“We Don’t Just Talk About Rowing
We Actually Row!”
“We Don’t Just Talk About Rowing – We Actually Row!”
The 2,000 meter row time is the gold standard for comparing your level of physical prowess on the rowing machine. When you meet new rowers, one of the very first things they tend to ask is, “What’s your 2k time?”
When I started University back in 2017, I’d never even thought about rowing before. The thought of getting up early and sitting in the cold and wet hadn’t once crossed my mind!
The 2K erg test is the gold standard of measuring rowing performance and usually performed on the Concept 2 indoor rowing machine. Times across the world are regularly compared by rowers and rowing coaches alike.
Through my rowing journey, I’ve come up against many peaks and troughs over the years, and one of the biggest troughs I find is injury. Consequentially, preventing injuries is an important part of my rowing training, and one of the best ways to do that is by improving mobility.
It’s a fact that rowing machines offer a total body workout. When using proper technique, the majority of the benefits go to your legs, back muscles, and abs, as the muscles of the arms and forearms are only there to offer support and draw in at the finish.
Weight adjusted erg scores are a hotly debated topic in rowing – some coaches absolutely love them and use them regularly in crew selection, some cannot stand them!
Many rowers who leave the sport often cite injury as their main reason for leaving – back pain being one of the major complaints.
Slides are a fantastic indoor rowing accessory that can support you in making huge technical gains, including a quicker catch, better body weight control, and improved technique at rate. Yet, many people still don’t know what slides are and how they provide more training options.
The 5000m and 6000m tests are staples of winter training throughout the indoor rowing world. In the US, the focus tends to compete in the slightly longer 6K, whereas the rest of the world tend to centre on the 5K test.
High intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts are a fantastic way to burn calories and are great for fat loss, and the rowing machine is perfect for this type of workouts.
One of the best years of my life was the time I spent as a novice in my first year of college (university), so much so that I ended up being Novice Men’s Coach three years later.
Cross training is hugely important and has benefits for both your physical health and mental health, offering some light relief from the rowing machine and the repetitive rowing motion.
Strength training for rowing is a surprisingly contested topic within the sport. There’s a faction of coaches who believe that the best thing to improve your rowing performance is more rowing. However, I stand firmly on the other side of the fence.
