Proper Rowing Technique

Jackie, giving the C2 rower the business.

Quick Tips To Improve Your Rowing Technique

Excerpt from The CrossFit Journal, Issue 50, 2006.  Angela Hart, Rowing Technique: Passing the Human Polygraph

"1. Begin rowing from the catch position, with shins vertical, torso angled forward from the hip to create subtle forward spinal flexion, arms fully extended with fingers curved around the handle, abdominal muscles engaged and the navel pulling back away from the thighs, and shoulders relaxed down (not hunched up), with slight scapular retraction.

2. Initiate the drive with the legs, giving a quick, powerful push (kick) off the catch while maintaining the forward body angle for the first half of the drive (roughly ten to fourteen inches of the slide, but variable depending on the length of the legs). Continue pushing with the legs while opening the body angle with the strength and explosiveness of the legs and core body strength, resulting in suspension. Let your mass work to your advantage, allowing the weight of the body to combine with muscular strength and endurance to produce maximum power output.

3. As your legs reach extension, finish the stroke with a powerful arm pull, accelerating the handle as you pull it away from the flywheel and back to your upper abdomen. At the end of the drive, your legs will be straight with a bit of plantar flexion at the ankle (i.e., slightly up on the balls of your feet) to prevent hyperextension of the knee joints; your body will be angled back about thirty degrees from vertical with activated trunk muscles; and your arms will be bent with the elbows behind the torso and the handle almost touching your abs).

4. Return to the catch by extending the arms and allowing the handle to pull the body into forward flexion. Flex forward at the hips, aligning the chest over the thighs, and then slide the seat up toward the feet with slow control. Overall, the recovery phase should take about twice as long as the drive phase.

In summary, the rowing stroke is a continuous, fluid movement in which the handle is perpetually in motion. Although we can break it down into its constituent parts for training and analysis, as in the aforementioned steps, it should not actually look or feel like a series of separate movements."

Link to full article HERE