The piece of gym equipment that works almost every muscle in the body

If your motivation for going to the gym is more that you should go, rather than that you want to go, you'll probably be looking for the most effective workout you can get. Which is why we were intrigued to hear that we may have been neglecting to use the best gym machine there is for a full body workout all this time.

It turns out the cross trainer, the treadmill or even the exercise bike aren't actually the most effective when it comes to working as many muscles as possible. Instead, you should try giving the rowing machine a go.

That's according to medical expert and former Olympic rower Dr Cameron Nichol, who told Business Insider the rowing machine offers "the most time efficient total body workout".

Dr Nichol says the machine is so effective because it uses virtually every muscle in the body, which he proved in an experiment for Channel 4's How To Get Fit Fast last year.

During the show, Dr Nichol and a team from Roehampton University proved that rowing worked more muscle groups than running, activating nine whole muscle groups - which is equivalent to 85% of your muscles. It also works both your upper and lower body, tones your arms and can apparently help strengthen your back.

"[Rowing] gives you more bang for your buck," Dr Nichol concluded to Business Insider.

Speaking about why he reckons the rowing machine is often overlooked, he said: "As a rowing industry we've known for decades that we're responsible for not communicating how to row well.

"It's a really valuable movement, but the problem is we don't grow up with it, whereas we do running and cycling."

Another advantage of rowing? Dr Nichol points out that the rowing machine is often free – meaning you probably won't have to wait to use it. So there's that.

Francesca Rice

Red Digital Editor

Francesca Rice is the Multiplatform Editor of Red, leading on all things digital for the brand. She oversees every section of the site, from Fashion to Wellbeing, and directs Red's digital content strategy across all platforms, including newsletter, social media and video. Francesca has worked as a journalist on the UK's top lifestyle and luxury titles since 2013. She joined Red as Digital Editor in 2021, having previously held senior editorial roles at Hearst UK as Good Housekeeping's Deputy Digital Editor and Prima's Senior Digital Writer. Prior to this, she worked as a News & Features Writer for SheerLuxe, after beginning her journalism career as the Features Assistant at Marie Claire. Francesca has a postgraduate diploma in Multimedia Magazine Journalism from the Press Association and a degree in English Literature from Durham University. Having attended an international school, she is fluent in French and Italian (and occasionally Spanish after a few glasses of rosé). She loves travel, books and pizza so a relaxing holiday in Italy is pretty much her dream scenario.