People who are interested in rowing machines have many options to choose from. Find out the benefits of magnetic rowers.
Using magnets to create the resistance offers a few relatively unique advantages. Additionally, you still get the more general health benefits of rowing.
1. Relatively silent
While water rowers are also not the loudest, magnetic rowing machines are typically considered the most silent resistance type available.
Some people have thin walls, ceilings, or floors. In a situation like that, your family members, apartment neighbors, or roommates may not be happy with you choosing an air rower.
Additionally, you may find that listening to music, watching a movie, or catching up on your favorite TV show makes your rowing workouts much more enjoyable.
Again, choosing the more silent magnetic rowing machines can be a good idea.
2. Precise resistance levels
Rowing machines can be good for your health because they make certain movements more challenging. At the same time, you also don’t want to challenge yourself too much.
This could reduce the quality of your workouts and potentially lead to injuries.
To help you train at the right challenge level, most rowing machines have at least some way to adjust the resistance.
Even with air rowers that don’t have damper settings, you can adjust your speed to get a more or less challenging workout.
However, one downside of non-magnetic rowers is that they often don’t have precise resistance levels. Instead, they can have a turn knob, just water resistance, or an air fan.
The first benefit of having precise resistance levels is that it is easier to go to your desired challenge level fast and stay at that exact level. In HIIT (high-intensity interval training), this can save you time and frustration.
Additionally, having precise resistance levels can be motivating. A level that felt challenging a few months ago could feel easy because you got fitter.
Getting extra motivation from an overview like this could improve consistency with your magnetic rowing machine workouts.
3. Sometimes compatible with auto resistance adjust
There are a decent number of fitness brands that have their own workout apps. These apps are basically video libraries with workouts and sometimes even scenic rows.
Besides just making it easy to upload your rowing stats to the app, some brands even make it so the rowing workouts automatically adjust the resistance for you.
This can make rowing workouts on machines like the NordicTrack RWs can feel more immersive and convenient.
To my knowledge, there are no water, hydraulic, or air rowers that have this benefit.
4. Tends to be budget-friendlier
Investing in your health is often a great idea but sometimes you can get similar benefits for less.
In the case of rowing machines, you want to keep in mind that many of the best models do have an above-average price and can still be a good investment.
However, people who don’t plan to do intense workouts and are on a tight budget right now could consider more budget-friendly options.
While the exact price of course varies from model to model, you will notice that the magnetic rowing machines tend to be one of the more budget-friendly options.
Again, you want to remember that rowing machines that require a high initial investment could be more budget-friendly in the long term.
However, for the right situations and people, the prices of magnetic rowers could be a helpful benefit.
5. You may prefer the feel
The air and water rowers tend to receive the most enthusiastic comments about how good using the machines feel.
That being said, while this upside does not apply to everyone, you could also be one of the people who enjoy magnetic rowing machines more.
If that is the case, the specific feeling of magnetic rowers could be a benefit.
6. Simply still offers a great workout
The differences between rowing machine resistance types can be important and/or nice to have. At the same time, one of the main benefits of magnetic rowing machines is that they still offer a good workout.
That means they can help you improve your cardiovascular health, work a few muscles, help you lose weight, burn extra calories, improve your mood, improve your sleep, improve your longevity, etc.
