Now we are well and truly into the 2022 season, let’s have a look at how to get the most out of your rowing training, and juggle everything else as well!
Top Tips:
- Stretch after rowing – aim for a minimum of glute stretches, hip flexor stretches and hamstring stretches for 1 minute each side, each stretch (6 mins total).
- Stretch on public transport/car rides if you are time poor – something as simple as crossing your foot over your opposite thigh and placing a spiky ball under your glutes (buttock muscles) for 1-2 minutes will be beneficial to getting the hips moving. Bending down and touching your toes x15 can also be helpful after a long day of sitting or after sleeping.
- Ensure you have time for an appropriate warm-up – whilst specificity is key for a warm up (typical arms only, body rock, ¼ slide etc), it is important to ensure there is adequate flexibility and strength in the appropriate muscles. In an ideal world, this should be individualised to accommodate any past or current injuries. A warm up program should include:
- Strength exercises, particularly for the glutes, quads and lower back
- Dynamic flexibility, particularly for the hips – think lunges, rotations or forward bends (downward dog)
A very basic warm up program could be:
- 10-15 bodyweight squats
- 10 squat jumps
- 10 banded rows
- 10 glute bridges/hip thrusters
- Moving between a standing forward bend, to a plank, to a push up and repeat x5
- 5x 10 second superman holds (lying on your stomach, lifting your head/chest/arms/legs off the ground)
- Lunging backwards to a hip flexor stretch and back up to standing x10 each side
- Sleep at a regular time – don’t overthink the problems of the following day as often you will feel differently about them the next day. Write down anything you are stressed about before you go to bed or verbalise it. Remove mobile phones from your bedroom and use an alarm clock instead! Its well known that our bodies recover during sleep, but its also the time when negative thoughts and stress are pinched from the brain and memory consolidation occurs. Create a routine and stick to it!
- Eat well, eat often – if your training ramps up, your nutrition must match it. Often when we are injured, we are concerned about putting on weight, but it is important to give the body the nutrition it needs to heal and repair with good quality food. If we deprive our body of the nutrients that are required for basic function, it will lead to fatigue and a breakdown in energy availability and a subsequent injury. Snack regularly, particularly after training with something nutritious.
- Keep up on the fluids – One of the hardest things I found as a junior athlete was staying hydrated when you are NOT training. If you have access to a weight scale, weigh yourself before and after training. If there is a significant difference, then hydration is likely the reason, in which case you need to continue sipping water afterwards to replenish. Keep a water bottle handy over the course of the day as a prompt.
- The role of foam rolling and massage guns – Muscle pain we may have as a result of exercise (or inactivity) can be relieved with a massage ball, foam roller and massage gun. These techniques can temporarily improve our range of motion also, which is quite important for rowing when considering the demands of getting into a compressed position at the catch and being able to rockover from the hips from the finish. Think of it as a massage you can do yourself between races or for your warm up, warm down or to improve your flexibility.
- Start a strength program and commit to it at least twice a week – notice I did not include conditioning! There is good reason for this. A lot of rowers will include bike, swimming, running or ergos for cardio, but these activities do not count as formal strength training. Muscle strength will improve the ability of a muscle to tolerate different forces, this has the benefit of improving performance whilst reducing your chance of getting injured.
- The workload does not have to be heavy (at least initially) but should be done with good technique and programming, particularly for novices. Get in touch with a healthcare professional for best results and supervision.
- A rowing strength and conditioning program should include:
- A push exercise (e.g. a push up, bench press)
- A pull exercise (e.g. pull ups/chin ups, bent over rows)
- A double leg exercise (e.g. squats, leg press)
- A single leg exercise (e.g. split squats, lunges, step ups)
- A hip hinge exercise (e.g. deadlifts, hip thrusters)
A comment on core: It is a PIECE of the puzzle in relation to lower back pain, and not the only piece. Certainly include it in your program at least two times per week but it shouldn’t be your only focus if recovering from lower back pain (A minimum of a back strengthening exercise e.g. superman or back extensions; an abdominal exercise e.g. leg raises on your back, keeping your back flat against the ground; an oblique exercise e.g. side plank raises or holds).
Most importantly of all – stay grounded when returning from a break/injury/illness. In the words of Joel Embiid from the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA “Trust the Process”. You will likely get injured or sick if you go from doing relatively nothing to a lot in a short period of time. Don’t be too over-zealous when returning for at least the first few weeks. Cross-training and “active recovery” e.g. yoga, pilates or walking in a pool can be helpful tools to improve your recovery and flexibility if you are looking for ways to get ahead and supplement your training. Going too hard, too soon and getting injured will just create frustration.
Give your body the time it needs to catch up to the level of training – a rough guide is you should allow a similar number of weeks to build up your training intensity and frequency to the amount of time you had off – e.g. if you had 3 weeks off, build back up gradually to full training over 3 weeks. It may seem conservative, but the science points towards taking even longer to build up safely!
If you have any questions or want to discuss things further, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me on Instagram @therowingphysio.
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