Health

The Mental and Physical Benefits of Rowing

Rowing is a fiercely competitive exercise – but it’s something that even casual people can enjoy as well. As a teenager or young adult, you can enroll in a rowing camp to build your skills, develop a sense of teamwork, and eventually push your own physical limits. As an older adult, you can find a recreational team – or casually practice with your friends and family members.

Whatever the case, rowing comes with both physical and mental benefits.

The Physical Benefits of Rowing

These are some of the best physical benefits of rowing:

· Cardiovascular training. Aerobic exercise like rowing is excellent for your heart and lung health. This type of exercise can help you improve the strength of your heart, keep your arteries clear, improve your breathing, maintain a healthy weight, and reduce the risks of a multitude of different health complications. If you keep cardio exercise as part of your regular routine, it can even help you live longer. On top of that, people who incorporate cardio into their regular workout routine understand that a tough round of cardio can give you an endorphin rush – a kind of natural high that can boost your mood for the rest of the day.

· Upper body strength. Rowing is mostly an upper-body exercise, forcing you to use your arms and back to pull a vessel through the water. Throughout this exercise, you’ll engage multiple major muscle groups, including your core, your lats, and pretty much all the muscles in your arms. If you’re interested in sculpting a thicker, stronger upper body, rowing could be the perfect exercise for you.

· Coordination and timing. Rowing is a sport that demands focused coordination and near perfect timing. Together with your teammates, you’ll need to work as a single, fluid machine, meaning you need to pay close attention to what’s happening around you and make sure your movements are in perfect sync.

· Endurance and stamina. This sport is demanding, especially if you’re training in lengthy sessions. With enough diligence and repetition, you’ll greatly improve your endurance and stamina, giving you the potential to tackle tough jobs and deal with physically demanding responsibilities with little effort.

· Minimal joint stress. Running is a great exercise, but it comes with a problem – it’s tough on your joints. With rowing, there’s no such problem. Rowing requires a fluid, low-impact motion that’s relatively easy on your joints and tendons.

The Mental Benefits of Rowing

There are also some amazing mental benefits of rowing to enjoy:

· The value of the great outdoors. Some people appreciate rowing for its ability to connect them to the great outdoors. You’ll be in the open water, enjoying fresh air and sunshine, and when you’re not focused on pushing your body to the limit, you can enjoy the natural scenery too. This is incredibly good for your mental health – and your body will appreciate the extra vitamin D.

· Stress relief and mood improvements. Almost any type of exercise can provide you with benefits to your stress levels and overall mood. The moment you start physically exhausting your body, you’ll feel your stress melt away. And once your toughest sessions are over, you could experience a boost in your mood for at least the rest of the day, and possibly for days to come. Because you’ll likely be rowing with people you love, respect, and trust, you’ll see even bigger benefits in your mood and stress levels.

· Teamwork and friendships. Rowing is a team sport. You can technically attempt rowing yourself, with a small kayak or a rowing machine. But this sport was designed for people to coordinate with each other, as part of a cohesive unit. The more time you spend with your rowing teammates, the more you’ll get to know each other, the better you’ll coordinate with each other, and the stronger your bonds will grow. You’ll learn about the dynamics of teamwork and you’ll likely walk away with some new friends.

· The thrill of competition. For some people, rowing is all about the thrill of competition. Getting a close victory over your rival is a feeling that’s hard to match. Training hard for an upcoming competition is strongly empowering. And even losing can feel good if you know you tried your hardest and lost to the best.

· Confidence. Actively training in rowing can also equip you with more confidence. You’ll feel better about your strength and endurance, you’ll feel secure in your rowing friendships, and you’ll be much more tolerant of failures and defeat.

There are countless good reasons to get involved in rowing, whether you’re interested in building your upper body muscles or just benefiting from occasional stress relief.

Whatever your motivation is, you can find what you’re looking for by making rowing a part of your regular routine.