Anatomy Of The Perfect Rower
Posted by Boating Laws - 08/08/09 at 02:08 amAny keen rowing enthusiasts will have seen a change over the years in the build of top rowers. There was nothing out of the ordinary in rowers of late, there bodies where reasonably lean and had no more height than the average man. Nowadays however, rowers are a great deal larger and their body proportions are very different. Rowers are now seletced when they are young if they show promising shape and what they eat is closely monitored in order to allow their bodies to develop in the right way. So what is the perfect rowing body and why?
Firstly rowers are as tall as surfboards, men often reaching above 6’5” and woman above 6’0”. This allows their stroke to be much larger than the average man/woman and this longer stroke means that they can generate much greater power. The legs of rowers are very powerful indeed. they maintain this power by squatting weights in the gym, regularly exceeding their body weight. This strong lower body is the powerhouse of the motion and is essential in both generating momentum at the beginning of the race and keeping the boat moving at a steady pace until the boat crosses the finish line. Next time you are at a rowing event, cycling along the river bank on your mountain bikes take a look at the legs of the rowers when they are pulling away from the start. You will see that they are bulging and generating incredible power, something that would injure the average person’s legs in seconds.
Super power of the legs is also shared by the back which is another centre of strength in a rower. Often rowers have poor posture but like a duck, they may look ungainly on land but once in the water, their anatomy makes sense. Their backs are very well built and rounded and this allows them to pull the ores back with immense force, and much like the legs, maintain that force throughout the race. Surprisingly rowers have a large amount of slow-twitch fibres in their key areas as well, which is something more often linked to sportspeople who take part in longer endurance events. This allows the athletes to maintain their movement over extended time which is very important as rows can take place of very long distances. A lot of rowing events are long distance and you’ll see these are often suited to slighter body types. However, rowers also have a good amount of fast-twitch fibres which gives them the speed and power they need equally. For snowboards and canoes please visit EST.
