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Does anyone know anything about rowing machines?  I want to get a rowing machine because it’s my favorite thing to use when I go to a gym (which is rare), especially the old ones with the monitor with a little guy in the boat that you have to race.  However, I noticed that no one is ever on the rowing machine at gyms.  Is there some sinister secret about rowing machines?  Are they bad for you?  I just assumed that no one uses them because they think they don't look cool, but I want to make sure before I buy one!  I tried looking it up online but I can only find musclehead talk about how great rowing machines are.  I don’t want to get all buff, I just want to exercise the most body parts possible at one time… and row!

I’m also hoping it helps build my actual rowing skill because I tried rowing in a canoe last summer with my friend and if my husband wasn’t there, we would have been feverishly rowing in a slow circle for hours before someone found us.

We used to have a rowing machine when I was a little kid  :teddyr:  I suppose that's why they're not so popular these days - everybody wants to jump on the latest trend.  They definitely work your back, shoulders, arms and legs.  Probably hit the abs too.  I'm not aware of anything sinister about them.

get a row boat  :thumbup:

Some of the exercise routines I do use them.  I've never heard any ill effects from using a rowing machine.  The main thing to remember is to use your legs.  If you use mostly arms I imagine you'll end up with big, hairy man arms.

The main workout I use the rowing machine is this:

60 thrusters (squats with a 45 lb bar or dumbells military press at the top)
Row for 3000 meters
30 pull-ups
100 hyperextensions
2 mile run

When you start the run portion, your legs feel like you have gone bow-legged and you can barely get them moving.

You don't think Paquita would look good with a nice set of arms like this?

(http://i702.photobucket.com/albums/ww28/jackc8/gregg2.jpg?t=1295980094)

Its a fun exerciose.  With two kids, I want to get the most bang for my exercise minute... rowing is one of those. 

WHy go all modern?
(http://www.quarrell.demon.co.uk/oldscull.jpg)

Wow, that looks like a huge and very sinister crossbow from the middle ages.

Thanks Andrew! I don’t think I’m going to do all that, I’ll probably just row my little heart out for about 30 minutes a day.  I shouldn't have a problem using my legs since my arms are almost worthless. If I do get super huge man arms, you can count on me being at the next championship arm wrestling competition!



Stellar idea!  I’ll just get a row boat and row out onto my private lake and whistle at the loons.



Put that thing away before someone gets tetanus!  I also thought it was a giant crossbow at first!

Reading this made me tired.  And Paquita, the tetanus comment has me giggling 10 minutes later. Personally, i think all exercise equipment should be cast iron and oak.  I have always lioved these pics of the gym on the Titanic...
http://www.nmni.com/titanic/On-Board/Activities-on-board/1st-Class-Gym.aspx (http://www.nmni.com/titanic/On-Board/Activities-on-board/1st-Class-Gym.aspx)

(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3590/3364409448_765666f7bb.jpg)


If you use the Zoom function on the URL page, in the back are horse riding simulators and one "mechanical camel" . I bet on the lower-class gyms, they lock you in the boiler room and you shovel coal until they let you out.
-Ed


0Ed

On rowing:

http://bbs.trailersailor.com/forums/trailersailor/index.cgi/read/774560


And, Mark (the OP in the other linked thread) actually rowing his boat:

http://bbs.trailersailor.com/forums/trailersailor/index.cgi/read/774607

Aren't you near Chicago?  There are LOTS of places to row a 'real boat' there (though perhaps not this time of year   :twirl: ), and you get to SEE something while you row.  It's GREAT...I love rowing on the water.

One comment though:  you mentioned a canoe being your motivation for wanting rowing.  That's paddling, and is a VERY different motion than "rowing."  Rowing on a machine will help overall conditioning, but paddling a canoe will still require different muscle groups/muscle use.

For example, you don't use your legs for paddling a canoe much at all, if at all.  Proper paddling technique is torso/core and arms and is VERY technique - centric to be able to do it efficiently.  Rowing is more power and strength.

Of course, I'm not saying don't row at the gym...but don't get too discouraged if it does not help you paddle a canoe (unless that canoe is/was set up with actual oars, which is a pretty special set-up).

Thanks for the info ulthar!  I knew there was a difference between a row boat and a canoe, but I thought if you could row then you could paddle because paddling is for wimps and rowing is for tough guys... I can do neither. 

I am in Chicago, and the building I work in is right on the river.  In the summer we often see a bunch of colorful rowers rowing in unison down the river, but I don't know where they come from or where they're going.  I usually stay away from the Chicago activities because I have a problem with crowds.  I went canoeing in Fish Lake in northern Illinois, where there's no one.  My friend and I thought it would be a breeze.. it's not!  My husband was tired and didn't want to go but we talked him into it by telling him he could relax and we'd do all the work!  And then he ended up doing all the work anyway.


What the heck is a mechanical camel!?  Is that like a slow mechanical bull?

I think so. It was sort of slow exercise suitable for ladies. 
-Ed

I hear ya.   :thumbup:  We seek out 'off the beaten path' spots to explore.  Here are a couple.  First, Schooner Creek of the Waccamaw River in South Carolina (we anchored there on the sail boat, so not rowing the dink or paddling the canoe, but it is a bit 'remote'):

(http://sailfar.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10005/normal_2007_08_12_0006_small.jpeg)

Here's one "rowing."  Our dinghy (we live aboard a sail boat, so we are 'on the water' in one way or another or one boat or another all the time) has a small engine that we use to get TO places, but then I kill it and row so we can explore.  Rowing times are sometimes as long as a couple of hours.  The children love this, since we see all kinds of wildlife.  Anyway, this is one such 'trip' on a small side creek off the Trent River (in North Carolina) about two miles from where we presently live:

(http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p199/LewisAcid/A30/dingy%20explorations/DSC_0333_small.jpg)

On the day that picture was taken, but on a different creek, we saw an osprey swoop down and pull a fish out the water.  It was not that particular day, but one afternoon while rowing, we saw six otters, and had them swimming behind the boat 'chasing' us.  

You cannot beat slowing down and the relative quiet of rowing/paddling for seeing this stuff...if that's part of what you are after.



HA!

The first time I took our canoe out, it was my two children and I.  It was over 90 degrees outside.  We were invited to dinner at a friend's house, which was close enough to the river that I figured, "hey, let's paddle up there!"

It was upriver and dead into a 10 knot breeze pretty much the whole way, and it took me over 3 hours to get there!  I was so sore for several days after that.  Ah, the memories.   :wink:

But in all seriousness, with paddling, there is a proper "technique" that let's you do it for a long time without getting too tired.  It has to do with twisting and unwinding the twist of your torso.  Youtube has some good videos on both basic and more advanced paddling techniques.

A couple of tricks I've learned:

(1) We go out sometimes with just me and the two children and sometimes with all four of us (my wife, too).  When it's just the little ones and me, I sit just forward of the middle.

A canoe is actually easier to control if you are trimmed very slightly "by the bow," or at least NOT "by the stern."  This means that you do NOT want the boat sitting back-end heavy in the water, especially if you are the only one paddling.

Single paddlers usually sit in the middle for the best control.  I learned this the hard way (ie, BEFORE I read about it in a book), when I tried sitting in the back with the two littles up front.  It did NOT work at ALL.

(2) If we have two adult paddlers (the children do paddle), my wife (and the children) provides "drive" and does pretty much NOTHING to steer the boat.  I paddle for forward motion to some extent, but do all the steering.  Generally, very small sideways deflections of the stroke does the steering.  I learned this from many many trips white water rafting: one person (in the back) steers, everyone else is "horsepower."

(3) It tracks straight best and turns/controls easiest with some pretty good speed.  If you are moving "fast" through the water, the aft paddle can be used as a 'rudder,' giving it a slight twist to turn.  This does not work if you are going too slowly, in which case you have to use a push or pull stroke to physically push the end of the boat sideways in the water....this is quite a bit harder.  The 'rudder' technique lets the flowing water do the work for you; the slow technique is all you.

Every once in a while, I'll ask her to pull or push or reverse in a manner that helps steer, but if she does not hear from me, she/they pretty much just do a straight stroke to propel the boat and keep it moving.

It is surprising how fast we can go and how efficient (ie, non-tiring) this is with a little practice.

I hope you get another chance to do it...paddling and exploring by canoe is totally awesome, especially if you like being outdoors and seeing wildlife, etc.  I wish I had started doing it years before I did.  Best of luck, fair winds and following seas.   :smile:

You should ditch the canoe and do some sculling!  It's the exact same motion as your rowing machine.  And look how relaxing Banacek finds it   :teddyr:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4ReSTFDAHU

Reminds me of a Japanese game show called "Silent Library". It has you do stupid games like row a stationary rowboat. Every time you row the oar you get slapped with a fish.

My wife and I flat -water kayak with inflatable kayaks. Its the funnest way to spend a summer day.  We have white watered as well, but its less soothing.  Since kids we ahev stopped going so much, but we use dto go 2 times a week, it was great.
-Ed

I can't wait until my boys are old enough to go kayaking. I love it. My oldest is 3, so not too far to go.

I refuse to kayak.  You can't tell me ther aren't spiders in there waiting for you to get out in the middle of the water wearing a tiny boat to start crawling up your legs to do the charleston in your pants.

Something tells me you have a significant spider phobia.

Why wait?

I guess if you have single-seaters, they would have to be able to move/control the boat by themselves, but in a double (or a canoe), I think that's plenty old enough.  I am assuming you are talking about flat water...