THE PHYSIOLOGY OF ROWING

Oxford and Cambridge Universities will battle it out for the 151st time on 27th March in the gruelling University Boat Race.

We spoke to EIS Lead Physiologist for the east midlands, Dr Steve Ingham, about the particular physiological qualities required to compete in the sport…

Q) In terms of physical or mechanical output, how unique is rowing in comparison with other sports?

Steve Ingham: The stroke cadence in rowing (i.e. the number of times the muscles are required to contract) is very low compared to other sports, with a maximum of around 50 strokes per minute. On the other hand, Maurice Green, the Olympic 100m sprinter took just 50 strides and in less than ten seconds to win gold in Sydney, that’s about 300 per minute.

At Olympic level, the forces applied to the oar on each stroke amount to an 80kg weightlift. It will be slightly less in the University boat race, but the statistics firmly categorise rowing as a strength-endurance sport.

Q) Do rowers develop particular physiology to compete?

SI: Generally, rowers will have a large frame, stand around 196 cm tall, weigh 95kg or more and will have a great deal of slow-twitch muscle. In order to perform at that level, rowers develop distinctive physiology to cope. They need to be strong enough and large enough to produce the requisite power and to house the necessary cardiorespiratory system to sustain such a high workload.

Q) Because of that enhanced aerobic capacity, would a rower find it easy to adapt to another sport – endurance running, for example?

SI: No, not necessarily, despite the inherent related qualities in terms of aerobic capacity, distance runners and rowers are extreme opposites in size. Because rowers are in a boat, their body weight can be supported and so can afford to be much bigger than running endurance athletes, where they will have to take the strain of transporting all of their body weight around, for example.

Although rowers will weigh more and the boat will sit fractionally lower in the water, any extra resistance the boat may encounter is easily outweighed by the benefits of being more powerful.

Q) What about training? Do these specific demands, promote a unique way of training?

SI: There is a general acceptance that training for a sport like rowing – and cycling and swimming – involves a lot of lower intensity ‘mileage’, so there will be plenty of repeated training and lots of volume. Perhaps surprisingly, what rowers don’t do is lots of high intensity training, despite having similar energetic demands to endurance runners – where there is a concerted focus on high intensity training sessions.

The key difference with rowing, cycling and swimming is the unique locomotary patterns, which – unlike running - aren’t experienced every day. The high volume of training is necessary to help develop the specialist neuro-muscular patterns to facilitate efficiency. Accumulative training gains will be experienced as a result of the volume.

Q) The boat race is just over four miles in length, compared to 2000m in an Olympic regatta. Will rowers in the University boat race prepare differently to Olympic rowers?

SI: There will be subtle difference in preparations. For instance, they’re less likely to perform intensity work, but the key difference is the balance the University boat race competitors must achieve between sport and their academic studies.

At Oxford and Cambridge, they simply don’t get ‘time off’ to train and recover, so there is an extra stress burden which Olympic athletes wouldn’t have. The additional stress of deadlines, assignments etc, will take the edge of the physiological recovery process. In addition, there may be less time to ensure rest and relaxation so their ability to train as intensively is naturally compromised.
    
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