[Sportsandrec] rowing technique

[Kelly Thornbury]

Sarah, 

I think Lisamaria pretty much has it, my two cents is in regards to the biomechanics (the physics) behind the movements. 

Starting with your machine, I am guessing it has a heavy "flywheel" as part of the resistance. If you give the handles one good, hard pull and stop you might hear it still spinning in the front of your machine. You also may notice that the very first pull is harder than the subsequent ones once you get into a rhythm. A weighted flywheel helps to smooth out the movements and is the most common and least expensive way of adding resistance to the movement. If you happen to do spinning classes, the wheel where you adjust the resistance is the bike's flywheel. In a really short physics lesson, it takes more energy to start or accelerate the wheel, so the very beginning of each stroke requires the most force. 

Now to the body biomechanics, it's a given that your leg muscles are stronger and have more endurance than your arm or back muscles, and of the three your arms will tire out first if you performed the stroke with all muscle groups evenly. 

Now think of holding a weight (or a gallon of milk) in each hand, one with your arm bent at 90 degrees and the other with your arm just hanging at your side, and which will tire first. In this example, you can see that your bones and ligaments (the arm hanging at your side) has far more "endurance" than the muscles themselves. 

So, finally to your question and my two cents, you would start your stroke as LM described. Your first movement would be to begin to straighten your legs because they provide the most power when you need it most. As your legs get close to straight you will begin to incorporate the back and arms, when the flywheel has already accelerated and you are essentially maintaining its speed. LM has also described better than I the pull, and I would only add (and experienced rowers can correct me as I'm imagining this movement to be similar to the seated row in the weight room) you want to squeeze your shoulder blades together at the end of the movement, as if you were trying to hold something between them. This movement should also feel a little like you are trying to pull your elbows together behind your back slightly as you raise your chest/ribcage. In the recovery, your machine probably has a little pull, and you can let this extend your arms while using your biceps femorus (hamstrings) to pull your seat back to the catch position (the beginning of the movement). 

This sequence should give you the best of getting a workout without tiring out your arms before you are done. To change up the workouts a bit, you could do a few minutes where you keep your arms bent and close to your finish position while just using the legs; leaving the legs stationary while using just your back and arms; or changing to an underhand grip and pulling closer to your navel to work the biceps (arms). 


> sarah,
> 
> Ah, I just got a row machine too and have been trying to work on
> technique as well. Being that I've done a little rowing in the past,
> I've been able to recall the proper technique with some help from
> friends. Please no that there are other rowers on this list who can
> help too.
> 
> I'm told you should think of the entire stroke as a one to three, or
> even four or five count. I personally haven't figured out the timing,
> but a friend who was helping me yesterday said I row at about a one to
> three ratio. The one thing I remember from my rowing days was legs,
> then back, then arms, and then slowly come back up to the catch in
> reverse: arms, body, legs. So ...
> 
> Consider one to be when you are at the catch, or crunched up with
> knees to your chest and your hands on the handle out in front of you.
> Push back with your legs only followed by your body starting to lean
> back.
> 
> I guess the two count is about the time your arms come toward your
> body at about  bra strap height.
> 
> I guess the three and four count will be your arms going away from
> you, followed by your body leaning forward, with your legs being the
> very last thing to crunch back up.
> 
> Hope that helps.
> 
> Lisamaria