Rowing: Opinions?

Any thoughts on the fitness benefits of Rowing? Both Sweep and Sculling. Any detractors?

Might want to PM Rappstar … never seemed to hurt him :slight_smile:

There are a few older threads on this - including one about the horrors of erging. Try doing a search. There are a lot of ex-rowers here.

As far as sweeping v sculling - sweepers end up with muscle imbalances depending on which side they row. You would probably be better off sculling. It will also allow you to row a single and therefore not be dependent on anyone else in order to row.

I still have erg nightmares.

Love rowing. love it. sculling allows you to be independent. If you don’t have consistent, reliable team members and a cox-you’re better off alone (although much more likely to end up in the drink)

the best full body workout out there. well…XC skiers might beg to differ, but rowing rocks.

why do you ask?

As an ex-rower for Tulane, I cannot fully convey all the benefits of rowing. However, most of them depend on the level at which you training. If you are the recreational rower you won’t benefit as much as the collegiate competitor who is on the water in the morning followed by an afternoon in the erg room.

Here are some thoughts:

1.) Rowing is all about the legs. Sure you get a little upper body work in but if you have the proper form, you should be focusing on working your lower body.

2.) If you are on the water, you will not see muscle imbalances in your upper body unless you are training really hard. This shouldn’t be an issue at all if you are erging properly.

3.) Erging is probably the most efficient training method unless you have lots of time to spare. Getting out on the water takes some time and money whereas if you have access to an erg you can get a workout in relatively easy.

4.) Ergs have computers that you can see at all times (if they work) and you can keep track of your strokes/min as well as your total time whereas you can’t usually do this outside unless you’re rowing with access to a cox box.

Unless you know what you are doing and have been taught the proper form, I wouldn’t really recommend rowing as a way to cross train. But if you know what you’re doing, ENJOY!

Rowing is a kick-ass workout! I was rowing for a club in Seattle for a while and I’ll tell you what - I was in fantastic shape. Though I could never seem to get enough food into my mouth in a given day, but that is just a testament to how many calories you burn. It will really help you with your VO2Max also. As for sweep vs skull: if you are new to the sport you will probably get put in an 8-person boat (which is only sweep) until you get it figured out because there is a little more to digest when you start skulling. You can build a muscle imbalance if you stick to one side (port or starboard) but if you try to switch it up, you will be a better rower for it and prevent that muscle imbalances. But just like every other sport there are divisions and ports and starboards divide like the followers of shimano vs campy. Personally, I most enjoyed skulling in a quad (4 folks in a boat), there just seemed to be a lot of power in that boat and going fast was the best part about it…besides getting yelled at by a 12 year old girl every morning (the coxswain). It would probably take several months or even years of devoting a lot of time to it in order to be able to take out a single (skull only - of course) just because of the very delicate balance issue, but then again, you’ve probably already got a wetsuit, right :wink:

Anyway, the only reason I stopped rowing is because when you get to start rowing with the big-boys, they go out on the water really early to avoid boat-wakes and take advantage of the smoother water. They usually hit the water by 4:15am. That intense of a workout that early in the morning will make you feel great all day long, then you hit some weights or the erg on your way home from work but then like a light switch I would shut down at about 8 pm. I found that even 8 hours wasn’t enough to keep my body happy because of how hard the workouts were. It really cut into my family time and the times that I tried to stretch it out and stay up until 10 or 11, I felt like a zombie, so I might as well have been asleep.

I hope that helps and enjoy it if you try it.

Depends on what you mean by ‘fitness’. The more you row, the fitter you get at rowing.

Unless you are starting from low aerobic fitness, rowing per se will not make you faster or more efficient at swim bike run.

We have a pretty active Rowing scene here in PDX. I’ve done virtually every other endurance sport at one time or another, but have yet to set foot in a Rowing shell. We have summer classes on the river that last 5 weeks (twice a week early am) a good 1 1/2 hour class. Since this is somewhat of an “off” year I thought it might be fun to do the class, still S/B/R train up to the level I’m willing to dedicate to it this season, but throw in the Rowing for a few weeks. I XC skiied a fair amount this winter, so it’s sort of natural extension of that alternative activity . Might Kayak some too. I enjoyed the feedback from the rowers. My understanding is that we’d be in 4’s and 8’s on both sides over the course of the class. The next step is the Intermediate class which introduces 2’s and Sculling in singles as well as pre competitive training. I might not want to take it that far, but those who do it a lot sure seem passionate.

You should do it just because it is fun :), but I don’t think you will be reaping any increased fitness from rowing in pairs and sixes while you are doing the class. It’s a lot of sitting around and setting up the boat.

Forget about any fitness aspects, just do the class, and enjoy :slight_smile:

rowing is reckoned to be second only to x-country skiing as the best all body workout.

The muscle imbalance issue is easily fixed by swapping sides on the boat occasionally, but you’d have to get pretty serious about it for that to be happening. In young people, it can lead to curvatures of the spine for the same reason. This is why the east germans stopped allowing kids to row only rather than sculling until they were 17-18. The research there was being done in the late 60’s-early 70’s. My mum was the first western coach to be allowed into east germany to study with their coaches and this was one of the big things she brought back. I remember seeing the x-rays of kids with curved spines etc, it was quite shocking in it’s day.

Yes, rowers tend to be up and out early for their morning training, she used to be home by 7:30am to see us off to school, and I grew up spending weekends on or by the water, and travelling round the european race cicuit every summer.

Bupsall, yep my sister was one of those 12 year olds shouting at the crews. She was 12 when she went to her first world championships. She was well known for being able to be heard from the other end of a 2km course, with no amplification. Hell of a set of lungs she had.

Technique is at least as important as it is in swimming/cycling. Technique will win out over brute strength every time, which was how my mum managed to beat the east germans pretty much every time, not that she wasn’t damn strong, she just wasn’t as ox-like as they were.

Being out on the water at dawn, the mist rising as you glide nearly silently along, a sliver of finely crafted woodwork propelled by yourself, it’s a wonderful feeling. I haven’t done it in years, but I’d be tempted back into a boat for a morning sometime. Be fun to relive a bit of the past.

I rowed for four years in school and then competively for three years after (and a bit non-competitively after that). There’s a significant learning curve to grasp the proper technique in order to get a quality workout, otherwise you’ll just be floundering around. Once you get the technique down, I’ve found it’s a bit like riding a bike in that it becomes second nature. If you’re patient and learn the technique, you’ll be in a much better position to make fitness gains.

I think rowing is also easier to learn later in life than swimming. Many US elites don’t start until college (when’s the last time you saw a swimmer start that late?).

For what it’s worth, I’ve never flipped in a single (or pair for that matter), so don’t let that scare you. I have flipped a 4x though – that was an interesting experience.

i used to think that it wouldn’t transfer at all, but now i have a different opinion.

it will build up your legs and lower back-which will help you on the bike, especially if you ride a tri bike and have lower back issues in aero.

additionally, it does contribute to overall fitness. thinking back to rowing, we would run the university of cincinnati stadium 2 times and then do an hour of biometrics after. we were in very good shape. the stadium was the only time we ran, and all of us could do it no problem. my point is that rowing transfers more to running than what i originally recognized, my vote is go for it.

it will make your muscles thick if you do it long enough and seriously enough–but if you run with rowing that will compensate for it.

it can be hard to get a good workout in while learning to row. the single is particularlly challenging. if you can start out in a 4 or 8, you’ll have a shorter learning curve and get better workouts quicker.

where do you live?

Rowing will get you in mad shape.

I wish ex-college rowers wouldn’t trickle into triathlon after college. They should have their own a race category XR.

That’s me…XR!!!

It definitely is a great college sport. Keeps you from spending your weeknights at the bar as well, 5:00am comes early and you will pay for it if you were out the night before.

Of course, most college rowers try hard to make up for it and get 7 days worth of drinking into 1 or 2 nights…haha.

i rowed starboard for 9 years by the time i graduated college and never had any muscular imbalance or spine curvature or anything. i’ve never even heard of that until now.

i rowed port for 4 years, there is no muscle imbalance. if hanging on the oar the right way, it is a balanced movement.

additionally, for a triathlete, swimming would work out anything like that even if the technique is off.

it’s a non-issue, and a made up “side effect” IMO.

I, too , have to agree about the muscle imbalance being a non0issue. I was/am still a port as well, and didn’t experience any muscle imbalance problems. If anything my lower back was as strong as it’ll ever get. I miss that!

i know that’s right!

rroof,

rowing related - I’m headed to Cincinnati on June 9-11 to watch my daughter compete in the USRowing National Youth Championship on Harsha Lake. We’re staying at the Courtyard in Blue Ash. I’d like some recommendations for riding and running in the area - may have a possiblility to jump in a group ride on Sat or Sunday depending on the race schedule. I meant to ask you details at DATT but never ran into you. Mind if I PM for details?