There’s no shortage of tracking features on today’s top rowing machines. From built-in heart rate monitors to distance and speed computers, the average ergometer is home to more technology than last year’s hottest car.

But putting that technology to use isn’t always simple. We’ve put together a basic guide to tracking and measuring your rowing efforts – from tracking your energy output to recording your heart rate; monitoring effort to measuring exactly how many calories you’re burning.

Measure intensity with your heart rate:

Speed, distance, and resistance aren’t great measures of intensity for cardiovascular fitness. While strength trainers and athletes depend upon their mile times and pulling power, rowers aiming for weight loss are best off tracking their workout intensity with a heart rate monitor.

Work out your target heart rate using a basic calculation sheet. (Most gyms will have one, and home rowers can easily find one online.) With your target heart rate planned, use a heart rate monitor and ensure that your circulatory system is operating within +/- 10% of your target while rowing.

Novice rowers should aim for consistency:

One of the latest trends to hit the fitness industry is high-impact interval training – a discipline that’s often abbreviated to HIIT. Unlike, other fitness industry fads, it’s a proven and scientifically backed training method, and when used properly it can be very effective for weight loss and aerobic fitness.

But despite its effectiveness, high-intensity training isn’t the best option for novice rowers. It’s best to start out slow and focus on consistency, tracking your heart rate and ensuring that your workout is at a constant intensity level. We recommend building basic fitness with consistent training before working HIIT and other sprint methods into your rowing schedule.

Hundreds of studies have been conducted with the aim of understanding why so few people exercise regularly. While some subtle variations have popped up between different countries and social groups, one alarming reason was apparent in every survey: most inactive people claim to have too little free time to exercise regularly.

It’s a subject we’ve tackled before on this website – the lack of motivation that can paralyze exercise efforts and make it difficult to take the essential first step. It’s a subject that, like many others, is easily overcome with a little patience and perseverance. But it’s by no means the only reason for limited physical activity and a distinct lack of exercise.

The second most frequent reason for an inactive lifestyle is a lack of fitness education. Raised on junk foods and pushed into a high-stress low-activity lifestyle, the majority of today’s would-be fitness fans limit their physical activity out of a lack of understanding. We don’t think that’s a good state, and it’s certainly not one we want to see people stay in.

These six tactics and strategies are for helping you break free of the inactive lifestyle. We know what it takes to piece together an effective cardiovascular exercise routine, and we know how much potential a stable and balanced routine can have for weight loss and long-term fitness. If you’re inactive not through choice, but through a lack of aerobic fitness education, let these six tactics serve as the basis for your regular, consistent, and measurable cardiovascular training routine.

Limit high-impact exercises and focus on low-risk aerobic exercise

There’s a common assumption that all cardiovascular exercise is equally effective, risky, and physically draining. Armed with the assumption that all forms of cardiovascular exercise are worthwhile and each equally risky, novice exercisers fall into a cycle of low-effort, high-impact exercise which provides little benefit.

It does, however, provide some serious stress for their joints and muscle groups. Jogging – one of the most popular and widely practiced forms of cardiovascular exercise – happens to be an injury generating nightmare. We suggest that exercise novices focus on low-impact forms of exercises, forms which can help them lose weight without putting undue stress on ligaments and major joints.

Our recommendation: Use low-impact exercises such as rowing and swimming to burn calories without placing your body’s joints and major muscle groups at risk of injury.

Cardio doesn’t need to be continuous to be effective

The sporting world has grown significantly over the last thirty years. Sports that were previously unheard of are now decidedly mainstream, pushed into the public eye through television exposure and cultural changes. There’s also been a growth in what we refer to as ‘excuse sports’ – competitive exercises that are touted as the next big ‘sports’, yet utterly lacking in any physical involvement.

The truth is that cardiovascular exercise isn’t a label only applicable to jogging, swimming, or rowing. Any activity that inspires your heart to work harder and your muscles to burn through stored calories is cardio exercise. Whether it’s continuous or not isn’t important; your casual tennis matches and weekend walks are just as effective as a quick jog or cycle, provided they’re monitored as precisely.

Use your heart as a progress monitor, not your training intensity

Aerobic exercise isn’t measured by how much you sweat, how fast you breathe, or how exhausted you’re left feeling afterwards. It’s measured by your heart’s activity – primarily the number of times your heart is beating every minute. The old yardstick of “if you’re tired, it’s effective” just isn’t true, and it’s certainly not a good metric for piecing together a complete exercise routine.

Take a scientific approach to your training progress, and measure through caloric output and cardiovascular activity. A small selection of rowing machines feature built-in heart rate monitors, though they can often be quite inaccurate. For accurate caloric output and intensity measurement, it’s worth investing in a personal heart rate monitor.

Make your routine easy to stick to by using fun, simple, and convenient exercises

There’s no need to put yourself through an Olympian exercise routine every day; consistent light exercise is often enough to spur on weight loss and significant personal fitness gains. Despite the common assumption that low-effort exercise is worthless for weight loss, numerous dieters have been found to burn calories effectively during light stationary rowing, walking, and slow cycling.

Build your exercise routine not just for intensity, but for consistency. By using preferred exercises and low-intensity training, you can keep effort high while remaining interested in your ongoing fitness efforts.

Our recommendation: Incorporate your favorite sports, exercises, and resistance training lifts into your routine to encourage consistency and ongoing improvement.

Add variety: use different exercises to keep progress consistent

Ask any personal trainer for a cardio recommendation and they’ll inevitably point you towards the rowing machine. It’s the low-injury, high-effort workhorse of the gym, and it’s undoubtedly one of the most effective places to burn calories, lose weight, and boost your muscular strength.

But it’s by no means the only place to do so. Dedicate all of your training efforts to a single form of exercise and you’ll end up tired and uninspired; spread them across several and you’ll stay interested in fitness beyond the initial excitement period. Each week, experiment with a new form of cardio and consider adapting your long-term training routine to suit.

Even without weight, form matters. Use training resources to keep your body safe and free of injuries

Even a light jog can result in injury. From damaged knees to recurring back issues, the amount of injuries associated with high-intensity cardio such as distance running, rowing, and cycling is quite alarming. Despite being completely unweighted and built around very natural movements, even the safest of cardiovascular fitness routines can result in injuries and ongoing problems when carried out incorrectly.

If you’re unable to access a personal trainer or physiology expert, ensure that you gain proper form by studying training resources and exercise videos. Rowing beside a mirror is a preferred option for those with home-based exercise rooms, while our recommendation of recording workouts can often help locate and eliminate errors in form or technique.

Every year, over 17 million American adults are plagued by sports injuries. Some are relatively minor and inconsequential, causing limited pain and healing within days. Others are particularly biting and limiting, leaving otherwise able athletes unable to train or exercise. An even smaller amount are completely debilitating, potentially ending careers and causing lifelong problems for their sufferers.

Whether annoying or debilitating, sporting injuries are never good. What’s most troubling about their frequency is that most are easily preventable through dynamic and static stretching, proper warm up exercises, and a greater approach to personal safety while exercising. We’ve seen some nasty injuries occur without real reason; the result of improper stretching and a lack of sports safety.

These six reasons, strategies, and preventative measures can help you significantly reduce the risk of minor injuries while exercising. Using a rowing machine itself is a natural risk preventer; rowers are less dangerous than other cardiovascular exercise machines and tend to attract only minimal injuries. Whether you row, run, swim or cycle, keep these six warm up reasons in mind and you’ll never find yourself unable to participate.

1. Warming up leaves your muscles more responsive to resistance exercise

Warming up isn’t just a buzzword for easing into exercise, it’s the literal definition. During warmup exercises and light cardiovascular exercise, your body rapidly pumps blood to muscle tissue and increases the temperature of your body’s major muscle groups. That means every second you spend lightly warming up on that rowing machine isn’t wasted time, it’s an important part of your exercise routine.

Warm muscles respond more favorably to resistance training, particularly repetitive training with a moderate load (a category which rowing very much fits into). By boosting the temperature of your body’s major muscles, you’ll see an increase in the force with which you can lift weights, a marked gain in your body’s pulling power, and a smaller amount of essential recovery time between exercises.

2. You’ll clear your mind, increase focus, and cut out distractions

Warming up is equal parts mental and physical. Sure, there are plenty of physiological benefits to an extensive warmup; increased body hormones, minimized risk of injury, and greater respiratory response just a few of them, but there are significantly more reasons to warm up than just the purely physical.

Take focus, for instance. A ten-minute warmup is considered wasted time by some gym gurus and exercise nuts, but it’s really the exact opposite. By isolating your focus for ten minutes before hitting the weights, you’ll gain a level of intense, specific focus that few others in the weights room could have. Channel that focus and ambition into energy and you’ll see some immediate fitness gains.

3. Dynamic stretching minimizes the risk of pulling muscles and damaging body tissue

Dynamic stretching is one of the greatest skills in any athletes arsenal. It eliminates the risk of serious injury, dramatically increases the usable range of motion, and makes you a more finely tuned piece of athletic equipment. It’s the fitness world’s equivalent to premium fuel; working out with your flexibility at its peak makes you a more efficient and powerful machine.

So spend ten-to-fifteen minutes on dynamic stretching before any serious physical activity. Gym workouts and rowing machine races definitely do qualify; they’re both as strenuous and potentially dangerous as any other sport. A quick dynamic stretching session can help you minimize the risk of pulled muscles, cut down on potential long-term injuries, and increase your pressing and pulling strength.

4. A ten-minute warmup can boost your usable range of motion

Range of motion may seem like a silly concept for rowers – something reserved for gymnasts and track athletes – but it’s actually one of the most important fitness metrics out there. Flexibility can have major effects on your body’s alignment while exercising, even leading to undeveloped muscle groups and potentially painful joint injuries.

Thankfully, flexibility is easily developed through pre-workout stretches and static holds. The first – dynamic stretches – are focused on improving the movement-based flexibility of your body’s major muscle groups. They require a slow, controlled, and comfortable progression through simple motions, many of which simulate the movements used in rowing.

The second – static holds – increase static passive flexibility. Shift your body into positions you find yourself in while rowing, particularly those which cause minor pain or discomfort. By holding these positions before your workout, you can eliminate the risk of pulled muscles and flexibility related injuries.

5. A full warmup will leave you burning weight more efficiently

There’s more to warming up than preventing injuries and increasing flexibility. Physiologists have found a clear link between slowly warmed muscles and the body’s hormonal system, suggesting that the hormones involved in burning fat, creating muscle, and increasing respiratory power are present in greater levels after an extensive pre-workout warmup.

This makes your body a significantly more powerful muscle-building, fat-burning, and exercising machine after you’ve performed some basic physical tasks. A brief rowing machine session or stationary bike effort appears to be enough to increase hormone levels, though most physicians recommend slowly easing into exercise to preserve hormone levels and keep your body efficient.

6. The warmer you are, the more effective your respiratory system becomes

Take a seat at any track and field event and you’ll witness something interesting. Not only do runners engage in a lengthy stretching session before each race, they spend almost as much time warming up as they do during their competitive events. It’s a result of the human respiratory system’s unique increase of blood temperatures, and it’s one that’s particularly useful to endurance athletes.

As blood warms, the body’s ability to supply fresh blood to muscle groups and major organs increases. Blood flow resistance begins to decrease, muscular stress slows and eventually fades entirely, and the body’s cooling systems paradoxically become more effective. This leaves you able to row faster, with greater intensity, and for significantly longer periods of time.