How to look after your rowing machine

This is a rower and I’m just going to take you through some of the basics that you can do to look after the machine.

Generally, make sure that you get the best life out of this product, so a lot of rowing machines are very similar. You’ve got a fan and the resistance assembly in the front, you’ve got a handle which is attached to a cord or a chain and you’ve got a seat and foot straps here and then some kind of console.

So with a console sometimes it’s a mains-powered so in which case make sure your mains cords plugged in and rooted in such a way that you’re not going to trip over the cord, because that can snag the wire and damage the adapter and lead to all sort of problems.

And some machines also have batteries in the back of the console, so, if that’s the case, periodically check those and check that they’re not leaking and, when needed, replace them.

Normally they’re the D cells, which is the large round batteries, so they’re quite easy to get hold of, just replace them.

On the foot straps here you’ve got adjusters, so you need to just check these periodically. Check that the foot strap themselves aren’t damaged and that the adjusters here are in a good shape and if there’s any wear to the straps around, particularly around these edges, it is usually where they start to fray, just replace them.

They’re relatively low cost items and the last thing you want to do is be tumbling over backwards when your foot inadvertently pulls through a fray footstrap.

So check those both sides. When it comes to the handle, you always have some kind of interface, a connection between the handle and the rower. In this case it’s a chain, sometimes it is a cord like a rope, other times that is a belt. But they all want to be checked, so pull them out and give them a visual inspection to make sure that they’re straight and that they’re not damaged and particularly check the connection here where it goes onto the handle and also the handle grips themselves. They should be in good shape.

You really need to have grips on there because, if you don’t, you’ll be on the bare metal of the handle which can be quite slippy, especially when you start to perspire, so it’s always worth checking that.

On the final assembly at the front, this is always worth given a quick vacuum out, you don’t need to take anything apart, just get the vacuum and vacuum around the vents here and also on the air intake here, that will ensure that runs smoothly.

Finally on the seat the same mechanism here should be free and easy to slide back. Sometimes you can get deposits spilled up on the surface or in the end where the tracks where the wheels go and they’re quite easy to clean.

If you can, get some wipes. Such as gym wipes, which are these, antibacterial pre-lubricated wipes, which are designed to remove fatty deposits and dirt and that kind of things. Just give it a wipe over and that will take away any kind of mess and dirt that builds up and you’ll feel it yourself as the wheel runs in that roller. If you’ve got dirty buildups in there you actually feel it come through the seat so it’s always worth cleaning out the tracks. Give the wheels a little clean.

Just drop the cloth on there, just like that and that will make sure everything is really nice and smoothly and then your machine is in good shape it means you’re going to be in a good shape and is going to give you the best life it can. If you get the machine right for the job and look after it, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t give you 10/15 years of good service.

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