BECKLEY -- If this is the year that you are committed to investing your time and energy into becoming more fit, then the exercise rowing machine is just what you need according to Tom Hamilton, the Fitness Director at the Beckley-Raleigh County YMCA.

"I like the cost of the machine. You can probably buy five of them for the cost of one treadmill" said Hamilton. "So if someone was ever interested in home fitness, a rower is going to be at the top of the pile."

Hamilton says there's a lot to like about the rower because it is a device that gives all the major muscle groups a workout without stopping to change machines.

"There is a pushing of the legs and the pulling of the arms," added Hamilton. "You get the entire body being used in a way that I've not really found on any other machines."

He adds that the rower's smooth action makes it ideal for someone new to exercising, yet it can also challenge someone who has been working out regularly for years. Hamilton says virtually anyone can benefit from a workout on the rower.

"You could have just had a cardiac operation or maybe you've had a heart transplant. You can start off with a very very basic movement on here," said Hamilton. "Slight flexion of the knees, slight pull of the arms, maybe going thirty seconds to two minute intervals. I've had ladies in their 80s get on the rower for the first time in their lives at that age and really enjoying it because it's a smooth action."

Hamilton says the common mistake people make when using the rower is the same mistake they make with most exercise equipment; trying to do too much too soon.

"They go very, very hard and perhaps they don't strap their feet into the foot straps, the stretchers we call them, and they'll sail off the end of it or they'll rock to one side if they don't stay smooth with it." Hamilton added. "Like with any piece of equipment, get to know it. Work with it. Don't try to overpower it, bludgeon it. It's not gonna work that way."

Hamilton goes on to indicate that if he were limited to a single piece of fitness equipment, the rower would be the one to keep for a lifetime of fitness.

"I would actually put this as the very best piece of aerobic conditioning equipment ever made." said Hamilton.

He adds that the only people who might want to avoid the exercise rower are people with severe joint problems, perhaps with bulging discs on the verge of exploding. For everyone else, Hamilton says the rower is a piece of exercise equipment that's suitable for anyone at any age and any fitness level.