar to the deadlift, if you allow your back to bend then straighten out throughout the movement, over time, this could lead to a herniated disc.

Physical and Psychological Benefits

You probably never thought that rowing can be one of the best forms of stress relief that you can do. While a lot of people, including gym bros and gym girlies, like to hammer cardio workouts as ineffective and potentially deleterious to your muscle gains, they fail to inform you that cardio is proven to improve sleep quality and release endorphins (aka nature’s mood booster). You can get these benefits from simple steady state rows at an easy pace, as well as more high intensity rowing workouts like fartleks, a 2K or 6k time trial, and the infamous Dirty Dozen (that’s twelve 500m full speed sprints with one minute rest between each round).

Do you ever find it difficult to stay focused or push through challenging tasks? Back when I was on the high school baseball team, my coach called this “mental toughness” or you can just call it “mental endurance”. In most situations, you’re actually able to do much more than you think you can do, but when in discomfort, either physically or psychologically, gets to a certain level, you start thinking that you should stop. For example, if you were to row at a full sprint for 10 seconds, most of you would feel perfectly fine, but should the sprint be extended to 30-60 seconds, some of you may start to reduce the power of each stroke, not because your muscles are fatigued, but that your legs are really burning and the only way to reduce the burn is to power down (aka give up). With consistent rowing that gradually increases intensity demands, not only will longer sprints be more doable, but many will feel empowered as they see their endurance improve and being able to be more comfortable with being uncomfortable — this is mental toughness.

As you get older, especially when you no longer participate competitively in sports that require speed and explosiveness, trying to get back to playing at high levels after age 40 can be risky. Since rowing is a low-impact sport, you will actually find people in their 50s, 60s, and 70s and beyond able to learn the sport and safely build muscular strength and power. In fact, studies have revealed that rowing works approximately 85% of the body’s muscles, especially in the legs, back, core, arms, and shoulders.

Conclusion

Back when I started attending at UC-Santa Barbara, Mr. Daniel Lee came up to me and suggested that I join the rowing team because as someone who is 6’5”, my height would serve as an advantage and allow me to excel in the sport. Thanks to Mr. Lee, I had the privilege of meeting Coach Jeff Laird who taught me to not only improve in my technique, but to appreciate my time on the water, the camaraderie with my teammates, and how anyone from age 9 to 99 could partake in rowing. Now that I live in landlocked El Paso, Texas, the Concept2 rowing machine serves as a fair substitute to rowing on Cachuma Lake in Santa Barbara or the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, but even though I’m no longer able to take in the majestic view of those spots, I can still enjoy the physical and mental benefits of this amazing sport of rowing. If you’re completely new, shoot me a message because it would be my honor and privilege to introduce you to my personal favorite form of cardio.