Current Events > Anyone use rowing machines?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I use a concept 2 at the gym but I really want to turn my basement into a home gym. Costco has a decent one at $400 but it's not a concept 2, so I'm worried I should just shell out the full $1200 instead
Also, anyone liking it? I've only been using it for a month but I'm loving it

I bought a fairly cheap one for like $300 a few years back. It doesn't have all of the bells and whistles as the gym ones, but it works alright. Like i cant track estimated calories burned and stuff. I makeshift use it as a cable machine for small muscle groups too. The seat on mine sucks though. I wear a pair of padded bicycle shorts to cushion my ass. I also wish that the resistance went up a bit higher. Overall, I like mine though for the price.

i tried it once and hated it. lol. i admire you guys.

Jiek_Fafn posted...

I bought a fairly cheap one for like $300 a few years back. It doesn't have all of the bells and whistles as the gym ones, but it works alright. Like i cant track estimated calories burned and stuff. I makeshift use it as a cable machine for small muscle groups too. The seat on mine sucks though. I wear a pair of padded bicycle shorts to cushion my ass. I also wish that the resistance went up a bit higher. Overall, I like mine though for the price.

Thanks, I think I'll get this week then

SauI_Goodman posted...

i tried it once and hated it. lol. i admire you guys.

It's so good! You should try it again, I feel amazing

I rowed in grad school and use an erg at the gym as part of my warm-up every day and in my circuit training when I default to the same few cardio exercises. Any rower is definitely a worthwhile piece in a home gym.

The ones at the gym and the ones we had to train with were all Concept 2s. I think they're good because you can adjust the resistance, but any machine that can do that will be good enough. Even if you don't have all the features on the cheaper version, you truly don't need them all: calories burnt estimates are almost always wrong and the little wi-fi games you can play (races, etc.) aren't useful unless you're at a gym with other people rowing at the same time. As long as you can see your strokes per minute, your split time, your actual time and your meters, that's all you really need. I only used the stroke arc view once, in a run-up to a competition. Basically, at least 50% of the Concept 2 features are not going to be necessary unless you're deciding to become competitive.

My dad had an analog rowing machine that was cool when I was a kid. I wanted to buy a WaterRower, but it didn't look like it could adjust the resistance, so I put my money into gym memberships instead.