Whether you are looking to get ripped or lose weight, a rowing machine is going to give you a total body workout.
While both a rowing machine and an exercise bike will give you a good cardio workout, a rowing machine is going to work more muscles than a stationary bike.
Each person who considers which fitness machines might be right for their requirements needs to consider what exactly they are looking for. A rowing machine vs exercise bike might be a different argument for each person. Whether you want a good spin or a water-like rowing experience.
There is a lot to consider between an exercise bike and rowing. Both workout the lower body, but rowing is actually more of a low impact exercise that is better for your body and joints. A stationary bike is better than a treadmill but not as good as rowing when it comes down to getting both a lower body and upper body workout.
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What to Know about a Rowing Machine vs Exercise Bike
Both of these types of fitness machines are going to give you a low impact lower body workout, but one is clearly better than the other. A rowing machine is going to also work out your upper body, making it clearly better than an exercise bike or a stationary bike.
A rowing machine is a great way to do some non weight-bearing conditioning and burn a lot of calories per hour without hurting your knee since you are doing a low impact exercise.
Exercise machines like a stationary bike can give you great workouts, and you should prioritize that. Everybody needs to focus on both a lower body and upper body routine whether that comes from a stationary bike or a different type of exercise bike.
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For your Health
When you are thinking about all the different types of exercise you can do, what are your priorities? Consider a few things:
Do you need to lose weight?
If so, make sure you pair a good diet with an exercise like what you can get from a rowing machine that will work out your entire body.
Are you looking to tone muscle?
Rowing machines are the best way to tone all the muscles in your body, giving you a workout in both your upper and lower body.
In general, you will find that rowing machines are better for your overall health than any other type of gym equipment.
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Rowing Machine vs Exercise Bike: Which is Better?
There is a lot of information out there comparing the different types of exercise machines and which burn more calories than others. Whichever fitness machine you choose, you want to be able to keep track of calories burned per hour, which you can do on either stationary bikes or a rowing machine.
Both types of machines burn calories and help with muscle building. Your legs and thigh muscles will get a great workout and so will your back muscles. If you want to make sure your arms get a workout, then a rowing machine is what you want to add to your home gym.
Stationary bikes will help with weight loss goals, but for cross training, it’s better to go with a rowing machine. A good stationary bike spin class will help you burn calories, but is not going to help you build muscle and improve strength in the same way that rowing will.
Is Rowing Better than Cycling?
Rower vs bike is an argument that has been going on for years. Better is a relative term. Sure, you might find that a different muscle group gets stronger with rowing than with a bike, but you will burn calories with both machines and an exercise machine will benefit you no matter what type it is.
In general, spin on a rowing machine is a lower intensity than the high intensity that comes with a treadmill, but a rowing machine is also safe for your joints to use.
If you have knee problems you might want to avoid weight lifting, but the human body is resilient. To avoid knee surgery, consider a workout routine that is low resistance yet gives you a good calorie burn, and a rowing machine can help you do that.
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Is Rowing Harder than Cycling?
Cycling is harder on some joints like your knees, but you still get good benefits. Running is the cardio exercise that is harder on your back and joints. Anytime you can get cardio movement into your routine, your body weight should benefit.
You can achieve calorie burning in a lot of different ways, but some workouts are better than others for your overall fitness. A good row can workout your back, but use the wrong stroke in your workouts and you could cause injury.
In a comparison between rowing and cycling, remember that both workouts benefit your cardiovascular system, but rowing works out your entire body in a way that cycling does not.
Is Cycling good for Rowers?
Rowers should vary their fitness exercises so they don’t always do the same movement, which can help lock up joints like just using a bike can do.
On days when you are not rowing, cycling is a good fitness alternative to a row. Increase resistance, and get a good calorie burn, which can help your overall fitness.
The nice thing about cycling and rowing is that people can workout all their muscles in a low impact sort of way that does not cause injury.
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Exercise Bikes, Treadmills, or Rowers?
If you are looking to lose fat, any of these machines are good options for your cardio workout. On any of these machines, you want to increase the resistance level as high as you can handle, as you will get the most benefits that way.
Whether you are post-surgery or just looking for an energy expenditure, rowers are going to work out your leg muscles, back, and help you build strength and lose weight.
Rower V’s Elliptical? Which Is Better?
Of the three, a treadmill is arguably the worst because of the pendulum movement, knee bending, and general impact on all of your joints. People that constantly have a lot of joint impact might find themselves post-surgery in no time, as muscles and joints can only handle a treadmill for so long before giving out.
Rower Workouts
When you are using a rower as your primary exercise equipment, you should avoid back problems while giving your full body muscles a good workout. If you pair your rower workout machine with the right diet, you will find that the muscles used help you also work towards weight loss.
A rower will let your legs get the best machine workout they can get while also burning a lot of calories with a good spin.
People looking to exercise their arms or specific muscle groups can do so with a good rower. The spin is going to give your whole body good exercise including the muscles in your arms and the muscles in your legs. A rower truly gives people the best spin and exercise you could want.
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Calories Burned
If you are looking at calories burned per hour, rowing is the clear winner. Rowers usually burn close to 1000 calories per hour, while a spin class with an exercise bike is more like 500 calories per hour. The biggest reason for this is that an exercise bike is only focusing on the leg group of muscles.
With rowers, you are working out arms and upper back, which is going to burn more calories in the same amount of time that you would be on an exercise bike working only your lower body.
The rower gives you a better total body workout, which is better for your overall health and well-being than an exercise bike and might cause you to lose some weight as well.
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Written by Petra Amara – RowingCrazy.com
CEO & Founder of RowingCrazy, National Rower, Coxswain Womens Eight Team, Rowing Coach & Writer
Petra is a Mother of two and owner of Rowingcrazy.com. Petra lives and breathes rowing, she also has a passion for writing which lead her to start RowingCrazy.com to share her rowing experience and expertise with others.
