“Correlation does not imply causation” is one of the pillars of pseudo-scientific myth-busting and refers to the ridiculous cause-and-effect conclusions that so many people make. This is commonly known as the Correlation Fallacy and can be seen in ludicrous statements like, the sea levels are rising as is the use of rowing machines, therefore, rowing machines are causing climate change.
I may be about to commit my own correlation fallacy here.
Perhaps rowing machines are not directly contributing to the warming of the planet but there is an increasing amount of evidence pointing to these machines as the cause of “something” that may be having an increasingly negative effect on the lives of many junior rowers.
Footnote: a rowing machine or ergometer refers to any handle and chain setup which directly pulls a fan or flywheel.
Two weeks ago my phone lit up with a text, email and notification of a “shared” folder of videos from my nephew. He had just been selected for the 1st VIII for the second year running at one of Australia’s premier rowing schools. Last season he sat uncomfortably in the 5-seat suffering from increasing and eventually debilitating pain across his chest. Just before the Head of the River, he was removed from the crew with a rib stress fracture. Adding insult to injury, missing out on this one final race disqualified him from receiving school ‘colours’ and all of the accolades of sitting at High Table and being in the 1st VIII photograph. He had given everything to this sport, done all the training, rightfully earned his place in the crew only to have his rowing dreams shattered right before the most important race of the season. And now, this new season was looking to be a repeat of the last.
The old feeling of pain across his chest was coming back and panic was setting in. I watched the videos he sent to me and we had a lengthy phone call together. I went through his training plan which had been complicated by a rolling COVID-19 lockdown. Much of his training was on the rowing machine and he had recently completed a series of 2k tests and they were finally getting back on the water as the new season crew. He was finding rowing painful, especially doing square-blade exercises pausing at three-quarter slide and he had already been to a physio who had suggested adopting a wider grip on the oar handle. The problem with rib stress injuries is that you don’t know you’re about to get a rib stress injury until you get a rib stress injury. There is no warning, a great deal of pain and a slow recovery.
I reviewed his technique and spoke to him about ensuring he was adopting a light catch and a gradual power profile. On the water, the body is placed under rotational and compression stresses at both the catch and at the finish of the stroke. So it is important to manage power application during the drive phase, focusing on when the body is squaring up and avoiding any excessive lateral twisting. Due to the nature of water, the slip of the blade and the delay in full connection, by the time the body has moved into a straightforward position in the boat, peak power can be safely applied. I said it was important to avoid “smashing-out” the catch and I pointed him to watch the technique of top rowers who gracefully place the blade in the water without effort. With a thoughtful on-water technique, he can manage his injury and build towards recovery.
I then explored his land training program and found that it consisted of excessive, extensive, prolonged and regular rowing machine work. Due to the lock-down, his squad simply hadn’t been on the water, it was clear from his program that his land training, specifically rowing machine use was totally responsible for his troubles. I explained that on a rowing machine, most strain is felt at the catch, the very point where the rower is in the most compromised position with their spine arched. Unlike the water, there is no slip on a machine and when you drive with your legs your shoulders are squeezed inwards, compressing the chest and the lower spine.
In recent years, there has been a growing body of research on rowing injuries and there is a great deal of analysis on the data. I recall they were talking about this back in 2018 when I was presenting at the FISA Coaches Conference in Berlin. Today, solutions are still being sought and decisions are still yet to be made. Too many elite and junior rowers are getting injured and at increasing rates. We must ask what are causing these injuries and act to make our athletes safe. Is it the nature of rowing, perhaps our sport is inherently “bad for you” like the catastrophic brain injuries sustained in American football? Or is it because more people are rowing at elite levels with increasing volumes of training? Perhaps it is simply because we are getting better at gathering data, measuring more cases and getting more results? Could it be that more elite rowers are wearing bucket hats, Oakley sunglasses or drinking too much chocolate milk?
Alex Wolf, writing for Ludum, put together a summary of the data showing an alarming statistic that “Research has shown 50% of rowing injuries occur on land ” and he concludes that “Rowing machine injuries are therefore as likely to occur as on water.”
[https://ludum.com/blog/athlete-health-fitness/common-rowing-injuries-and-how-to-prevent-them /]
I found this conclusion rather troubling. The implication is that you are just as likely to get injured on the water as you are on a rowing machine. In other words, rowing machines are just as safe as on-water rowing. Really? Is that the conclusion to be made here? Like my nephew’s physio recommendation, Ludum offered a range of solutions that are athlete-centric and focused on correcting land training techniques and muscle development. There were not any questions raised about training conditions or the system we are subjecting junior rowers to.
There is another way to read the data and I am prepared to commit a blatant correlation fallacy here. For starters, we could half the number of rowing injuries by getting off the rowing machine. Stating this again, all injuries sustained by rowers could be halved by stopping ergometer training. To extrapolate a further conclusion, all rowers are making increasing use of rowing machines (especially during lockdowns) to supplement or replace on-water training, and the prevalence of rowers with injuries is also increasing, therefore, rowing machines are the direct cause of rowing injuries. I would like to make the correlation that 100% of rowing injuries are caused by rowing machines.
The Cause and Effect – Rowers are increasingly sustaining injuries in correlation to increased use of rowing machines, therefore, rowing machines are causing injuries in rowers. Bluntly, 100% of elite rowers use rowing machines and 100% of injured rowers have used rowing machines, therefore, 100% of rowing injuries are caused by rowing machines.
We need to be mindful that there was once a time before direct pull rowing machines were popularised, when rowers safely trained off the water on the athletic field, cross country skiing, the indoor bike and the gym. Reading old rowing histories you simply don’t come across the extensive injuries experienced by today’s rowers. I am not saying that there are no in-boat or on-water injuries, but they are few. I would go as far as saying that modern lightweight rowing boating equipment is actually making on-water rowing easier and safer for everyone.
My recommendation to my nephew and his parents was to not participate in any ergometer training until he is fully recovered, and then to refuse any further use of the machine as a regular training tool. The consequences of doing otherwise are too great. I believe that the evidence is overwhelming and it may be fear of litigation that will soon see schools, colleges and rowing clubs disband the use of direct pull machines and invest in sculling simulators, Biorowers or similar that exactly mimic boat cockpits. There is also evidence that sliders and dynamic machines may have a positive impact on injury prevention.
After many years of scientific research, debate and scepticism we now accept the causes of climate change and we are beginning to glimpse at what is causing injuries in rowers. So, I’m going to call it – direct pull rowing machines are causing injuries in rowers.
As for the rise of bucket hats, I wouldn’t dare draw any conclusions.
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