If you're really sincere about pursuing a fitness regimen, I'm sure you've considered building a home gym. It can become the special place where you undergo physical and mental training in a Zen-like manner away from the hectic world outside and away from a busy commercial gym where all your friends hang out.

I'm sure you've also put some thought into fitness machines to fill your gym. You've probably read the fitness sites back and forth and found that not only are most of them are useless, but some of them are actually dangerous. But looking at the slick ads you wonder which is which, which can hurt you in a good way and which will hurt you in a bad way.

One piece of equipment that will give you the most bang for the buck over the long run is a rowing machine. While it may not provide the versatility of something like an exercise ball and is a bit more costly, it's is nowhere near as expensive as a decent treadmill.

High-end rowing machines have much more complex machinery and parts than similar quality treadmills, which makes them comparatively more expensive. Also, the rowing machine must have a strong frame to withstand the force of the heaviest people. The treadmill is composed of relatively simple pieces, and even if these parts are very high quality, they will always cost less than the complicated parts.

A rowing machine is just at versatile as any other cardiovascular equipment. You can decide if you want to work out by time, distance or endurance also. You can incorporate the upper body as well. You can't do that on other equipment like stepping machines or bicycles.

It does have its limitations, though. A rowing machine isn't all that useful for developing most beach muscles. Your abs, triceps, chest, and shoulders will need added work to balance what the back, biceps, legs, and butt get with the rower. And, at least for your legs, it does lock you into one pattern of movement, so you probably don't want to use a rowing machine as your only exercise lest you risk repetitive strain injuries.