You need only two things to begin, a rowing machine and some idea how to row. The first item is simple. You can find a rowing machine in most YMCAs or health clubs. Alternatively, you can easily purchase your own by going to the web site of the leading manufacturers of indoor rowing machines, who sell direct to you. For links, go to the equipment page. (You can also learn to row outdoors in a boat by contacting your local rowing club.)
You can get the second thing you need to help you start, an idea how to row, from the manufacturer (who may provide an instructional DVD), from the book, and possibly from friends or the rowing community in your area, if there is one. We will add more here, as well, to assist you in getting started.
An excerpt from the book:
3.3 Start to Row: The Basic Motion
Many people are surprised when they sit down on a rowing machine and find it feels foreign to them. This may be because the exercise of rowing, unlike rowing a rowboat, involves the legs.
Rowing uses the whole body working together on a sliding seat. You do not sit on a stationary bench as you would in a row boat, where you brace your feet and row with your arms and back. Instead of your seat being still, it moves and your feet are “tied in” to the foot stretcher of the rowing machine. As you row, your seat slides toward your feet on the recovery in preparation for you to push or drive your seat away from your feet with your legs. While rowing uses the core, the back, and the upper body muscles, the legs are the main power source.
The central role of the legs in rowing is, for the beginner, not just a matter of learning to use them at all, but of learning to use them for their power. The challenge is coordinating how and when you use your arms, back and legs so that they work efficiently together. Many of the tips in this book are intended to help you learn to coordinate your use of the different parts of the body. A coordinated stroke is more efficient, allows you to relax your smaller muscles and empowers you to get more out of your larger, stronger muscles. That in turn does more for your heart and lungs.
Rowing is a smooth, continuous motion. There is not a beginning or end; there is not a place where you stop moving. One stroke simply means one complete circle or cycle of motion. In order to discuss the motions of the body and how to coordinate them, we divide the stroke into parts. See the pictures below representing different points in the stroke. However, keep in mind that the goal is fluid, continuous motion and that all the parts run together.
Let us know about your experience starting to row:
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