ALMOST every gym has a rowing machine, and it's usually used only in the purposes of warming up.

In days gone by, anyone entering a commercial gym would be shown the rower first, and told to include it in their warm-up. However, if you only use it for warming up, you are missing out on some amazing fitness benefits.

A couple of weeks ago, the Oxford versus Cambridge boat race was shown on television, and if you watched it you’ll have noticed that those athletes are extremely fit. The majority of their training routine is done on the rower for indoor sessions and in the rowing boats for outdoor.

The rower is a versatile tool. It takes a large number of your muscles to operate it, which is why it's so effective, especially in the run-up to beach season.

So how can the rower be used to help you increase fitness and lose body fat? In previous articles we touched on the subject of intensity (how hard you are working). One thing to remember here is that intensity is the inverse of duration so the shorter the timeframe you are working for, the more intense you will be able to push.

With this in mind the rower can be incorporated into an interval-style format and works well here. Your legs, arms and back muscles will get a challenging workout, so you'll not only burning calories while you are working but also after you leave the gym, giving you more bang for your buck.

One of my favourite formats to use for high-intensity work is 6 x 30 seconds work (hard rowing) and 30 seconds active rest (light rowing). Before you start the workout, complete a single 30-second hard burst on the rower. We will use this as a baseline, so note how many metres you get in that 30 seconds by looking at the computer. Once complete, rest a couple of minutes before starting your first of the six working rounds.

However many metres you covered in that test, aim to 15 metres fewer than that in the first of your six, 30-second intervals. Each consecutive 30-second interval after that, aim to increase the metres rowed by one or two metres per round. With your sixth and final interval, aim to go as hard as you feel you can.

The above six intervals will take six minutes, so is perfect as a finisher to your workout. If you are new to rowing, complete this once through. Those with some gym experience should aim for two rounds of 6 x 30:30 taking five minutes off in between each set of six. Advanced gym-goers should aim for three rounds.

The above workout is very intense and you can't go hard every day otherwise you will burn out, so I would recommend only performing it once a week. Each week, record your results in terms of metres rowed, so you have something to aim for the following week.

Recovery after a hard workout is extremely important. You need to repair the muscles used. I'm sure most people reading this have been sore from a workout; you hit the gym one day and the next day, you're walking like John Wayne.

Recovery workouts are in my opinion underused and a key feature we instil with our clients at Everyday Athlete. Rather than sitting on the couch because you are stiff and sore from the previous day’s exertions, the best medicine is to get up and active but at a low intensity.

You want to recover from the workout but not train so hard that it inhibits future workouts that week. The rower works extremely well here, for some low-intensity active recovery work. It will get oxygen-rich blood to the sore muscles and help alleviate the stiffness you feel.

Next time you feel stiff and sore from a workout the day before, try this: jump on a rower, set the damper to level five (using the lever on the side of the rower) and row at a pace you feel you could maintain for 15-30 minutes without getting to puffed out – slow and steady.

I guarantee that you’ll feel more mobile and it will help you hit your next workout hard.

For more information on rowing technique or how you can incorporate it into your workouts then why not contact the Everyday Athlete team at info@everydayathletegym.com