Rowing machine - thoughts?

I've owned a Concept2 (www.concept2.com) rowing machine for about ten years. My wife and I have not used it much in the past few years but we are getting back into rowing, now (started up again about 2 months ago). A rowing machine is the only stationary exercise machine we ever got into.

The Concept2 rowing machines are built to last a lifetime but are not cheap. It was a great investment for me and my wife. (If you are lucky are, can get one used -- that's how we got ours.)

We have the Concept2 Model D; it can be broken down into two pieces for storage. It could fit into a closet that way -- but you would not have room for much else in the closet. It can stand on end (without being broken down) and that's how we stored it for awhile in a corner of a room. Currently, it is set up in the master bedroom for rowing at anytime.

The answer to "Do they help to lose weight?" is: as much as any other cardiovascular exercise. Meaning: if you row X minutes at Y effort, you will burn Z cals. And, if you don't eat back all Z cals, you will lose weight (at least, that's my very simplified take on it). So, if you can stick with it, rowing will help you lose weight. One nice thing about these rowing machines is that you can do light rowing, moderate rowing, or go all out for serious training (as in training for real on-the-water competition rowing). So, as you get stronger, you can move up to a harder workouts (longer rows, higher strokes-per-minute, ...).

One thing to note, as with all stationary exercise machines, it can be very boring! We have a TV in front of the rower and we stream Netflix TV shows. This even defines my workout -- I row for 42minutes (the length of the one hour TV show minus commercials). And, you need to be good at reading closed captioning -- the rowing machine is noisy enough to make listening very difficult (and headphones are impossible to wear).

Check out Concept2's web page; there is a lot of good info there, especially in their forum.

Well, that's my 2cents on rowing machines.

Brian

A concept 2 rower was the smartest purchase we ever made. We bought it 15 years ago and my husband and I have used it consistently and it still works like a charm - and now our daughter uses it too. Its a great workout. It takes up less space than a treadmill, but I wouldn't say its folds away for easy storage - but its worth the space - no other machine is comparable.