Okay, so now I really do have to start saving, because I need/want a Precor ELX 556 Elliptical at home, rather than having to go to the gym to use it. The gym isn’t bad, actually it’s fine, with TV’s you can watch and a track and a basketball gymnasium—although there isn’t a pool. And everything seems clean enough. But the stuff I need to take with me there, and keep on me, is crazy. Bottled water, my keys, my cell phone, my reading glasses (I can’t read some of the controls without them), driver’s license, my gym card, my Ipod, a few hard candies, my tissues. . . My pockets are stuffed full. If I were at home, this wouldn’t be a problem.

But I did exercise, and I suppose having a track there is good. It’s a good place to warm up. I did six laps, then headed to the elliptical, and started out easy at level 1, increasing the level every 7 minutes, till I got through level 4 for only 5 minutes, then went back down to 1 to finish off. It felt like a good beginning to my workout, and I could feel that burn people talk about. It told me that I burned 135 calories. Next I used one of the machines that exercised my arms. I will try to remember the name of it to note down next time. I’m a real beginner here, and could only do twenty pounds, 8 reps, three times. (Do I have that jargon right?) Not much, but you have to start somewhere. As I mentioned before, my husband had open heart surgery and needs to keep in shape, so I’m coming along for the ride, and to get into better health myself.

I worked out on the rowing machine next, but only for 15 minutes. I plan to increase that time by two minutes each time I come—which is three times a week. It would be better to have the elliptical at home, and some weights, because I think I’d be able to exercise at least four times a week then.

It must be true that this kind of exercise increases your energy, because I don’t feel tired right now. It’s 8:30 at night and I feel like I can even concentrate better. Maybe this energy is what’s driving me to write something for this blog—to remind me how good it makes me feel. There’s always that moment before heading to the gym that I think I’m too tired or busy, or have something else better to do. That’s why some fitness equipment at home would be great. It would be hard to convince myself it would take too much time just to drive to the gym. There would be fewer excuses and more exercising.

Did you know that Indoor Rowing is a sport? If you didn’t don’t feel bad, 94% of the people we surveyed did not know that indoor rowing was a professional sport either. At the end of the day, most people do not think of using a rowing machine when their brain thinks about exercise. Not too long ago, the common denominator held by most fitness equipment enthusiasts was the fact that they all had a rowing machine at home, that they could count on whenever they got the urge to workout. Underneath the bed. In the closet. Upstairs in the attic. Somewhere in your home there used to be a rowing machine. What happened between then and now? After all, rowing machines still provide an excellent total body workout and they are one of a few exercise machines that truly let the user focus on building strength and getting an intense cardio workout in at the same time.

Treadmills are fantastic, but we certainly do not get a good strength workout in while we run on them. While elliptical machines give us an upper body workout, in my opinion, rowing machines do a far better job in shaping and sculpting our upper body than cross-trainers do. Stair steppers just work the lower half of our body. Exercise bikes are the same as stair steppers in the sense that they only give you a cardio workout. Rowing machines give the user TOTAL BODY WORKOUT. So why in the world have we fell out of love with them? They are still the most financially friendly pieces of gym equipment we can have in our home. Well part of the answer is, people used to love buying rowing machines because they were the affordable and easy to store form of home fitness equipment. Stair steppers were only seen at gyms. Treadmills were big, bulky, and expensive. Elliptical machines and cross-trainers were not born yet. But since then, treadmills have developed to the point at which we can now store them (folding treadmills) with the same efficiency we folded our rowing machines with 20 years ago. Elliptical machines are not as easy to store as treadmills, exercise bikes and rowers, but they have captivated the public to the point at which we do not really care that the best cross-trainers are super expensive and take up a ton of room. With all of the hoopla surrounding the new cyborg looking elliptical machines and treadmills that run up to 20mph, rowers have been moved to the back of our consciousnesses.

Several rowing machines still hover at the top of the food chain when discussing the worlds top fitness machines. For example, the Concept2 rower has posted great sales figures and boasted awesome consumer reviews for the last several years. With a ticket price of $900 and an easy to store frame, there is no wonder why the Concept2 has been such a hit with the public. LifeCore Fitness has manufactured an awesome rower of their own with the LifeCore R100. It has an XL LCD, green & blue lit display, providing users with all the digital feedback they need such as calories burned, heart rate and time left.

Rowing machines are still some of the most effective, efficient, economic and energizing ways to get fit at home.

Indoor rowing machines give people a total body workout through stationary physical training. Used to simulate watercraft rowing, stationary rowing machines were developed for collegiate rowing teams in the 1950′s, and by the 1960′s, indoor rowers were quintessential for all college level, or professional rowers. While providing the same cardiovascular benefits as running, rowing machines are great because they do not put the same high impact pressure on your body that running on a treadmill does. Rowing machines are traditional pieces of exercise equipment that have been used for decades and their longevity can be attributed to many things, one of which is their simple drive system that controls resistance. Resistance created from a spinning flywheel, controlled by a braking system, is a very common on rowing machines. Indoor fitness rowers, controlled by braked flywheel resistance, are powered through a flywheel that is connected by by some kind of strap, rope or chain.

Stationary rowers with electromagnetic resistance use electromagnets and a flywheel to control resistance. Magnetic drive and braking systems are quieter than rowing machines with flywheels that are air and water resistant.

Air resistance, as many of us have seen on stationary exercise bikes, is another form of resistance and power for rowing machines. Models that use air-resistance have fan-like blades that are connected to the flywheel. As the speed of the flywheel increases, the resistance increases. Rowers with this type of air resistance are one of some of the loudest rowing machines in the fitness equipment industry.

Another form of resistance on rowing machines is water. With an enclosed tank of water, and a paddle in the center, water based rowing machines simulate the natural sounds one would hear if they were rowing in a pond, lake or ocean. Many of the newer rowing machines made by First Degree Fitness such the as the Fluid Neptune and Pacific are good examples of solid, well reviewed, water rowers. Water rowers emulate the smooth and natural rowing motions that one would feel when they are rowing in a real rowboat with oars, which is one of their many likable features.

Piston resistance is created from hydraulic cylinders that are connected to the arms of the rowing machine. Rowing machines that have pistons are typically smaller than water and air rowers. Besides structural differences between piston and water rowers, is that rowers with pistons have less of a natural rowing feel, than air, water and electromagnetic rowers. Typically smaller and less expensive than other rowing machines, piston rowers are not the health club caliber rowing machines one would use in a health club or fitness facility.

Today, millions of people use stationary rowing machines across the planet at their gym, health club, office, and home gyms. Whereas most fitness equipment is heavy, bulky and immobile, rowing machines are effective, easy to move and do not create an eye-sore that takes up half of your guest room.