What is the best Rowing Machine?
Why buy a rowing machine?
If you’re wondering which is the best exercise machine to buy first (or next) to give you the best all-round workout, a rowing machine is a great option.
Most exercise machines will give you heart and lungs a good workout and some, such as treadmills and bikes will exercise your lower body very well, but your upper body less so.
So if you want your exercise machine to give your whole body a thorough workout – cross trainers and rowing machines have the edge. A rowing machine exercises the legs, glutes, back, abdominals, arms and shoulders, as well as giving you a good cardio workout.
Find the Best Rowing Machine to Buy
I have divided the possibles into different budget groups and chosen what I think is the best one from each group.
Budget Rowing machines
Sunny Health & Fitness SF-RW1205
No products found.When an item has many thousands of ratings and managed to maintain a very high overall score, you know that the vast majority of owners must be happy with their purchase. So it is with this Rower from Sunny Health & Fitness.
The strength of the SF-RW1205 (not the snappiest of names but I suppose it makes sense to them) is its simplicity.
A lightweight aluminium frame which folds and can be stored easily;
No pulleys or wheels, and yet has 12 levels of resistance.
A simple, handlebar-mounted LCD display shows time, count, total count, calories burned, and a scan feature (which rotates through the other data)
Dimensions L x W x H: 137.2 x 50.8 x 58.4 cm
Weight: 20.9 lbs | 9.48 Kg
Max user weight: 220lbs | 100Kg | 15st 11oz
Rowing machines under £200
Body Sculpture BR3010 Rower and Gym
A rowing machine which has been a best-selling rower on Amazon.co.uk, the Body Sculpture BR3010 increases its claim to give you a full workout by providing some of the benefits of a home gym as well!
For more versatility, numerous exercises can be performed by replacing the normal bar used for rowing by the supplied two separate handles, attached by D-shaped Carabiner clips. An instructional DVD is included to help you make the most of the rower.
As you would expect from a good rower, this machine has large, pivoting footplates,with a securing strap, and (limited) adjustable resistance.
The onboard computer displays Time, Stroke Count, Total Count, Calories and a Scan feature which displays all of the above in turn.
The icing on the cake is that crucially, for many, it also folds for storage, with a fairly small footprint of space necessary for storage.
(TIP: Be careful not to trap wires to the computer when folding it, as a couple of reviews imply that this may be an issue. One reviewer taped the slack into the box section.)
Assembly is fairly easy with the tools provided and can be completed in about 20 minutes.
The resistance is provided by pulling against 3 elasticated cables. Simple adjustment is provided by disconnecting 1 or 2 of the cables. This is a potential limitation as, if using all 3 straps does not provide enough resistance, there is no easy way to increase it. However, this does not seem to apply to most people.
Product specs:
- Weight: 16 Kg
- Max user weight: 17stone / 240lbs / 110kg
- Rowing machine dimensions: Height: 65 cm, Width: 43.5 cm, Length: 185 cm
- Folded dimensions: Height: 128 cm, Width: 43.5 cm, Length: 94 cm
- Max user height: aprox. 6’ 2”; 185 cm (estimated)
For more info or to buy the
Body Sculpture BR3010 Rower and Gym
you can click the link opposite
No products found.
Mid-range rowing machines £200-£500
Sunny Health & Fitness SPM Magnetic Rowing Machine SF-RW5801
Sunny Health & Fitness make a number of very popular and highly rated rowing machines (and other exercise machines) at a range of prices, but generally at the more affordable end of the scale.
The SF-RW5801 has an alloy steel frame allowing an advised max user weight of up to 250lbs (17 stone) and the slide rail is 109cm / 43” which should accommodate fairly tall users.
In use the overall dimensions are L:77” x W:23” x 22.5”
When folded the rail points upwards and dimensions become:
L:36.3” x W:23” x H:47”
The feet are rubber covered to protect your floor and incorporate wheels for moving it around.
Pivoting foot pedals have adjustable straps. The seat is large (W15” x L11.5” x 2” D / 38 x 39 x 5cm ) and resistant to sweat. The handlebar is foam padded for comfort and grip.
The monitor displays time, speed, count, calories burned, total count and count per minute.
Functionally, there are 16 levels or magnetic resistance,
There’re useful spaces for a water bottle and other device (e.g. phone or tablet)
For more info or to buy the Sunny Health & Fitness SPM Magnetic Rowing Machine SF-RW5801, you can click the link opposite
TOP MODEL – Upper Price Range
Concept 2 Model D Indoor Rower with PM5 Monitor
When comparing pieces of equipment at whatever level, I usually like to look at a top of the range model, not only to see what I’m missing by buying something less expensive, but it often gives an indication of what is considered important to serious users.
Is it basically the same but stuffed full of extra gadgets? Or is it just much better built? Or a combination of both?
The Concept 2 Indoor Rower is the world’s bestselling indoor rower and the industry standard rowing machine. It is the one they use for competitions, and by top athletes so you can expect it to be somewhat dearer than the top 10 sold on Amazon. But what do you get for your money? We are looking here at the Model D.
It uses a flywheel design with a nickel-plated chain, built for seriously heavy use.
As you would certainly expect at the very least, it is very well built with a whopping maximum user weight of 227Kg /500lbs / 35 stone. It has a 5-year frame warranty (2 years on the moving parts and PM5) but is designed to last a lifetime. It is quiet enough to use with the TV on and it splits into 2 parts for easy storage.
The Concept 2’s Performance Monitor 5 (PM5) offers a wealth of features: in particular you can select from an array of different programmes, useful in high performance training. (What’s your time for a 2000m race? How do you compare to the elite athletes?)
The backlit screen illuminates and starts up automatically when you start using the machine. It displays the usual Speed, Distance, Pace, Calories used and more unusually, Watts. A menu system allows you to manage preset workouts, games and multiple languages.
The display is mounted on an moveable arm and can be adjusted to a convenient position.
You can connect wirelessly to compatible Bluetooth heart-rate monitors. Wireless connectivity extends to computers, smartphones and machine-to-machine racing. There is a place to sip your smartphone above the monitor.
Clearly, this is a serious machine, both extremely well-built and with a wealth of features. For a really serious user, or someone wealthy enough that the price is not an issue, it’s probably the one to go for.
No products found.
Conclusion – How much do you need to spend to buy a decent rowing machine?
While the worldwide sales machines like the Concept2 clearly show its advantages, such machines are meant for heavy use in commercial gyms and for competition use. Fundamentally, for personal use, an equally good workout can be provided by other, cheaper models described above, so if the Concept2 rower is a little out of your league, you’re still very well catered for even at the lower end of the market.
Powered by Azon AutoSites
Last update on 2024-11-16 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API