After recently moving from SoCal to Indiana I went from mountain biking 3-4 times a week to 0. The main reason for this is due to the lack of trails in Indiana and let's face it hills. In an attempt to stay in shape and maintain my fitness I picked up a Avari Stamina Rowing Maching after seeing many professional riders using them to stay in shape. In this debate, I will break down pros and cons to both Mountain Bike riding and using a rowing machine and also break down the rower I have been using.
Which Is Better
If you have time, money, and terrain to ride a mountain bike let's face it riding a bike on single track is about as close to riding your dirt bike as you will get. As for staying in shape in the 2 years of riding I was in the second-best shape of my life just after my time as a rescue swimmer in the Navy. Now for most of us we don't have 3-10 thousand to drop on a mountain bike and we don't live near mountains, and we have families so with that being said a rower is a great full body work out that will keep you in shape if you can stick with it.
Which Would I Choose
With my current living conditions I would pick the rower because it is something that I can do in the morning or evening while catching up on a few movies or a pod cast. The one thing I do find harder about the rower is staying motivated, and doing it every day so below I listed a few things you might want to pick up to help keep you motivated.
MTB Pro's
- Awesome Work Out
- Helps dirt bike skills
- You get outside
- Apps like strava help keep you motivated
MTB Con's
- Bike and Gear Cost
- Chance of getting hurt
- Time
- Need of terrain
- Weather
Rower Pro's
- Lower Cost
- At Home Workout
- Full Body Workout
Rower Con's
- Keeping Motivated
- Space Needed
Rower I Use
Like I said earlier the rower I use is the Avari Programmable Magnetic Rower which is a great rower. You will hear most riders talk about their rowers and let's face it they are too expensive for my blood. If you want all the detail about this rower you can find them HERE and below I will list, the features I use and enjoy the most.
- Programmable Settings I have one setting that is as hard as you can make it for the whole work out which allows me to get a quick workout in.
- Heart Rate chest strap setting allow you to set what heart rate you want to be in and it will automatically adjust the magnet to keep you in that heart rate. "Cool Feature"
- Foam Handle- this allows for a more comfortable and secure grip.
- Wheels- The build in wheels allow you to move this rower around to help save space when not in use.
- Fold-able Frame- Help save space also when not in use.
To keep it simple there is to many factors that that go into which is better, but if you have around $1000, don't live near mountain, and don't have a lot of time then I would look into a rower you will get a full body work out.
