The rowing machine offers a full-body, muscle-building, fat-burning workout.
They’re easier on the joints than running and are sure to help you burn calories, whether you decide to go slow and steady for long stretches or hit those intervals hard.
But exactly how many calories to be able to Are you burned out on a rowing machine? The three main factors are your weight, duration and intensity.
What effect does the rowing machine have on calories burned?
These three things can be used to determine calories burned on the rowing machine.
1. Weight
The heavier you are, the harder your body has to work to accomplish the same task.
And the harder your body has to work, the more calories you burn. So while a 200-pound person burns 336 calories in 30 minutes of moderate rowing, a 120-pound person burns only 168.
2. Duration
How long you row will play a factor in how many calories you burn. Engage in any exercise longer and you’re bound to burn more calories.
3. Severity
The intensity with which you exercise is a factor, as well.
If you weigh 150 pounds, rowing moderately hard will burn 239 calories in half an hour, while rowing vigorously will burn more than 50 extra calories.
You may find it hard to row vigorously, but maximum effort for maximum time will produce maximum burn – or the same burn in less time.
Calorie Burn Rowing Chart*
Moderate effort (100 watts) for 1/2 hour:
| weight | 100 lbs | 125 lbs | 150 lbs | 175 pounds | 200 lbs | 225 lbs | 250 lbs |
| pitcher | 159 | 199 | 239 | 279 | 318 | 358 | 398 |
Vigorous effort for 1/2 hour (150 watts):
| weight | 100 lbs | 125 lbs | 150 lbs | 175 pounds | 200 lbs | 225 lbs | 250 lbs |
| pitcher | 168 | 242 | 290 | 338 | 387 | 435 | 483 |
Very vigorous effort (200 watts) for 1/2 hour:
| weight | 100 lbs | 125 lbs | 150 lbs | 175 pounds | 200 lbs | 225 lbs | 250 lbs |
| pitcher | 273 | 341 | 409 | 478 | 546 | 614 | 682 |
*Calorie values tabulated by running data from Cornell University’s METs to Calorie Calculator physical activity compilation.
HIIT vs. steady-state rowing
Playing around with the duration and intensity dials will yield different workouts — and different results.
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) has many benefits, including an “afterburn effect” that can help you continue burning calories after you exercise.
(Even when you’re showering, driving home from the gym, or sleeping that night.)
To apply HIIT principles to a rowing workout, you can “sprint” (row as hard as you can) for 30 seconds to one minute and then row slowly for one minute (or until your heart slows to 60 percent of maximum).
Then you repeat that cycle for the duration of your workout.
Continuous rowing at a moderate intensity can build endurance if you have time for longer workouts.
Using a steady-state approach, you’ll consider a moderate pace — about 65 to 75 percent of your maximum heart rate — for your entire workout.
Although this range is technically known as the “fat-burning zone” because fat is more heavily emphasized as an energy source when working within it, HIIT actually has a greater fat-burning upside after factoring in the aforementioned afterburn effect. there is
