ZPXFW Blog

I used to row competitively in my youth, but since then, my
rowing exercise had been limited to occasional workouts on
an aging hydraulic machine.

I had no idea how much technology had advanced in this
area, until I was offered a trial of a new WaterRower
exercise machine.

The first obvious difference that I noticed was the use of
a flywheel which used paddles to connect to a moving mass
of water. Just like rowing on water, the connection was
fluid, with none of the jerkiness and jarring typical of
other rowing machines.

The WaterRower’s flywheel has been designed to emulate the
dynamics of a boat moving through water. When rowing, the
workout is generated by overcoming the effect of drag as
the boat moves through the water… So with the Water
Flywheel the workout is generated by overcoming the effect
of drag as the water moves past the tank.

Many rowing machines imitate the action of rowing, but they
do so mechanically and often lack the natural dynamics
experienced when a boat and crew glide down a river. When a
crew row down a river they work to overcome the effect of
drag which acts against the hull of the boat. The faster
the boat is propelled the greater the drag and the harder
the crew must work.

The flywheel reproduces these same natural dynamics.

Like other naturally performed aerobic pursuits such as
swimming, running and cycling, to increase your intensity
you don’t increase resistance, you simply swim, run, cycle
or row harder. The faster you go the higher your intensity.

When each crew member on a boat pulls a stroke, he or she
works to accelerate the mass of the boat and crew. The
effort is applied evenly throughout the whole stroke,
utilizing the muscles of the legs, torso and upper body in
unison, exercising the whole body uniformly.

Similarly, the rowers flywheel responds to the work
applied, allowing constant effort through the whole stroke.
This is unlike resistance based machines where effort is
high at the beginning of the stroke and fades as the
resistance is overcome.

My old hydraulic rower replicates the rowing action
mechanically. This harsh action (as most rowing machine
users will be aware) creates a mechanical fatigue,
generating soreness and aching which are not experienced
when actually rowing on water. The WaterRower replicates
the action naturally, and hence is free from this
mechanical fatigue.

This makes the exercise as pleasant as a row down the
river. When rowing, an oarsperson works to overcome the
effect of drag acting on the boat. The faster the boat
moves, the more drag is created the harder the oarsperson
must work to maintain that speed. The limit to how much
work can be done is the oarsperson, their physiology, their
ability to do work. The WaterRower’s flywheel replicates this self paced dynamic.

Ask most fitness equipment users to work harder and they
will immediately reach for the knob or button designed to
increase resistance. Naturally performed aerobic exercises
such as rowing, swimming, running and cycling dont have
knobs to turn or a buttons to push, so how do you work
harder?

In naturally performed aerobic exercises you increase or decrease your exercise intensity simply by going faster or slower.
You do not increase an imposed resistance on yourself, you simply choose the intensity at which you wish to exercise and go
at a speed which relates to that intensity.

The equipment seemed to exercise all muscles evenly, and even a brief workout should burn calories and tone your body whether you are young or old, fit or unfit, ( like me!)

Just like a cruise down the river and I did not even get
wet!

Author Tony Wilton writes regularly on health and fitness issues at his site
http://www.fitness-health-beauty.com