Dominion Strategy Forum
Miscellaneous => General Discussion => Topic started by: mcmcsalot on October 14, 2014, 01:11:23 pm
-
So I was rereading the swimming and running threads and realized there are a lot of athletes on here with good advice and ideas so I thought I would make a thread about my recent passion of rowing.
I just started rowing recently with a standard machine to build up the base muscles and I want to transfer into rowing in open water(my city has a club) next spring.
I was wondering if there were any other rowers on the forum or people that have used rowing machines and what their opinions are.
-
I love rowers. They're my best buddies. They allow me to do the swims that I want to do. Without them, I don't go far at all.
There are two wonderful historic rowing clubs in San Francisco. "South End Rowing Club", and "Dolphin Club". Both have been around for over 100 years. Both have many pictures of swimmers and rowers alike out in SF Bay while the Golden Gate Bridge was being built, and while Alcatraz was still operational. Lots of amazing history.
-
I have a ton of respect for rowers. I have a buddy who was training for the single sculls hoping to make it to Rio in 2016, but medical issues prevented him from continuing on.
-
This (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulkavan_Suursoudut) is held in the municipality I live in.
I have tried a rowing machine and my opinion is that boats are much more fun. What's the point in rowing if there isn't water around and nothing smells like tar?
-
I rowed for about 5 years, but I haven't been out on the water in a year and a half now.
Going out on the water is definitely way more fun than erging (erg is short for ergometer, another name for a rowing machine. Rowers frequently call the activity erging). Both are great exercise though. My number one piece of advice is to get someone who has rowed before (ideally rowed a lot and in some competitive settings) to teach you how to erg. I see so many people in the gym using such poor form that they are definitely hurting themselves. Looking up videos is great to learn the idea, but it's really helpful to have someone who knows what they're doing watch you and correct your mistakes.
-
Form is something I have been really concerned about. So far it's been my butt and my forearms that have been the most sore and I expected my shoulders and core to be more sore.
-
Form is something I have been really concerned about. So far it's been my butt and my forearms that have been the most sore and I expected my shoulders and core to be more sore.
You should definitely feel it in your glutes and quads. That's where most of your power is coming from. Sore forearms is probably an indication that you're flexing your arms too early and gripping too tightly (your forearms should get somewhat sore, but it shouldn't be the main thing). You want to keep your arms fully extended the whole time that your legs and back are doing work and only pull your hands in towards your chest at the very end of the stroke. If you start flexing up too early then your poor puny arm muscles have to hold all the force of your legs and they just really aren't up to that. You want to have most of that going through your bone structure. For about 80% of the stroke your arms are fully extended.
Here's a good video on proper technique from concept2 (probably the company that made your erg):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ82RYIFLN8
And another one on common errors:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP6OR-G7AxM
The bit on rushing and shooting the slide aren't as detailed as I think they should be, but the first two they cover sound like things you might be having issues with. It's good to be aware of these things, but it would really help to have someone knowledgeable watch your stroke and let you know what you're doing wrong. It's harder to spot errors on your own.