Row, row, row your boat…

I know this must be hard to believe for people who know me, but I just bought… a rowing machine!
And not just any rowing machine… No, a genuine WaterRower ¹a WR110 – WaterRower Natural Beechwood, to be precise.
Since there is no official distributor or reseller whatsoever in Norway, I ended up at Sport-Tiedje, a German company who ships for free to Norway. ²WaterRower Benelux does export to Norway, so that’s also an option

Why you may ask? Well… In the past, I used to look at people I see around me, and thought: ‘My stomach/proportions aren’t all that bad…’. Recently though, I did some BMI calculations³27.8, if you must know, and started to look at at other people instead. And then there is of course room for improvement.
Well, then why not a treadmill or an exercise bike⁴Why regular cycling is not considered by me should be obvious to anyone participating in traffic in Norway… instead? Well, according to Oogle, on a rowing machine you use 84% (not 83%, not 85%) of your muscles. This means only 16% of my muscles are not exercising. I don’t know whether bigger muscles count more than smaller muscles, but apparently the/my largest muscle is… my ass!

Years ago I used to own a simple rowing machine, which I sold after a while. I had lost interest in it, no doubt partly because of its flimsy quality.

This won’t be the case with the WaterRower if I’m to believe all the rave reviews. Even Representative Francis J. “Frank” Underwood has one in his basement.⁵Whether or not Kevin Spacey likes/endorses the WaterRower as well is unknown 😎

I am aware it’s a matter of commitment. Let’s hope that, with enough distraction (TV? music? perhaps audiobooks?) the exercise time will pass quickly enough. And who knows… I might even start to like it! 😉

I’ll update this post with experiences once the machine has arrived, thereby turning this into a ‘The total newbie’s guide to the WaterRower’ review someday.