Did you know that in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the United States of America took home one gold, one silver, and one bronze in the sport of rowing? That makes rowing the USA's eighth biggest medal winning sport after swimming, track and field, gymnastics, shooting, fencing, cycling and equestrian. The US team in the Women's Eight Event took the top prize. Michelle Guarette won the silver in the Women's Single Sculls. The US men's team in the Men's Eight Event bagged the bronze. So did you know that rowing is one of the oldest sports in the modern Summer Olympics? It became an Olympic sport during the first staging of the quadrennial meet in Athens, Greece in 1896.

For those of you who are not familiar with rowing, it is a method of moving a small boat along with oars, and is a popular pastime where there are lakes and rivers. Rowing can be either a recreational activity or a competitive sport. It may look simple but it requires a lot of skill incorporating strength, balance and endurance. If you are doing it as a team, you must possess good coordination and rhythm. If you want to compete in the sport of rowing, you can take part in different kinds of competitions, such as time trials and endurance races. There are also what are called bumps races and stake races. In the Olympics, however, the type of race that takes place is the side-by-side format.

You might be surprised to learn that you can benefit a lot from rowing as far as your health and fitness is concerned. Because rowing involves all your muscle groups, it can help you work out your biceps, triceps, glutes and abdominal muscles, among others. Your muscles are strengthened in this exercise as is your cardiovascular system. For those of you who want to lose weight, rowing is the perfect exercise to help you to do it. You sweat a lot while rowing, and this is particularly so if you do it in strong sunlight. Although twists and sprains are very rare in this activity, you have to be careful with your technique. If you don't do it in the proper style, you may risk ending up with back pain or even injuring your spine.

For those of you who do not have access to large stretches of water, there is in fact a way for you to benefit from the sport of rowing in the comfort of your own home, or in a gym. The way to do this is by using a rowing machine.

You can be your own Olympic rowing gold medalist at home by using a rowing ergometer, which is a rowing machine that helps you to have an effective cardiovascular workout. The upper and lower parts of your body get the exercise they need, and you work off about 15 calories a minute with this type of exercise. This means that by spending just twenty minutes working out on the machine, you can lose about 300 calories. An indoor rower is another rowing machine you can use at home. It gives you the feeling that you are actually rowing on water, and at the same time it helps you achieve the benefits that you would get if you were rowing on a river or lake.