Ever go to the gym looking to get in some cardio, but just the thought of trudging along on the treadmill or bike even one more time makes you groan and want to run out the door?

Ever looked over to the side and saw those rowing machines sitting there with no one on them? Yeah, we have too and it's too bad because a row machine is a completely underrated and fantastic piece of equipment.

WHY YOU ASK? BECAUSE A ROWING MACHINE FORCES YOU TO USE YOUR ENTIRE BODY.

It is the very definition of a full body workout. But don't just take our word for it, check out this short article and video from Josh Crosby at the website Q.

WHY ELSE? BECAUSE THE ROWING MACHINE BURNS SOME SERIOUS CALORIES.

Performing the maneuver correctly means that you are using some major muscle mass to with each stroke. Also, rowing is an extremely cardio intense exercise that will leave you breathless quickly. This combination means you are burning calories rapidly. In a vigorous, half hour session, a 185 lb man will burn roughly 360 calories and a 130 lb woman will burn roughly 240 calories.

OK, so you're convinced, but now you're wondering what kind of routine you're supposed to do right?

Check out this awesome 19.5 minute calorie blasting interval rowing routine from Oxygen Magazine.

The Oxygen Magazine workout from the link above involves different intervals and/or groups of intervals which are easily timed using your Gymboss miniMAX Timer. 

Here is how to set up your miniMAX for the Oxygen routine:

2 min x 1
1 min x 3
30 sec x 5
30 sec x P
45 x 3
45 x P
5 min x 1

Once your miniMAX is all set up and ready to go, you will be able to dig in and focus fully on your workout and not staring at the clock wondering when its time to switch intervals. And that is good, because as you will find out this rowing workout is not a walk in the park, or a trudge on a treadmill, or a stationary bike pedal to nowhere. It is a calorie blasting, strength inducing, full body cardio workout that you will actually enjoy doing!