THE ROW

So many gyms have rowers, but how many athletes (and coaches) actually understand the mechanics of proper rowing form?

How many of you look at this machine and assume it’s a pulling excercise, simply because it has a handle? In actuality it is more of a lower body PUSHING exercise.

Feet are strapped in to the machine and the drive is created by pushing through our midfoot to create power with our legs. The row does use 80% of your musculature and is an ideal “whole body” exercise, but if you are feeling more stimulation in your biceps than your quads, something is amiss.

A simple reminder is the sequence or order of operations. The stroke begins at the “catch” and the drive to start goes in this order: legs, back, arms last. At the “finish” with legs extended, back angle open, and handle at your chest, we begin the “recovery” in which the order of operations are reversed: arms away, back swings forward, finish with legs.

A common mistake we see is on the recovery, the athlete will bend their knees before they extend their arms. Make sure you push your arms out over your knees before the legs bend. Also, it’s called the RECOVERY for a reason. The slide back towards the screen should be SLOWER than the drive off the catch position. The recovery in a boat is where the athlete can take a breath because the boat is gliding.

Remember, rowing is about power, not speed… so ideally (unless) sprinting, our strokes per minute should be under 30.

We hope this helps!!

Photo by: @johnshootsit