STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING

STRENGTH, CONDITIONING

AND FLEXIBILITY FOR ROWING

Rowing is known to be one of the most demanding endurance sports. Events are raced over 2,000 metres internationally, with world records of 5 minutes and 22 seconds for the Mens Eight to 7 minutes 18 seconds for the light weight Women’s Coxless Pair. In domestic racing the distances commonly vary from 300m to 2,000m in the summer, to longer time trials of up to 7,500m in the winter. Training for rowing at any competitive level can require large volumes of work both on the water and in the gym.

However, balancing this training load can be a difficult art. On average it has been estimated that an elite rower misses 24 days per year through injury and illness. Forces on the oar are as high as 900 Newtons through a race, with peak forces over 1,000 Newtons. The stroke rate in training will vary from 18 stokes per minute upwards, with race rates of 34-45 strokes per minute. With this in mind, rowers must not only be fit but also have specific conditioning to allow maximal performance.

By Gordon Burton, BSc, MSc

Conditioning for rowing involves three key areas that complement the fitness- training programme. This article does not cover the cardiovascular fitness aspects.

■ Flexibility ■ Postural awareness and literacy ■ Functional strength and power

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Flexibility is needed to attain the specific positions required to allow the maximum force to be applied to the oar throughout the length of the rowing stroke. Postural strength allows the locomotive strength to be ‘connected’ effectively to the oar through an effective kinetic chain. Locomotive strength will allow the boat to be accelerated from a standstill and then for the maximum possible boat speed to be maintained.

FLEXIBILITY There is still much debate surrounding the efficacy of stretching. The range of motion (ROM) required in the rowing or sculling action should be attained before racing or training. This can be achieved through a gentle warm-up followed by dynamic ROM work. Following training, developmental stretching can be undertaken. The follow- ing rowing-specific exercises will comple- ment normal stretching routines (Figs 1-6).

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