Get rowing for points: welcome to the Virtual Club’s latest addition

There’s nothing quite like an all-body workout, and it’s time for the humble rowing machine to step into the Virtual Club spotlight.

This week marks the launch of rowing within the Virtual Club’s roster of activities, and for good reason – it’s a highly efficient exercise with myriad benefits. In fact, it’s probably one of the best activities out there in terms of its all-over body conditioning and enviable combination of muscular and aerobic qualities.

For every minute of rowing logged, you will earn one physical activity point – a perfect incentive to get moving if you have a rowing machine at home, or are allowed to venture to the gym. A number of our members were already logging rowing as an activity, and in a bid to increase inclusivity of our users and diversity of activities available, it was time to offer this very welcome addition to the Virtual Club.

Rowing is a great option for anyone experiencing social restrictions or national lockdowns, as well as being accessible to any rowing machine owners who may need to self-isolate for a period of time. Plus, a workout which is easy to fit into your day, no matter what the weather is doing.

To get your rowing inspiration flowing, here are our top five benefits of this super-activity:

Full-body workout

Rowing recruits 85% of your body’s muscles when performing the full movement and using correct technique, utilising muscles in the arms, back, core and legs. The benefits are increased muscular strength as well as improved cardiovascular capacity – an ideal combination to hone overall fitness.

Metabolic versatility

A sport which can utilise aerobic and anaerobic metabolic systems is much more versatile – this means that you can do steady state rowing to improve aerobic endurance (effectively low intensity mileage), or you can do a high intensity interval workout to improve lactic threshold and VO2 max, for those of you looking to get faster.

Low impact

If you want to get the benefits of exercise without the injury risk concerns that other sports may incur, rowing is a great option. It’s a low impact activity as it’s non-weight-bearing and doesn’t put too much load through the body at any given time. Because it utilises a large number of muscles across the whole body, it also doesn’t tend to stress one major muscle group more than another.

Training variety

You can keep things interesting and mix up the training, even on an indoor rowing machine. Whether you want to get some exercise in to keep base fitness ticking along, or you want to see some serious performance improvements, both can be achieved with the activity of rowing. You can track improvements over time and also set yourself distance or time challenges – perfect for a bit of focus and goal-setting.

Mental health

We’d advocate that any exercise benefits mental health, but unlike some other activities where you can switch off and let your mind drift, rowing is one activity where focusing on your all-over technique will help you to stay in a ‘mindful’ state – in the present. You can’t help not feeling good both physically and mentally after a good rowing session.

Remember to sign up to the Virtual Club, sync your devices to log your activities, and get those points rolling in!