The rowing machine, also known as the rower or erg, is one of the very few total body workouts that work both your upper and lower body. Originally designed for rowers who needed a way to train on land during the off season, the erg is now rocking the fitness community by providing workouts for everyone. Gym-goers and fitness junkies are incorporating rowing into their workout routines to help burn more calories while performing a low-impact workout.

Below we take a look at why you should consider adding rowing to your gym lineup:

• Rowing is one of the most, if not the most, efficient exercises to improve your overall fitness. Because rowing has both anaerobic and aerobic benefits – meaning you are taxing your muscles (anaerobic) as well as respiratory and cardiovascular systems (aerobic) – it allows you to improve your stamina, strength, and flexibility in just a short amount of time.
• Studies have shown that rowing burns 2-3 times the calories compared to both cycling and running the same duration.
• It is a true total body workout. During the course of each stroke you engage an estimated 85% of your muscles. Pretty impressive for a seated exercise.
• Rowing is low impact, making it a great choice for those who are looking to be gentle on their joints.
• Rowing can help improve your posture, by forcing you to sit up tall and pull your shoulders back on every stroke.

Common Misconceptions:

• Those unfamiliar with rowing often think it’s an upper body workout, but rowing is actually about 70% legs! The remaining power comes from the combination of your core, back, and arms.
• It is NOT a weight machine. Although we do incorporate resistance (known as “drag”), a higher resistance doesn’t necessarily equal a more intense workout. In fact, a lower drag is most often a more effective and safer workout no matter your fitness level. You should never row with the max drag for an extended period of time — it’s a recipe for lower back injury.

Interested in giving this workout a try? We’re currently offering it every Tuesday at 7pm, Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday at 6am and Saturday at 8am and 11am at our MINT 14th St location.

Please sign up ahead of time as these classes tend to fill up quickly.

Check out all of April’s themed rides below!

• • Thursday, April 4, 6:15 p.m: Feel the Burn: Whether you want to burn it up, burn it down or just burn the pages, this ride will have you burning your enthusiasm as you sweat for 45-minutes in this burnt ride.
  • Thursday, April 4, 7:30pm: “Happy” Ride – Come celebrate Pharrell’s birthday with this “Happy” ride featuring many of his best hits!
  • Thursday, April 11, 7:30pm: Queens + Kings of Hip Hop – Get ready to move, work, and sweat riding to the beat of some of the best hip hop artists of our time!
  • Thursday, April 11, 6:15 p.m: Boston Marathon Ride: Marathon Monday is practically a holiday in Massachusetts, so to celebrate, let’s pretend we’re riding alongside those running in Beantown, up and downhills galore! “Sweet Caroline” and plenty of Dropkick Murphys to be expected on the playlist.
  • Thursday, April 18, at 7:30pm: Video Games Ride – This ride will make you feel like a kid again even if you never played video games. You’ll definitely recognize the tunes, have fun, and get a great workout!
  • Thursday, April 25 at 7:30pm: The Prince Effect Ride – Prince heavily influenced and inspired many musicians! Let’s remember Prince with this challenging ride featuring many of the musicians that Prince lives on through!

Reserve your spot!

Blend functional movement, agility, and conditioning all together in our new Functional Fitness Class at MINT 14th Street. This challenging and powerful class will make participants laugh and sweat at the same time as you train your muscles to work together and prepare them for daily tasks by simulating common movements through various upper and lower body exercises, emphasizing core stability.

So what is Function Fitness, you ask? On the most basic level, Functional Fitness refers to exercises that help improve daily activity – including balance, coordination, strength, and range of motion. Adding Functional Exercises to your workout or taking our Functional Fitness class will help individuals increase these functions while training for life, not just a specific event.

Participants will be challenged in our 50-minute class by building their range of motion, overall mobility, and strengthening their core through a range of functional exercises. Exercises will have an emphasis on:

• Variable transitions from floor to standing (getting on and off the floor without hands will be part of every class, but it also will include hands and knees, kneeling, half kneeling, functional lifting, etc)
• Bodyweight agility
• Useful Joint mobility
• Non-linear, multi-step motions

Interested in giving this workout a try? We’re currently offering it every Thursday at 6pm at our MINT 14th St location.

MINT’s ‘That-Basketball-Thing-In-March’ Event!

 

• Purchase $500 in MINT credit before March 18. This can be immediately applied towards future membership dues, personal training, anything MINT.
• Choose a NCAA team to win the 2019 tournament. If your team wins you win another $200 credit FREE!
• Apply your credit and register your team by emailing accounting@mintdc.com.
• Note- Your team may not be changed once registered.

50 pack FLASH sale through this Sunday, March 3rd.

50 minute packages $500 off lowest rates

• Trainer $4,050 $3,550
• Master Trainer $4,550 $4,050

25 minute express packages $250 off lowest rates

• Trainer $2,400 $2,150
• Master Trainer $2,700 $2,450

*Packages cannot be purchased with discounted gift cards*

Themed Rides:

Tuesday, April 2 at 6:15pm: Game of Thrones. Ride your way through the seven kingdoms in preparation for the highly anticipated final season. All songs featured have titles referencing major events from the show. Of course, the intro song will make an appearance once or twice. Bonus points for any participants who dress up!

Saturday, March 9 at 9:00am: Saturday morning the Rock ‘n’ Roll runners take over DC! Join Nikki as we rock out on our bikes and aim to hit 13.1 miles in our 60 min ride. Gin Wigmore, The Stones, The Black Keys, The Heavy, and more!

Sign up