ROWING CONDITIONING 1a Hip flexors Hamstrings

are too short then hip ‘rock’ will be compromised requiring an excessive flexion of the thoracic spine in order to reach the required oar handle entry position.

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To effectively isolate the hamstrings for stretching, the athlete should lie supine on a mat with one thigh held tight to the chest by grasping with the hands at a mid-thigh position. The other leg remains straight and the hips should be evenly loaded on the floor. From this position the knee of the bent leg is extended to the end of range and held. This stretch can also be used in a PNF (pro- prioceptive neuromuscular facilitation) mode.

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POSTURAL AWARENESS AND LITERACY A structured programme of both flexibility evaluation and development should be undertaken to ensure the athlete can effectively transmit their physiological power towards moving the boat. If the athlete is unable to row an effective long stroke, any physiological developments attained from a fitness programme will be restricted.

In order to use the body as an effective kinetic chain to transmit power, the pos- tural attributes of the rower or sculler should be maximised.

The sitting position adopted by the ath- lete in the boat or on the ergometer is a fundamental factor in both performance and injury avoidance. Many novice rowers exhibit sacral sitting (sitting on the back of the sacrum). This is often due to short hamstrings. Also, whilst in this posture, an excessive anterior curve (kyphosis) of the spine is frequently observed. The cor- rect posture is to sit on the bony protu-

10 Chest stretch

The strength-training regime of many rowers can lead to shortened pectoralis minor and major muscles. This restricts opening of the chest, and compromises shoulder retraction

at the end of the stroke, particularly in scullers. The athlete should stand at a doorway or end of a wall. The body is perpen- dicular to the wall surface. The elbow should be bent at 90 degrees and at shoulder height. The hand and inside of the bent arm should press against the wall. To achieve the stretch the elbow and inside arm should be pressed against the wall with the stretch felt across the front of the shoulder.

berances of the ischial tuberosities or the “sit bones”. The spine should be held in its normal curves resulting in a strong connection and the capability to transmit the large loads from the legs through the trunk, down the arms to the oar or scull handles.

At the end of the stroke, just as the blades have been taken out of the water, or on a rowing machine as the hands begin to move away (figure 8a), the hands should tow the shoulders over in turn rocking the pelvis to give a forward inclination of the trunk (figure 8b). The forward rock should be attained from pelvic rock, not exces- sive anterior flexion of the spine. This will result in good spinal position, which can transmit high loads and also maximise potential lever arm length of the truck (seat - shoulder distance). Once this rock has been attained the shoulders and spine are in a prepared position so that when the athlete has rolled up the slide, the body is ready to load up the oar handle at the beginning of the next stroke (figure 8c). If an athlete tends to over use ante-

✘ Figure 7a (above): Weak ‘finish’ position (sacral sitting)

THE RECOVERY PHASE Figure 8a (below): Strong ‘finish’ platform

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Hamstring length and hip flexibility are key to attaining the “catch” position at the beginning of the rowing stroke. If hamstrings

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hip flexor stretch is effective in the development of adequate hip flexor length. The athlete lies supine on a firm but padded surface, which is high enough to sit on with the feet suspended above floor level. The edge of the bed should be touching the buttock crease. The contralateral knee is held as close to the chest as possible to flatten lumber lordosis. The other leg should rest on the surface of the bed with the knee bent and foot towards the floor. If the lower spine is stabilised as described the leg muscles will be effectively isolated. By allowing a bend in the knee the two-joint hip flex- ors will be stretched.

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Tight hip flexors can lead to anterior pelvic tilt, exacerbating lumbar lordosis leading to injury risk to the lumbar spine. The supine