Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Pros - Exercises multiple body areas at one time, very good abdominals workout with the rowing stroke, very good glute workout, fair workout for arms and top of thigh (rectus femoris), fair workout for the upper back It's cheap You can do it indoors away from heat and mosquitos There is a choice of doing resistance/muscle building or aerobic (for resistance dial up the hydraulic and go slow, for aerobic use low resistance and increase your stroke speed) Low impact - I have had no issues with hips, knees or feet This cheap/lower level machine I bought is light weight and I can easily lift and move it from room to room I can watch TV while I exercise Convenience - I don't have to go anywhere to exercise There are 12 levels of hydraulic resistance on the machine I bought - I'm only up to level 4 Assembly was easy with good instructions and doing it alone took about 20 minutes Cons - There is a learning curve to master and get benefit from the machine. The directions that came with the machine were too vague, YouTube had good tutorials - I watched multiple You don't get outside in the fresh air and sunshine - if you strictly exercise indoors vit D deficiency can be a factor There may be an issue with you getting down on the floor or almost floor level to get in and out of the machine (there are more expensive machines that sit chair height but I did not need this - I don't know if you would or not) Other thoughts on the rowing machine - Helpful tips - one of the best YouTube videos I watched said start slow with 3-4 minutes once or twice a day to see how your muscles will respond to rowing. I slowly built up my time and now do 30 minutes straight. I did some research on low impact/high benefit exercises and it came down to either rowing or swimming. I like to swim but compliance to go to the pool and the time factor of exercising away from home made me decide against it. I'm happy with this machine it has a comfortable wide seat, very good/thick cushion on the rowing bar, it has straps for the feet and at first I used them but soon discovered I didn't need them. I rate this machine an extremely good value for the money.