Best rowing machines?

[tigg @tigg Participant]

I’m thinking of buying a rowing machine to help maintain fitness.
Used to be super fit, not so much anymore

I hate the gym and the nearest decent one is half an hour away anyway.

Whilst on holiday I tried out all the equipment and I liked rowing. The gym had a concept 2 air rower. These are very expensive!

Has anybody got any recommendations on which model to buy? Air or water?
There seem to be a lot of second hand ones on fb, gumtree etc. Ranging from £20 up to £900 for the Concept2 & water rowers.

Do you get what you pay for? Should I save up for a decent model?

[Fi @fi Participant]

There are quite a few companies that rent them which might be worthwhile in case you get bored with it. I think they usually give you a discount if you decide to buy.

[tigg @tigg Participant]

Thank you . That’s a really good idea. I’ll look into that!

[bosworth @bosworth Participant]

Try renting, or you can often find auctions selling off gym equipment (there’s one near me that does this frequently).

Water rowers are horrid things – ok if you aren’t taking it too seriously, but pretty useless if you want to do some proper work.

I would’t recomment getting one of the cheap ones. If you do buy, go for a Concept2 and get some decent training programmes 🙂

[tigg @tigg Participant]

Ah ok that’s interesting. So you wouldn’t recommend water one? I was tempted as they are advertised as being quieter.

I really enjoyed the times I used the machine on holiday. I generally hate all gym equipment as I get bored but having to focus on technique really helps.

[bosworth @bosworth Participant]

Honestly if you’re going to do it at all seriously (and you can definitely get the bug for it), then go Concept2. The water rowers are ok to a point, but if you are interested in technique and building your strength you will soon find that you end up with water all over the floor and the feel you get from them is different too. There are some really good sites out there with training programmes, and if you look on actual rowing sites they will give you far better tips on technique than you would probably get here. Decent Rowing on FB is worth a look.

[cat @cat Participant]

I bought a cheap one from Argos (I think it was £20-30). It wasn’t much more expensive than the ones on Ebay that you’ve probably got to drive miles to collect.

It works perfectly well and gives good all round exercise. I didn’t want to spend a lot of money as I hadn’t used one before and knew that before long it would be collecting the dust …. which it is!

[Amy @amy Participant]

If your serious about doing it and can afford it then definitely a Concept 2, theres a very good reason why you see them and not other companies products in most gyms and leisure centres.

I looked at all the options and bought the Concept 2 Model E for just over £1K, you can get the Model D for£850 new, the difference is the monitor and interface with smartphone apps, I’m geeky about things like that and like being able to use all the smartphone apps.
You can pick up used/reconditioned ones, I would be wary unless they have some degree of warranty just because you don’t know how worn they are, or whether they have been looked after.
I bought mine in Jan and got the bug big style, I was rowing 10K’s a day four five times a week, unfortunately a scorre related injury then stopped me in my tracks. I’ve also developed tennis elbow, all down to me getting stuck in without sufficient stretching and warm up, I’m now off rowing until I can sort my tennis elbow. What I’m trying to say is don’t just buy one get it and row either get some coaching to be sure your technique is right or use some of the internet resources available – Dark Horse Rowing are brilliant.

[Kelly @kelly Participant]

Can I ask why everyone dislikes the water rowers so much? They are all they have at the gym I currently go to, and when I go and row on an air one now there is so little resistance that I feel like I’m doing nothing!

[tigg @tigg Participant]

Thanks for all the replies. All really helpful.

Think I’m going to hire a concept 2 for a few months to see how I go. My partner is skeptical about me keeping it up (I held my tongue over his cross trainer gathering dust in the spare room).

Good points raised about technique and warm ups. I’ve only had 5 goes on a machine and the resident gym instructor gave me a 5 min demo so will need to read up on that.

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