Don’t Be So Sure!
There are also downsides to rowing machines. The biggest downside is that it is no substitute to actual rowing. The fresh air, the sun shining overhead and those splashes of water - you cannot get that experience on a rowing machine. You cannot get bored while rowing in real life, but in the case of rowing machines, people get really bored, really quickly. The reason is that rowing entertains the whole body and mind. While rowing in a lake you can enjoy the beautiful surrounding, but when on a rowing machine you are stuck inside and you can’t even read.
Apart from that, all the types individually have downsides. The piston resistance models though cheap and portable shouldn’t even be referred to as rowing machines as rowing requires a sort of elliptical path for the hands to move, which they don’t provide. Also, piston resistance models of rowing machines are mostly fixed. So your legs don’t really do anything, another reason these contraptions should not be called rowing machines. Let’s talk about the brake fly wheel resistance models of rowing machines. They have earned the right to be called rowing machines. But they cost a lot. In the brake flywheel resistance rowing machines, the individual braking types have unique problems. The Air Resistance models of rowing machines are first of all very noisy. I personally do not like noise during my workout. It’s hard enough setting the hell out of me. These require a lot of space. After those there are Water Resistance models of rowing machines that make less noise, but they use water for brakes. As you might imagine, they would need a whole lot of space for the tank, but they do a good job simulating the rowing experience, too bad they require a little lake of their own. The final rowing machine models that use Magnetic Resistance ones have electromagnet in brakes. They are quiet but they are still very expensive and as compared to Water resistance models, they aren’t that good.
So every type has its own problems. Consider yourself warned.