Fitness Articles

Have you got what it takes to win gold

May 14, 2008 – 9:36 am
Around the time that this article hits the newsstand the rowing community and people from all walks of life will be immersed in the grandeur that is the Olympic games. For many this two week festival of sport and human performance is a source of inspiration to take up an activity or resume one that had been left behind for other pursuits. While the dreams and memories of near flawless performances and the desire emulate heroes and idols drive many people forward very few actually achieve Olympic glory. What does it take to win a rowing medal at the Olympic games? A gold medal performance requires many factors to come together at the same time, technique, tactics, training, psychology, recovery and nutrition to name a few. For the purpose of this article I will limit the discussion to the training and physical side of the sport since there are many people more ...

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Focusing your training

May 14, 2008 – 9:31 am
Every year you spend countless hours rowing, erging, and lifting weights. You read all the articles and books you can get your hands on, you consult with coaches and other athletes on the best type of training and yet you are probably missing the most important piece of the puzzle. What do you as an individual need to train and how do you know if you are focusing your training properly. Rowing is roughly 80% aerobic and 20% anaerobic. So it would seem logical that you need to improve aerobic fitness to improve your rowing but what type of aerobic training should you do? I've already pointed out in prior articles that aerobic base building is very important for rowing as is improving anaerobic threshold. There is also some research that for big boat rowing VO2 max is very important. Determining where you as an individual need to focus is a ...

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Getting back into training

May 14, 2008 – 9:29 am
You've had a couple of months off and you're starting to get the itch to get back into training. Obviously you want to do better than last year and you're wondering where to start. To make this next year your most productive follow these tips for starting the new training year. Take care of the Aches and Pains Between the constant training and hard racing minor injuries and aches are almost inevitable. Most of these problems are never addressed, they go away after a week of rest after the season and you assume that the problem is solved. In reality only the symptoms are gone, in many cases the underlying problem has never been addressed. Many of the chronic aches and pains experienced by rowers are the result of strength or flexibility imbalances. Muscle imbalances are a serious problem for rowers. Sweep rowing in particular causes the oarside leg to become stronger and ...

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Transitioning to Head Race Season

May 14, 2008 – 9:22 am
For many the 1000m and 2000m seasons are drawing to an end and thoughts are turning to the fall head racing season. While many people will use the same program for both racing seasons there are several modifications that should be considered to make the head race season more successful. The Transition The transition between racing seasons can be treated much like the transition between training years a short break will do wonders for you both physically and mentally. Consider at least a four day break from all training, use this time to make adjustments to rigging, confirm travel arrangements to races, take care of any minor injuries that may have occurred in the previous season, and perform a post season evaluation where you look back ion the racing season and honestly assess what went right and what went wrong, trying to determine specific physical or technical weaknesses that you may need ...

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Training for 1K or 2K What are the Differences?

May 14, 2008 – 9:20 am
What's the difference between a 1K and 2K race? Well the simple answer is 1000 m but since that wouldn't make for much of an article let's look at the physical demands and training needs of the 1000 m race. Humans produce energy from to energy systems. The aerobic system requires oxygen to take part in the chemical reactions that produce energy. The anaerobic energy systems don't require oxygen. The anaerobic systems produce energy at a much higher rate than the aerobic system but they have a limited capacity. In 2000 m racing about 70-80% of the energy used comes from the aerobic system and 20-30% from the anaerobic systems. A 1000 m race, which for the purposes of this article I will assume takes about 3:30-4:30 to complete, is probably about 50-60% anaerobic and 40-50% aerobic. This change in metabolic emphasis can have a profound impact on training. Strength becomes much ...

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4 Rules of Rowing Power Development

May 14, 2008 – 9:16 am
 As many take to the water after a long winter of training indoors you can't forget about your strength training program, specifically it is time to start planning the transition from strength development to power development. Power is a function of both maximum strength and speed. It is the ability to use your strength at high speed. This is particularly important to a rower. It doesn't do much good to have a lot of strength at 20 strokes per minute if you are going to race at 30+ spm. Below you will find several rules or guidelines for developing power for rowers follow these as you start to plan the power phases of your training. Rule 1: Speed Matters There is quite a bit of research that shows that strength developments are specific to training speed. In other words if you train using slow movements you will get strong at slow movements and ...

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The 5 best strength exercises for masters rowers

May 14, 2008 – 9:12 am
 Everyone has a couple of favorite exercises. They are usually the ones that you do well.  Over my years of working with rowers of all sizes, shapes and expertise I have found that there is a core set of exercises that everyone should be including in their program. Obviously, if you have a medical condition that prevents you from doing an exercise you should avoid it.  You'll notice that all of these exercises use free weights rather than machines and even though there may be a similar machine exercise they are not equivalent. It requires a certain amount of skill and athleticism to use free weights. Balance, posture, and stability are all developed with free weights but not machines. In other words many of the physical qualities that make a good rower are developed with free weights and not machines. I am not saying that all machines are bad or ...

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Testing Strength in Rowers

May 14, 2008 – 9:01 am
 A couple of issues ago I discussed strength goals and how much strength is necessary for a rower. Now that you know how strong you need to be let's turn our attention to figuring out how strong you are. There are two types of strength testing. Maximal strength testing, often called 1RM, measures the maximum amount of weight that can be lifted one time. Submaximal repetition testing involves a lighter weight, more repetition and a formula to estimate maximum strength. 1RM Tests Maximum strength testing (1RM testing) can be a time consuming process. It will normally take anywhere from 20-40 minutes per exercise to do a true max test. The procedure is as follows: § Warm up with a light weight that can easily be handled for 5-10 reps  Rest 2 minutes  Increase the weight by 10-20% and do a second warm up of 3-5 reps.  Rest 2 minutes  Increase the weight by another 10-20% and perform a ...

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Strength Goals for Masters Rowers

May 14, 2008 – 8:58 am
 This is the third part of the series of articles that started with Strength Goals for Rowers. You should refer back to that article for the background information on the development of  strength goals for rowers. The four points at the end of the article apply to masters as well as younger rowers. Strength is important for rowers. It is even more important for Masters rowers. As I discussed in a previous article the start, where strength is most important, is a much larger part of a 1000 m race than a 2000 m race. You don't have the time to make up the distance you could lose if you aren't strong off the start. The strength factor tables below are based on the ideal strength level of younger club rowers and corrected for age. This was done to accommodate the greatest number of masters rowers possible. Basing these strength goals on ...

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Strength Goals for Rowers

May 14, 2008 – 8:55 am
  The majority of rowers use some form of resistance training in their preparation for the rowing season. While strength is obviously very important for a competitive rower how strong does a rower have to be? Does is really make any difference in rowing performance if you increase the weight you can squat from 500 lbs. to 550 lbs.?Every sport requires a certain level of strength to achieve optimal performance. Increasing strength beyond these levels does not necessarily improve performance and in some instances can be detrimental to performance. Once the ideal level of strength has been achieved the time needed to increase beyond this point could be better spent training something else i.e. rowing technique, aerobic fitness, flexibility, or anaerobic fitness. How Much Strength do Rowers Need? There are several ways to determine the strength demands of a sport. A biomechanical analysis of the forces generated on the foot stretchers, oar ...

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