In “Strength and Power Goals for Competitive Rowers” (2005), authors McNeely, Sandler, and Bamel make a few relevant observations from earlier rowing literature.

“Muscular endurance, strength, and boat speed are closely related. Rowers maintain an average of 686-882 Newtons (N) or the 210-240 strokes that make up a 2,000m race. It has been found that to maintain this level of muscular endurance a rower works at approximately 40% of peak rowing strength for the duration of the race.”

Research with Danish Olympic, national, and club-level heavyweight rowers of similar stature and age found that, in isometric rowing simulation, Olympic rowers generated 204 kilograms of force (kgf) on average. National-level rowers generated 183kgf and club rowers generated 162kgf. Using other non-specific rowing tests–isometric arm pull, back extension, trunk flexion, and leg extension–on the same groups of athletes, it was found that the higher the competition level of the rower, the greater the strength in all tests.

At this point, people often say, “Well, I pull 100% on every stroke, so how does increasing my strength increase my endurance?”

The truth is, you do not pull 100% on every stroke in a race. A 2,000-meter race is between 77 and 88% aerobic. Energy system use is determined by intensity AND duration of the activity. Powerlifters can exert absolute maximal force into a 1-rep max squat, bench, or deadlift lift because they are doing one repetition lasting under ten seconds, using energy almost exclusively from the ATP-PC system. THEY are exerting 100% against the external load of the barbell because the duration is very short.

Rowers cannot exert their absolute maximum strength against the resistance of the water beyond the initial starting strokes. The surface area of the blade, the momentum of the system, and the density of the water all reduce the absolute maximum force that the rower can apply.

In all other rowing circumstances, increasing peak force decreases the amount of effort required to move the system. Increasing your peak rowing strength decreases the amount of effort required for submaximal rowing. Rowing at a lesser intensity increases the duration that you can hold that intensity. This is how increasing strength decreases per-stroke effort and improves endurance.

If you are interested in further rowing research, a great resource is https://rowingstronger.com

Ingham et al. (2007) assessed the impact of low-intensity and mixed-intensity rowing training on physiological and performance responses in experienced rowers.

Eighteen experienced rowers trained 12 weeks either below lactate threshold (LT) (LOW) or 70% below LT and 30% at halfway between the VO2 at LT and VO2peak (MIX).  Performance was assessed before and after the 12-week period by a progressive exercise test to exhaustion and a maximal 2000 m ergometer time trial.

The 2000 m ergometer performance improved significantly (P < 0.001) for both groups. However, LOW intensity training group increased more power at LT (23.5 ± 12.2 vs. 5.1 ± 5.0 W, P = 0.013) and power at the blood lactate level of 4 mM (32.3 ± 6.9 vs. 13.1 ± 3.7 W, P = 0.03) compared with MIX.

What to learn from this?

Physiological and performance responses to both types of training were similar, although LOW intensity training group improved the workload at submaximal intensities more than the MIX training group. Therefore, the adaptation of low intensity training is probably more effective compared to mixed training due to its concentrated effect on lipid metabolism. This should be taken into account by the coaches when planning the intensities for long distance rowing. Moreover, it is important for coaches to check whether the athlete truly trained at low intensity or actually switched to higher intensities during the workout.

If you are interested in further rowing research, a great resource is https://academy.sportlyzer.com

Source: https://rowingstronger.com

Hamstring flexibility for rowers seems to always rank high in concerns for both coaches and rowers. “My hamstrings are tight” is offered as an explanation for everything from low back pain, poor stroke technique, restricted reach on the recovery, and the decline in the stock market. However, perhaps we’ve been chasing the wrong culprit with our seemingly endless hamstring stretches.

During my research I kept coming across references to “Koutedakis, 1997,” in regard to the muscular imbalance of quadriceps and hamstrings in rowers and resulting low back pain. “Knee Flexion to Extension Peak Torque Ratios and Low-Back Injuries in Highly Active Individuals” was an intriguing study as described in other research, despite the bland name, as the authors reportedly did a 6-8-month study hamstring flexibility for rowers of female rowers with a history of low back pain, assigned a hamstring strengthening intervention, and found a decrease in days missed from practice for low back pain. I got the article through interlibrary loan, dug in, and it turned out to be even more interesting than I hoped.

The Results

The researchers noted that the lack of correlation between sit-and-reach results and low back pain runs counter to the current research that suggests that poor lumbar and hamstring flexibility is related to low back pain, and that good flexibility indicates good musculoskeletal function. The authors suggest that different statistical procedures may have produced this result. There is a problem in exercise science research of researchers manipulating research to report statistically significant findings, rather than finding no result (the null hypothesis), as in the current study. You can read more about this by Greg Nuckols here.

 However, Koutedakis et al. also propose that the difference could be due to their participants not experiencing symptoms at the time of data collection. It is possible that pain limits flexibility, and that other studies researching subjects currently experiencing pain would get different results.

The researchers also found that the mean flexion-to-extension ratio of 50% in rowers is lower than the 55-80% that researchers suggest is optimal for trained and untrained populations. They suggest that this is due to the high emphasis on the quadriceps in rowing, and the absence of dedicated hamstring strengthening exercises in most traditional strength training programs. Their results support this conclusion, as improving the flexion-to-extension ratio in the 22 female rowers from 51% to 61% during the strength training intervention resulted in a decrease in days missed from training.

The conclusion

Overall, the conclusion is that hamstring flexibility for rowers is overrated. This is partially because of how popular hamstring flexibility and stretching is, as well as how little it may actually do for us compared to other alternatives. Does this mean hamstring flexibility for rowers is never a concern, and should be entirely ignored? Of course not. A straight leg raise test, as Blake Gourley demonstrates in the picture above, can still provide some helpful information about an athlete. Dynamic hamstring stretches as part of a rowing warmup can help prepare the body to row.

Finally, if static hamstring stretching feels good, then that is a benefit in and of itself.

Follow these general principles from https://rowingstronger.com and you will be well on your way to reaching your rowing goals 😊

We might be tempted to think that the key to rowing faster for 2km is to just row harder. Let’s get the greatest intensity out of our energy system and go anaerobic as quickly as possible for as much of the race as possible. Anyone who has tried a “fly-and-die” 2km erg knows that it’s not this simple.

A highly trained anaerobic system can get you through 2-3 minutes of high intensity output. No one is ever going to be able to row 2km in under three minutes, so the duration of a 2km row means that it is always going to be majority aerobic. Also, remember that the downside of the anaerobic system is high fatigue. Hypothetically, if we could race 2km at anaerobic intensity, the accumulation of metabolites implicated in fatigue would become unbearably painful.

The goal of energy system performance in a 2km race is to get maximal aerobic power for the base of the race, sparing the anaerobic system as much as possible for the final phase of the race. At the sprint, we want maximal anaerobic power for the highest intensity and longest duration possible, “emptying the tank” at the end of the race. Basically, if our base pace for 2km is 400W (1:35 average split for a 6:22 total time), we should try to get as much of that 400W to be from more sustainable, less fatiguing aerobic power. This spares the anaerobic system for the final sprint when we might tap up to 600W (1:23 average) and just try to hold it for that last 30-60 seconds of the race. Therefore “fly-and-die” is a bad race strategy. The rower who sets out at too high of an intensity for their base pace taps into too much anaerobic system energy too early and succumbs to pain and/or biochemical regulation processes before the race is over.

Takeaways for Rowing Training

Three major goals of rowing training come into clarity from research.

First, build maximal aerobic power so that athletes can achieve base race pace primarily from the aerobic system, without tapping into anaerobically powered intensities until the final sprint. More advanced rowers may perform higher training volumes consisting of more U2/U1 work and more specific training, while less advanced rowers may perform lower training volumes consisting of more U1/AT work, and more cross-training.

Second, develop strength and lean body mass to improve force generation, force transfer, and leverage on the oar. Aerobic fitness is the floor; general muscular strength is the ceiling.

Third, do enough specific (rowing/erging) short duration work above the anaerobic/lactate threshold so that rowers can build fatigue tolerance and perform technique effectively under high pressure conditions, for the final sprint phase.

Follow these general principles from https://rowingstronger.com and you will be well on your way to reaching your rowing goals 😊