Should You Row Everyday?

If you’re new to indoor rowing or if you recently purchased a rowing machine for your home gym, you might have a lot of questions about rowing.

Deciding which workout will not only benefit the entire body in the shortest amount of time but also not cause damage to the joints, can be a difficult task.

This is what makes rowing one of the most perfect workouts on the planet! Using a rowing machine for a full-body workout is a highly-recommended low-impact and high-intensity aerobic exercise that most people can do.

You can easily improve your health, increase your heart rate and aerobic capacity, and lose weight using your rowing machine even for a few minutes per day.

So, Should You Row Every Day?

OK, so back to this question.

Do you know the old saying “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should”? Just because you can eat candy everyday doesn’t mean that you should, right?

This is a bit true with rowing.

The answer to the question will depend on your current fitness level.

If you’re an experienced rower, yes, you can go rowing everyday. Of course, you should schedule your rowing workout so that you give your body at least one day of rest. But if you want to use your rowing machine for workouts in your daily training or to get those different muscles working, go for it!

For beginners, you probably shouldn’t row everyday. Start off by rowing 3 or 4 days per week for about 20 minutes at a time. Gradually increase the amount of your rowing time by 5 minutes. Once you can do 30-45 minutes of indoor rowing without pain, then you add one day per week to your rowing workout routine.

Intermediate users might want to use their rowing machines 6 days per week but only for 20 minutes at a time. Alternatively, you can do rowing for 30-45 minutes at a time but only for 3 or 4 days per week.

Regardless of how often you wish to do your body workout on your rowing machine, always give your body one good day of rest to allow the muscles time to repair, rebuild, and grow.

Reasons for Using a Rowing Machine

The answer to ‘how long’ and ‘how often’ should best be based on the reasons why you should do rowing machine workouts. It helps to know why you want to row in the first place and what benefits can a rower offer.

Benefits of a Rowing Machine

• • Exercising on a rower is one of the best aerobic workouts ever. If you want to improve your heart health or if you’re looking to increase your overall fitness level, rowing is a perfect choice

• • If you want to lose weight, no piece of gym equipment is better. You can burn more calories with a rowing regimen than with any other cardio machine routine. Depending on your weight and the intensity of your workout, you can burn as much as 900 calories an hour from rowing. Read that again. 900 calories an hour! Imagine how immensely helpful can rowing be for your weight loss journey.

• • If you’ve ever gotten bored or frustrated waiting to use the multitude of equipment at the gym to work your arms, then your legs, then your core, you can thank a rowing machine for putting an end to that. When the proper rowing technique is used, a rower will engage 86 percent of all muscles in the body at the same time.

• • • Treadmills and other types of equipment can be hard on the joints over time, even causing injury for some people. A rowing machine is low-impact, so you can forget about those knee replacement ads you see on TV!

• • You won’t find a better device for improving the heart and lungs. Rowers are one of the best cardio workout machines you can use. What’s more, you can have fun while rowing!

• • Using a rower will give you more energy and endurance when you workout regularly.

 

There are so many advantages in performing a simple indoor rowing workout, you might not believe how one machine can do so much!  Side Note:  Be sure to check out our list of the best rowing machines for elderly

Using a Rowing Machine as a Beginner

When it comes to indoor rowing, it’s easy to get carried away. Beginners may want to start burning those calories and reaching their health goals as fast as they can, but you shouldn’t go all out to start with.

 

Let’s look at a few tips regarding the best way to get started with rowing on your road to improved fitness and better health.

Tips for Beginners

If you’re new to rowing, you’re probably super excited about using your new rowing machine and getting started, but before you begin, let’s check out the following tips.

Do the Rowing Strokes Properly

 

It is far more important that you do the rowing strokes correctly than to do them quickly. You will build up speed over time as your endurance increases, but if you fail to do use the proper technique, you might end up hurting your lower back. Take rowing classes or at least watch an online workout class to learn how to use your machine correctly.

Start Slowly

If, after rowing on Tuesday, you feel super sore or tired on Wednesday, take the day off. Your muscles need time to adjust to your new rowing workouts. You will lose far more time if you injure yourself than if you were to simply give your body a day off.

Don’t Train if You’re in Pain

You should listen to your body, even if you think you haven’t done much exercise. While some are advocates of “working through the pain”, I’m not one of them. Pain is your body’s way of telling you something is wrong. Rest for a day or three, and then check your technique.

Consider Your Rowing Goals

If your goal is to lose weight, you will need to row until you hit 85 percent of your maximum heart rate for at least 20 minutes. Be realistic in your weight loss goals! Setting a goal of losing 7 pounds a week by rowing, for example, is unrealistic and you will only be disappointed.

Don’t Be a Rowing Addict

You might come to love rowing so much that you don’t want to do any other type of exercise. While rowing workouts are an outstanding way to exercise, you should change things up a little. Be sure to get in some strength training, stretching exercises, and maybe even break into a sprint or do a little walking now and again. Your doggie needs the walk, and if you don’t have a dog, you can smell the roses.

• Related Post:  Can Rowing Cause Foot Pain?

The Bottom Line

You can do rowing workouts as often as your body will let you! If you want to live a healthy life, full of energy, and look good no matter what you do, then work out with your rowing machine as much as you like and as long as you aren’t feeling pain.

Go for your goals and you will never regret rowing your heart out nearly every single day!

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is it OK to row everyday?

A: Yes, it’s OK to row daily. However, if you’re a beginner, you should start doing your rowing workouts for only 3-4 days each week until your endurance increases. Learn more from our “Tips for Beginners” above.

Q: What happens if I row every day?

A: Lots of great things will happen if you use your rowing machine daily. With this aerobic exercise, you will lose weight, your heart and lungs will have a much greater capacity and endurance, and you will have a huge increase in the amount of energy you have. Last but not least, rowers will realize their workout routine results in so much muscle definition, women will buy a new bikini and men will walk around shirtless a lot more!

Q: How long should I row each day?

A: For beginners, you should try rowing for about 30 minutes or less for no more than 3 or 4 days each week. Make sure to listen to your body and let it rest if you feel really tired or if your back hurts.

If you’re an advanced rower, you can do your rowing workouts 6 days per week for as many minutes as you like.

Q: How often should you row a week?

A: For beginners, you should row at least twice a week but 3 or 4 times would be better. If you can’t manage that amount of time, you can workout up to 3 days per week over a period of a month or so. For experienced users, rowing for a minimum of 30 minutes 6 days a week should be enough exercise to keep you in good shape and prevent you from gaining any weight.

Q: How much rest do I need in my weekly rowing machine regimen?

Make sure to give yourself at least one full day of rest, which means little or no exercise. You can take a walk or do some recreational swimming, but no hard training for at least 24 hours. Don’t forget to add other types of training or exercise during the week, such as weight lifting, aerobic dance, stretching, cycling, or swimming to maintain the optimum in physical fitness.