Rowing

For a full-body cardio workout, rowing is hard to beat. It will improve your cardio fitness, burn lots of calories, and strengthen muscles throughout the body. Minute for minute, it's hard to find a better exercise.

The great advantage of rowing is that you use both your upper and lower body. This means that you work a whole range of muscles including :

• Legs
• Low back
• Abdominals
• Upper back
• Shoulders
• Arms

Rowing is also a superb cardio workout - competitors such as Steven Redgrave are amongst the fittest people on the planet. An intense workout can burn as much as 800 calories per hour.

There are other benefits from this activity;

• It is low impact, and thus easy on the joints.
• People of all ages can do it - from teens to senior citizens.
• It is self-paced, so you can work out as hard or as easily as you like.

As well as being a fabulous cardio workout, this is also a great way to warm up for a weights session - apart from the cross trainer, this is the only cardio machine that fully engages the upper body.

Although using these machines isn't as easy as others such as treadmills and stationary bicycles, with a bit of coordination and practice you will soon be enjoying a great workout.