TECH
Watt? I
Say
Detailed analysis with Watt Bike
f you’ve rowed at a high level in the last fi ve or so years there’s little doubt that you’ll have spent
some time putting yourself through purgatory on an indoor bike. And it’s likely that the indoor bike will
have been a Wattbike. Having fi rst been used by the British Rowing squad (they were one of Wattbike’s very fi rst customers) the bikes are now used by every leading rowing nation.
But what is it about the Wattbike
that has many rowers developing a love/hate relationship with this fearsome machine and what are the benefi ts of using it? Eddie Fletcher, Wattbike’s sports scientist, told us: “When we fi rst developed the Wattbike with British Cycling we knew that the philosophy of training with power on the bike could easily be transferred to rowing. At a basic level it provides variety to a training session but what gets coaches and athletes excited is the data. Being able to confi dently and accurately compare data from one training session to the next is fundamental to improving a rower’s physiology.” When it’s not possible to get out on
the water, having something diff erent to do other than sitting on an erg can help maintain motivation levels. “Great coaches understand that training is not just about physiology, it’s also about keeping athletes engaged,” says
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Fletcher. “Training on a Wattbike adds variety, yet still delivers the benefi ts, whether that be from a long-distance base session or a high-intensity strength workout.” Injuries are part of a rower’s life, with back and upper limb injuries some of most common issues, and this is where you’ll see many rowers at elite level turn to a Wattbike for rehabilitation. “There’s a low-impact benefi t to training on a Wattbike, but the biggest benefi t is in using the pedalling technique analysis, the Polar View, to help balance out the asymmetries developed in sweep rowing,” explains Fletcher. He continues: “Once a rower can see that they are pushing more with one leg than the other in real-time during a training session they can
really focus in on making the necessary corrections. Not only will this help with rehabilitation but it will also go some way to preventing injuries in the future.” Fletcher is also the physiologist for
the Oxford University Women’s Boat Crew preparing for the 2015 Boat Race, and is using the Wattbike for cross-training with the squad. “We test the rowers at the beginning of the year on both the rower and Wattbike so that we have power and heart rate training zones across both pieces of equipment,” he says. “We’re then able to replicate rowing sets on the Wattbike during periods when the rowers are recovering from illness or injury.” ROW360 More on training on the Wattbike can be found at
www.wattbike.com.
ROW360 // Issue 001
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