The Rowing Workout

On Monday afternoon, after waking up from my daytime sleep due to working nights over the weekend, I did a rowing workout on my imitation Concept II rowing machine. I don’t use that machine very often anymore and I was even considering giving it to my co-worker. I’m glad I didn’t because it gives me a good workout which doesn’t involve using my ankles, just the back, arms and thighs. I was able to do 40 minutes of rowing which is the longest amount of time I’ve ever done. To help pass the time, I watched a documentary called “Food, Inc.” By the time I finished rowing, I was almost halfway through the movie. The pace of my rowing was pretty steady except for the last 10 minutes when I did a few short pickups. That, and the length of time I rowed probably contributed to what I discovered the next day. There was a blister on my left ring finger. When I ran Tuesday morning, my legs felt a little heavy because they weren’t used to the unfamiliar stress I subjected them to the previous day. In the past, when I used the machine, it was as an adjunct to a short and easy run, back when I still ran every day. Or I used it as part of a cardio circuit training workout where I do a three or four repeats of five minutes each on the recumbent stationary bike, upright stationary bike, stairmaster, and rowing machine. That way, it breaks the monotony of doing just one type of exercise. It also helps if I’m watching a good action movie for distraction. On some past rowing workouts, I would do one minute pickups with one minute recoveries, somewhat like interval training. That way, the pulse rate increases during the pickups when I row a little bit faster. I was only aiming for 30 minutes of rowing on Monday but ended up with 40, so it was a good enough workout on a recovery day after having worked two 12 hour shifts over the weekend. The thing I like about rowing is that it’s a total body workout involving the lower and upper body. What I don’t like about it is that I can’t read while rowing.