It is the aspiration of athletes and coaches the world over to emulate the feeling of being on the water on an indoor rowing machine. In recent years RP3 have made great strides with the introduction of their line of machines, most notably and recently the Model T which has been praised by critics for its added stability and performance, building on the uncanny resemblance to on water sensation that set its predecessors apart from the rest.
However, many may be unaware that the machines their clubs use have untapped potential that can add to the efficacy of training, creating a larger margin between a crew and their competitors.
Many larger clubs with the financial stability to do so, have invested in recent years in systems such as the EmPower Oarlock which utilises biomechanical data to produce accurate rower telemetry, giving coaches insight into how best improve the stroke of a crew with instruments far more accurate and perceptive than even the most dedicated coach. What you may not be aware of, however, is that the technology that makes this possible is made by a small company: BioRow.
At the 2015 World Championships in France, Valery Kleshnev met with RP3 as South Americans prepared for their race using and RP3 ergo, where Valery was tasked to use his knowledge of rowing biomechanics to create a data capture system that would allow athletes and coaches to measure the momentum of the handle and the seat to produce accurate rower data.
In 2019 the product – BioRowTech – was unveiled, it measures three key characteristics of the rowing stroke: Catch Factor, Rowing Style Factor, and Finish Factor. Each data set is produced by a set of sensors attached to the RP3 and a string to the clothing of the rower.
Speaking about BioRow and RP3, Valery said “Power is a product of force and velocity, so on stationary rowing machines there can be no accurate power reading as there is no velocity in the stretcher. On the RP3 the mobile slider changes the technique quite dramatically.”
But don’t take our word for it.
At the Linz World championships, the top 5 men’s scullers were separated by less than 5 seconds, with both silver and bronze medalists being clients of Valery, proving that more than ever we live in a world of marginal gains. One only needs to look at the singles final for Rio 2016 to see this in practice on the largest stage.
Commenting on the application of his data to perfecting technique, Valery believes there are “certain biomechanical principles which should always be observed” but that technique isn’t the be-all and end-all.
Technique is very important, but you can still win in spite of technique if you have lots of power.
Dr Valery Kleshnev
If you would like to find out more about the work of the BioRow team you can check out their website here, and if Valery has convinced you that the benefits of the RP3 system are greater than you once imagined, you can check out their stuff here.
Ed Evans
Opinions Editor
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