The Spirit XRW600 Rower IS Strong and Capable

The XRW600 is Spirit Fitness' only residential rowing machine, a durable and well designed high-end machine.  With both air and magnetic resistance, it offers a great workout and can be folded up afterwards for easy storage.

The Rower

The Spirit rower features a long aluminum monorail and a solid steel frame.  There is a nice adjustable console giving you your workout stats.

Let's take a look at some of the best features...

• Length/Width/Height: 97" x 18" x 38"
• Air/Magnetic Resistance (16 levels)
• Large LCD display
• Contact/Wireless heart rate
• Adjustable flex pedals
• Contoured, padded seats
• Machine Weight: 81 lbs.
• Max User Weight: 350 pounds
• Warranty – Lifetime frame, 5 yrs parts, 1 yr labor

The Buzz

You don't hear much about Spirit Fitness, but they do make solid exercise equipment that gets good reviews.  They offer a wider selection of their treadmills, ellipticals and bikes, but that doesn't mean that their one rowing machine isn't worth considering.

You generally find their cardio equipment in high end specialty stores like Leisure Fitness, alongside Life Fitness, Precor, Matrix and others, and they sell pretty well.

The Spirit XRW600 is well constructed and well designed, with smooth and natural resistance offered by the air/magnetic system.  You get 16 different levels to choose from that can be changed with the touch of the up/down arrows.

The console is basic, but functional.  You get a large blue backlit display showing you strokes, time, distance, heart rate, calories watts and level, as well as a mode button and reset functions.  You can adjust the console itself as well as the arm to put in in the ideal position for viewing.

There are 11 different workouts to choose from, including time, distance, manual, calories, intervals, fat burn, strength, cardio and game mode.

The XRW600 has wireless heart rate monitoring, but you have to buy it separately as it doesn't come with the machine.

Any negatives?  Well this machine is big...at 97" it is longer than most rowing machines.  The highly rated Concept2 D is about 5 inches shorter and 25 pounds lighter, even though it has a higher max weight capacity.

Still, it's well made and will give you a great cardio workout.  The warranty is also very good, a lot better than most other rowing machines out there...even the high end ones.

What We Say About the Spirit Rower

If you have the money for it, around $1200 on sale, the Spirit XRW600 is a decent choice.  It is well made and ergonomically designed, with a nice amount of workouts and 16 resistance levels.

Also consider the Concept2 D, which is about $300 cheaper and is one of the most popular rowing machines on the market today.