I used to run a lot. But after an injury to my ankle I had to stop. Now I do some elliptical and static bicycle, but I don’t like either much.
The elliptical puts too much strain on my damaged ankle. The static bike actually relieves the pain in my ankle but I don’t like it much. It feels like I am working just my leg muscles and nothing else
I am thinking of getting a rowing machine. Is it any good for cardio?
Have you tried a rowing machine? If the elliptical bothers your ankle, the rowing machine might not be much better. You’re pushing off with your legs, which means there will be downward pressure on your ankle.
Do you have any major gyms in your area? If so, check their websites to see if they offer a guest pass. You could try doing some workouts on their rowing machines to see if you like it. It’s definitely a good, total body workout.
Have you tried barefoot running? I have bad ankles and had to give up running. Then I read about barefoot style and I can run pain free.
Agreed. If other low-impact options don’t work for you, you might have to go with swimming. Or take up water polo.
I have a lovely rowing machine, and I’ll echo the others - if your ankle can’t handle an elliptical, then rowing isn’t going to be much better. I can’t think of any way other than major mechanical hacks (like those necessary for amputees) to make that any better - it’s just the way the machine works and requires the body to move.
Check into an “endless” pool or a local pool membership.
Besides the ankle issue how does rowing compare for a workout?
But yes, rowing machines can be good for cardio.
One of my kids is on a rowing team. They have legs like tree trunks - so I imagine the motion on a rowing machine, similar to a real rowing shell, would put a lot of pressure on all your leg joints. The motion a rower goes thru pretty much works the whole body. Tho, you need to be careful of the position of your back. They baseline performance using a rowing machine.
As for being a good cardio workout, puking and passing-out are not uncommon at the end of a hard workout or race - I would think you could get to similar levels of cardio on a rowing machine (AKA “erg”).
Pretty solid in my experience.
Most machines let you adjust so you’re either pulling lots of resistance or very little. Set it for low resistance, and let fly, and you’ll be gasping pretty soon.
Just about the best possible cardio workout on a machine. It uses nearly all of the large muscles and can be extremely calorie intensive.
You can still get a good cardio workout with a bad ankle. This article gives some ideas and even suggests rowing is ok if you can adjust the footings. Take it with a grain of salt.
Yes, I’ve been told that rowing is one of the best all over exercise machines if you’re doing it right. Cardio, legs, arms and core all in one.
I have “heard” (well “read”) stated that rowing is best thought of as a mixed cardio and strength exercise, and that as such it is less cardio per amount of effort than a more pure cardio activity like running. Trying to dig for an original source to justify that statement though is tough. I can offer up this article (pdf) which includes that rowing at light, moderate, and heavy intensities results in 7, 10, and 13 METS respictively, while running at light, moderate, and heavy intensities results in 12, 14, and 16 METS. (1 MET equals the energy expended at rest.) Which is not a ding on rowing; it’s just that running is, in that chart, the king of pure cardio. Swimming is 3, 5, and 9. Even jumping rope is 7, 10, and 12. All according to that chart. It is not clear what they based that assessment on however … perhaps heart rate rather than oxygen use. And there’s the rub.
This article may explain why percieved effort is more for a level of heart rate max with rowing, to some degree. Percieved intensity is best correlated with blood lactate level. For a given level of blood lactate the heart rate is lower while rowing than running. Notably however there was higher maximal oxygen uptake during rowing at maximum effort than during running at maximum effort.
Another source found the same thing:
My take is that the max oxygen uptake at max effort being higher is a strong endorsement for the excellent cardio benefits of rowing. The common wisdom I have read, based on tables from that first article, may be wrong: rowing may actually be the king of cardio.
Best approach is to try a rowing machine out for a 15 to 20 minute work out on light resistance and focusing on perfect form. See how your ankles feel. Then increase speed and/or resistance somewhat, aiming to gradually increase your watts/work-out. Note more resistance does not equal more watts; there often is a sweet spot.
I have a pretty screwed up ankle with basically no cartilage left in it. The elliptical was practically impossible, but I have no problems with rowing. YMMV.
Done properly, rowing machine is one of the best cardio machines in the gym - but a lot of people don’t seem to do it properly. It really does work out everything and you should feel it everywhere.