While it's a well-known fact that rowing is one of the best forms of cardio, what many people don’t realize is that a rowing machine can also help you chisel great-looking abdominals. This article will tell you exactly how rowing helps you uncover your long-hidden 4 pack abs and then turn them into a 6-pack, if not even a full 8-pack. So let's get rowing!
Reason #1: Rowing Machine is one of the best forms of cardio
Rowing simultaneously engages your upper and lower body, which means it is an absolute caloric furnace. Simply because you will have to use your legs to drive and your whole back and biceps to pull, you will burn calories and tone upper and lower body muscles.
It is a well-known fact that to uncover your abdominal muscles, you need to trim the fat covering and hiding them. The only way to get rid of fat is to enter a caloric deficit, which means eating less and burning more calories than your body requires.
Because rowing burns up to 600 calories per hour, depending on your weight, it is an excellent supplement to a healthy diet and will help you reach your goals faster.
Activity, Exercise or Sport (1 hour) |
130 lb |
155 lb |
180 lb |
205 lb |
Stationary cycling, very light |
177 |
211 |
245 |
279 |
Stationary cycling, light |
325 |
387 |
449 |
512 |
Stationary cycling, moderate |
413 |
493 |
572 |
651 |
Stationary cycling, vigorous |
620 |
739 |
858 |
977 |
Stationary cycling, very vigorous |
738 |
880 |
1022 |
1163 |
Rowing machine, light |
207 |
246 |
286 |
326 |
Rowing machine, moderate |
413 |
493 |
572 |
651 |
Rowing machine, vigorous |
502 |
598 |
695 |
791 |
Rowing machine, very vigorous |
708 |
844 |
981 |
1117 |
Reason #2: Rowing trains abs directly
Because rowing requires you to move your upper and lower body in synergy, it engages your core muscles to stabilize your movement. Plus, because you are reaching forward to retract the handle on a magnetic rowing machine and then extending fully backward under load to complete the row, you are essentially doing a mini weighted crunch with every row.
This makes rowing one of the best forms of cardio that indirectly trains the abs. Indoor cycling, for example, requires you only to move your legs while your upper body remains still. This not only limits core activation but also ignores your upper body muscles.
Rowing, on the other hand, strengthens the essential muscles of your back, improving your posture, and ensuring you look even better as you lose weight.
Does a rowing machine work your abs?
While rowing is an excellent form of cardio that will help you uncover abs, and the movement itself strengthens the abdominal musculature, you can use the best rowing machines to workout abs directly:
- You stand behind the rowing machine and hold the seat with both hands, using it like you would an ab wheel to slide the seat back and forward, only using your core muscles.
- You can also stand in a pushup position behind the machine, with your feet on the seat, and flex your hips and knees to move the seat back and forward along the rail. This exercise would be similar to theabs pike exercise but more explosive.
- Also, you can use the seat and the handles to perform plank variations, torso twists, bicycle crunches, and practically any other ab exercise you can do on the floor, but with more comfort and effectiveness.
In fact, combining only the exercises mentioned above will give you a beginner rowing machine workout just for your abs. It's worth noting that, besides abs, a rowing machine is a good option for doing pullovers, lunges, pushups, and hollow-body holds, among others.
Recommended reference Youtuber: TiffanyRotheWorkouts's video
Reason #3: Rowing Machine is intense, but low-impact cardio
Because rowing is low-impact and doesn't stress joints, it is an excellent choice for practically anyone. This means you can enjoy rowing even if you have injuries or other chronic issues with your joints or bones.
Many people who suffer from sports injuries or have bad joints due to age, weight, or other reasons, tend to find activities such as running problematic. And the only way to get rid of belly fat and uncover abdominal muscles is through regular exercise and a controlled diet. If you can't exercise regularly because the activity causes pain, it's not a good choice for you, no matter how many calories it burns per hour.
For that reason, a magnetic row machine is one of the best ways to exercise if you suffer from joint issues. You will hardly find another form of cardio that simultaneously burns this amount of calories, improves your posture, strengthens abs, and all that without causing joint pain.
Bottom line
As you can see, getting the best magnetic rowing machine will allow you to do so much more than cardio. Rowing machines are exceptionally versatile, letting you train your whole body, toning your muscles, while simultaneously furnacing fat.
Because of this, regularly exercising on a rowing machine will improve your cardiovascular health and help you with your posture, stability, and overall well-being – plus, uncovering that 6-pack won't hurt either!