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Rowing Machine v Exercise bike

Fitness tips, Relaxation, Mind and Body
Raptor
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Re: Rowing Machine v Exercise bike

#93857

Postby Raptor » November 7th, 2017, 2:36 pm

TedSwippet wrote:
Snorvey wrote:The people that frequent gyms don't tend to be the people that actually need to go to gyms. In other words, it's a posing palace for athletic people ...

The extent to which this is true is probably a function of the 'trendiness' of the gym and the time of day involved.

My 'gym' is actually a portion of a council/private joint venture leisure centre. I would say that overall the majority of people I encounter there are either somewhat or significantly below average fitness, range equally in age from teens to seventies, and are definitely attending to get fitter rather than simply to be seen. Cost is below £30/month, the piped music is not completely to my taste but is at least both inoffensive and very much background quiet. The staff are super-friendly and helpful. And the only video playing is BBC News24 on silent.

Snorvey wrote:... - the worst of whom are those that walk around the changing rooms naked with their junk swinging all over the place.

That, though. And arguably worse still when the owner is significantly below average fitness and/or well overweight!


Must go to the same Gym :lol:

I do roughly 4 sessions a week of Spin, but that doesn't help upper body so I do a Gym session where I concentrate on upper body, which includes a session on the rowing machine. To my way of thinking they do a different job. One does the legs and the other the upper body......

Raptor.

redsturgeon
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Re: Rowing Machine v Exercise bike

#93871

Postby redsturgeon » November 7th, 2017, 3:10 pm

Raptor wrote:
TedSwippet wrote:
Snorvey wrote:The people that frequent gyms don't tend to be the people that actually need to go to gyms. In other words, it's a posing palace for athletic people ...

The extent to which this is true is probably a function of the 'trendiness' of the gym and the time of day involved.

My 'gym' is actually a portion of a council/private joint venture leisure centre. I would say that overall the majority of people I encounter there are either somewhat or significantly below average fitness, range equally in age from teens to seventies, and are definitely attending to get fitter rather than simply to be seen. Cost is below £30/month, the piped music is not completely to my taste but is at least both inoffensive and very much background quiet. The staff are super-friendly and helpful. And the only video playing is BBC News24 on silent.

Snorvey wrote:... - the worst of whom are those that walk around the changing rooms naked with their junk swinging all over the place.

That, though. And arguably worse still when the owner is significantly below average fitness and/or well overweight!


Must go to the same Gym :lol:

I do roughly 4 sessions a week of Spin, but that doesn't help upper body so I do a Gym session where I concentrate on upper body, which includes a session on the rowing machine. To my way of thinking they do a different job. One does the legs and the other the upper body......

Raptor.


If you like rowing that's good but rowing is an exercise for the legs, back and arms and probably the arms add less than the legs or the back. If you wanted to do an upper body exercise then press ups would isolate the arms and chest more.

John

Raptor
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Re: Rowing Machine v Exercise bike

#93876

Postby Raptor » November 7th, 2017, 3:28 pm

redsturgeon wrote:
Raptor wrote:
TedSwippet wrote:The extent to which this is true is probably a function of the 'trendiness' of the gym and the time of day involved.

My 'gym' is actually a portion of a council/private joint venture leisure centre. I would say that overall the majority of people I encounter there are either somewhat or significantly below average fitness, range equally in age from teens to seventies, and are definitely attending to get fitter rather than simply to be seen. Cost is below £30/month, the piped music is not completely to my taste but is at least both inoffensive and very much background quiet. The staff are super-friendly and helpful. And the only video playing is BBC News24 on silent.


That, though. And arguably worse still when the owner is significantly below average fitness and/or well overweight!


Must go to the same Gym :lol:

I do roughly 4 sessions a week of Spin, but that doesn't help upper body so I do a Gym session where I concentrate on upper body, which includes a session on the rowing machine. To my way of thinking they do a different job. One does the legs and the other the upper body......

Raptor.


If you like rowing that's good but rowing is an exercise for the legs, back and arms and probably the arms add less than the legs or the back. If you wanted to do an upper body exercise then press ups would isolate the arms and chest more.

John


Agreed but I have an elbow and wrist problem so press-ups are not an option but there are a few machines that work well for the upper body. Back and arms are my main gym occupation now, although a half hour of kettle bells does help....

Raptor.

redsturgeon
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Re: Rowing Machine v Exercise bike

#93902

Postby redsturgeon » November 7th, 2017, 4:05 pm

Raptor wrote:Agreed but I have an elbow and wrist problem so press-ups are not an option but there are a few machines that work well for the upper body. Back and arms are my main gym occupation now, although a half hour of kettle bells does help....

Raptor.


Never tried kettle bells. I've heard they are good though.

John

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Re: Rowing Machine v Exercise bike

#94583

Postby Clitheroekid » November 9th, 2017, 9:47 pm

I'm with that anonymous chap who confessed: “The secret of my abundant health is that whenever the impulse to exercise comes over me I lie down until it passes away.” :lol:

JessUK98
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Re: Rowing Machine v Exercise bike

#118140

Postby JessUK98 » February 14th, 2018, 12:51 pm

I’m a bit late to the party, but glad the rowing machine is working out for you.

I have a treadmill, but not used it for a while since getting the dog. Since we have to go outside anyway regardless of the weather I have been doing the odd run outside, but mainly we do lots of walking.

I also have some free weights at home. I did go to the gym, but found it inconvenient due to the distance, the amount of time it used up, and not always getting the equipment I wanted. Oh, and screaming naughty children running about didn’t help.

Mark Lauren’s “You are your own gym” is also a good book if you want to do strength training exercises in your own home.

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Re: Rowing Machine v Exercise bike

#118159

Postby JessUK98 » February 14th, 2018, 1:55 pm

Snorvey wrote:Mark Lauren’s “You are your own gym” is also a good book if you want to do strength training exercises in your own home.

I'm all for that - thatnks Jess.

I've had the Fitbit thing on for about a month now and, whether it's completely accurate or not, it really does motivate you to move. The Fitbit app on your phone is quite addictive too.


I think once it has your stride it’s fairly accurate (unless you like waving your arms about a lot). You can enter your stride manually or it can work it out for you after a few runs on the flat. If you manually start an activity using GPS it’s pretty much bang on. I use Strava sometimes as well, and I’ve compared the two and they have shown the same mileage for the same walk. Not quite sure how accurate the automatically recorded activities are though. Whenever I do the gardening it records it as biking, so I manually change it to gardening :lol:

Agree that the Fitbit app is motivating. I’ve joined the corporate group at work and we have step challenges with various other parts of the company in different parts of the world. We also start our own local workweek hustle. That’s the best, as we are constantly trying to off the chap that is usually always first. I’ve come first a few times, but I usually get knocked into second or third place. Probably be last this week as I can’t walk very far at the moment with my stupid foot.

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Re: Rowing Machine v Exercise bike

#125880

Postby GeoffF100 » March 19th, 2018, 6:59 am

Dod101 wrote:A brisk walk of at least an hour on alternative days is perfectly adequate.

The evidence says otherwise. An hour a day has been found to be better than half an hour a day, and one and a half hours a day better than an hour a day. More may be even better, but we do not have enough evidence to be sure. Intense exercise (provided that you are capable of it) has been found to be more effective than moderate exercise of the same duration.

In practice, the best exercise is the longest duration and most intense exercise that you will actually do. Cardio vascular exercise is the most important to keep you healthy, but do not neglect flexibility and resistance exercise.

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Re: Rowing Machine v Exercise bike

#130813

Postby ten0rman » April 8th, 2018, 8:18 pm

Further to my comments a few posts above about trying to do regular exercise after the heart attack, I find that my daily walk of a fraction under 2 miles takes about 45mins. I know this is slow but I don't seem able to speed up, but since the idea is provide moderate exercise for the heart, I consider that as long as it doesn't change, then that should be ok.

In respect of the exercise cycle, there are four dials - kph (no, it's not mph), calories, distance in km & time. There is also a graduated tension dial from 1 to 8. Initially, it was ok on level 2 for 30 mins, but very hard if I switched onto level 3. Under this regime, I found that I used 240 calories, in 30 mins covering a distance of 10km at an approximate speed of 20 kph. However, over the three years I've been using it, I've gradually crept up such that I can now do in excess of 10km, and in excess of 250 calories at a speed of about 22kph at level 3 for the full 30 mins.

So although the walking doesn't appear to have improved, the cycle performance certainly has.

Incidently, when I was on the rehabitation course after the heart attack, I was encouraged to rate my exercising in accordance with the Borg scale, aiming for a perceived rate equivalent to about 13, ie about somewhat or moderately hard.

Regards,

ten0rman

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Re: Rowing Machine v Exercise bike

#155572

Postby Pastcaring » July 27th, 2018, 12:49 pm

Snorvey wrote:I'm toying with getting an exercise machine before winter (there's a pile of Tesco vouchers lying around that need to get spent)

This is because if I'm bone idle in the summertime, I'm positively hibernatory (?) in the winter. Even if it's only 20 minutes of high intensity stuff, it's better than nothing.

So....I quite like the idea of a rowing machine because it seems to work more muscle groups. I have a turbo trainer for the bike, but it's freezing in the shed over wintertime and it's too big for the house. I need to get home from work and then be able to jump straight on it before I get settled down for the night.

So, any thoughts or suggestions? Rowing v exercise bike....or something else.



Different country etc but a bike for me.Luckily we have the weather in Perth,and it is fairly flat,a bit like Holland.

If I don't get my daily 50 klms in I feel sick, bundle of nervous energy with my legs twitching . If there is cricket on the radio all the better ( roll on summer ).

The lift your own weight machines on the south Perth foreshore are great ,gaze over the Swan river at Perth.Loads of people cycling,jogging,walking etc

Lately there have been quite a few of those elliptical bikes going past,a cross between jogging and cycling by the look of then,I' m trying to hire one for a week to see if I can use one, or if it is a bit too much.They don' t look as if they are any good for even gentle hills.

If I lived in the UK I think I would be staying in the house too.

Next year I' m really keen on riding from Frankfurt to Amsterdam,revisit my Auf weidersehen pet days from the 1970,s.Then a ride up the Tyne Valley from Tynemouth to as far as I can get,with a bottle of brown ale at the Boathouse pub in Wylam.

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Re: Rowing Machine v Exercise bike

#157487

Postby Itsallaguess » August 6th, 2018, 11:56 am

Pastcaring wrote:
Lately there have been quite a few of those elliptical bikes going past,a cross between jogging and cycling by the look of then,I' m trying to hire one for a week to see if I can use one, or if it is a bit too much.They don' t look as if they are any good for even gentle hills.


I wondered what you meant by this, so went for a look. I think I've found a picture of one -

https://cdn.thisiswhyimbroke.com/images ... icycle.jpg

He does seem to be going up a bit of a hill, but I wonder if they've simply tilted the camera a bit!

A video here of a couple of different types in action - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUpd2AfsFU4

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

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Re: Rowing Machine v Exercise bike

#157501

Postby kiloran » August 6th, 2018, 12:44 pm

Itsallaguess wrote:
Pastcaring wrote:
Lately there have been quite a few of those elliptical bikes going past,a cross between jogging and cycling by the look of then,I' m trying to hire one for a week to see if I can use one, or if it is a bit too much.They don' t look as if they are any good for even gentle hills.


I wondered what you meant by this, so went for a look. I think I've found a picture of one -

https://cdn.thisiswhyimbroke.com/images ... icycle.jpg

He does seem to be going up a bit of a hill, but I wonder if they've simply tilted the camera a bit!

A video here of a couple of different types in action - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUpd2AfsFU4

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

They look like an accident waiting to happen :D
How on earth you are supposed to steer in a tight space while pedalling is beyond me. Think I'd rather ride a penny farthing.

--kiloran

Itsallaguess
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Re: Rowing Machine v Exercise bike

#157511

Postby Itsallaguess » August 6th, 2018, 1:26 pm

kiloran wrote:
They look like an accident waiting to happen :D

How on earth you are supposed to steer in a tight space while pedalling is beyond me. Think I'd rather ride a penny farthing.


I totally agree!

I think the design-intent is that all other road-users will take the same view, and as-if-by-magic will create more than enough space for the devices to operate in, just to avoid disaster themselves!

;)

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

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Re: Rowing Machine v Exercise bike

#157514

Postby Watis » August 6th, 2018, 1:33 pm

Itsallaguess wrote:
kiloran wrote:
They look like an accident waiting to happen :D

How on earth you are supposed to steer in a tight space while pedalling is beyond me. Think I'd rather ride a penny farthing.


I totally agree!

I think the design-intent is that all other road-users will take the same view, and as-if-by-magic will create more than enough space for the devices to operate in, just to avoid disaster themselves!

;)

Cheers,

Itsallaguess



It seems to me that, if there was a sudden need to put a foot down, the other foot would have no resistance and the device would surely be propelled either forward or backward, depending on which stage of the rotation the other foot was at. Or not - it's unclear from the photo whether it's a free or fixed wheeler.

Watis


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