The Erg and Injury: A Response

Smooth sculling on the Schuylkill (Photo: B. Kitch)
As I've discussed quite recently, the RR article, 'Why do Rowers Fear the Erg?' has attracted some attention, and was posted to the Rowperfect UK site. This resulted in a number of comments, one of which came from a former international lightweight and world champion from the Netherlands (and inventor of the Rowperfect) Frans Göbel, MD, who contributed to the discussion by posting a study from the Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, St James’s Hospital, Dublin, Ireland. With this, he included his own comment, "Injuries are related with the amount of work (training) and with ergometer training."

I am by no means a former world champion, nor have I rowed as a member of my country's national team, nor am I a doctor. Frans Göbel can boast far more credentials than I, and I have nothing but respect for his accomplishments and opinions. However, I must disagree with this assessment of the data.

It means that rowing well on the erg is slightly different from rowing well on the water, so there are some adjustments that have to be made.What I am reacting to is this notion that the problem is the machine. It's like hurting yourself while weight-lifting and then claiming that there's an issue with the dumbbell. If you row well, the sport, whether it is on the water or on the erg, should be beneficial for your back, since it helps to strengthen your core and promotes flexibility. Does any machine perfectly simulate the experience of rowing on the water? Of course not. It means that rowing well on the erg is slightly different from rowing well on the water, so there are some adjustments that have to be made. That doesn't mean that the machine is bad. It has its own technique, just as rowing a single is different from rowing an eight. You must be able to make the adjustment. Is there anyone who is going to argue that rowing the single damages your ability to row the eight? I know there are plenty of people who will claim that using the erg damages your ability to row. These people must have had a hard time understanding the success of the 'Great Eight' at the Head of the Charles in 2009. Oh, and by the way, those guys are all beasts on the erg.

Sure, if your technique is poor, you'll hurt yourself, especially when doing a very high volume of work on the erg. Also, if you row the erg, particularly a stationary erg, at cadences below 20 s/m for very long stretches, you'll be putting yourself more at risk because you are allowing the fan wheel to slow down too much between strokes, and therefore lifting a heavier weight regardless of the drag-factor setting. But this should be obvious to a novice. I'd love to see the training plan used on the erg that produced the results in Trinity's study. I'd be willing to bet there are many, many meters logged at rates 18-20 at medium to high pressure.

Rowing is a repetitive sport, so, naturally, it pays to get the motion you are repeating right.Again, if your technique is poor, you're putting yourself at risk. You also put yourself at risk when you over-train (if your training load is not properly balanced or too aggressive), which is likely another issue with the Trinity study. But when (in what sport?) is that ever not the case? Rowing is a repetitive sport, so, naturally, it pays to get the motion you are repeating right. The problem is, people write off teaching technique on the erg, and place too much emphasis on numbers alone rather than rowing well, resulting in injury. This is particularly deadly when all the work is done at low stroke ratings.

What frustrates me the most is that I know, being an American, this will simply be written off as another example of how the US is 'in love' with the erg, and doesn't really know how to row well on the water. Yet, somehow the Danish lightweight squad seems to stay afloat, despite their dominance on the ergometer. Or the Canadian men's eight in Beijing. They seemed to have found the erg a(n) useful training tool. Somehow, they battled through, posted great erg scores, and won the Olympics. Just lucky I guess.

I'm sure that this study by the Trinity Centre for Health Sciences was well-intentioned, and carried out by very intelligent, capable people. However, the results do not, as has been suggested, indicate a direct correlation between using an indoor rowing machine and back injury. What they tell you is that poor technique and/or a poorly structured training plan can cause injuries in sports involving repetitive movements.

-Bryan

Trending posts this month

"I Row Crew" — Rowing in 'The Social Network'

Image
Like many of the rowing faithful, I've been keeping up with the saga penned by Dan Boyne about the filming of the rowing scenes in David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin's The Social Network , and I must say I had high hopes going into the film. The first problem I encountered: the phrase, "I row crew." It was uttered so many times before anyone "rowed crew" on the water that I had trouble buying any of it later. It's understandable that the character of Mark Zuckerberg makes that mistake, since he has no idea about the sport. But when the Winklevoss twins themselves utter the phrase several times, one begins to wonder where Boyne was when these lines were not being chopped or changed. Seriously, who says that? As far as the actual rowing goes, the first scene, which has the twins out training in a pair along with the rest of the Harvard squad, is not all bad — it just ends that way. The line, "Those guys are freakin' fast" is certainly every b...
Read more

The 30 Best Rowing Coaches of All Time, Part 3: The Top 10

Image
The top 10 best rowing coaches, including guess who (Photo © Iain Weir / Rowing Photography ) It's time for the third and final part of our 3-part series on the best of the best in the rowing coaching ranks. These coaches not only command respect based on performance, but have also shown the ability to adapt to new circumstances, build dynasties, and ultimately help shape the trajectory of rowing as a sport. Honestly, it would be easy to extend this series into 10 more posts... But we wouldn't do that to you. As we've said before, the hope is that the following may serve to educate and spark discussion, as both an appreciation of history and of the coaching craft. Also note: As we stated in Part 1 and Part 2 of this series, there are few women in this list, but that is a reflection of a general underrepresentation of women in the head coaching ranks in our sport—and indeed (as has been well documented ) a growing number of NCAA sports in the United States. ...
Read more

So, are Naked Rowing Calendars a Thing Now?

Image
Warwick rowers are all in again this year (Photo courtesy of Warwick Boat Club)  The phenomenon started four years ago with the Warwick Rowing men's squad. Then, the following year, the Warwick women's team joined the fray. Now, Newcastle University's men and women are back on the naked calendar train. So, the question is, have rowing and naked calendars become a thing? The above video features the 2014-2015 Warwick women's squad—the third edition of the calendar , and, from the looks of it, the raciest. However, perhaps not so racy as that of the 2014-2015 Warwick men (see below). But raciness aside, all four of these teams have chosen worthy charities and have gone "the full monty" to make sure that those causes have received considerable contributions. The Warwick women contribute to Macmillan Cancer Support —a cause for which Warwick reports it has donated some £5,000. The Warwick men? Sport Allies —a charity that combats homophobia in spor...
Read more

Will It Make the Boat Go Faster? At Marin Rowing Association, Culture is Key

Image
Hands in after training  My alarm goes off—it’s 4:22am.  It’s been a while since I did this. Immediately, I think back to a college dorm room, rolling out of bed and running down the steps to carpool caravan to Marina Del Rey.  Not this time, though. It’s a Tuesday in late September, and I’m heading across the Golden Gate Bridge to Greenbrae, California, where I’ll meet with the Marin Rowing Men’s Masters squad. Fortunately, it’s an unusually warm morning—and when I roll in, the boathouse is already buzzing with activity.  Launch time: 5:10. Heading out into the Bay before dawn The Marin Rowing Association program has both men’s and women’s masters boats competing to win at every event they attend. In the fall, that can only mean one thing: The Head Of The Charles .  The boat that Coach Rodrigo Rodrigues and I spend most of our time with is the Grand Masters eight—average age 60+. But that’s just one of five crews that launched with us that morning. Everyone’s ...
Read more

Winter Workouts: Why Do Rowers Fear the Erg?

Image
Op-Ed from the RowingRelated Editorial Staff Friend. Not foe. (Illustration: B. Kitch) I am really frustrated by our sport when it comes to the erg being viewed as a torture device rather than a helpful tool that people can enjoy. This negative mindset, which is extremely contagious, plagues the sport, preventing athletes from training to their potential and possibly serving as one of the reasons that careers in rowing, at every level, are often so short. When compared to other endurance sports, I have not encountered an equal level of disdain for such fundamental mental and physical endurance training. My main problem is that everywhere I turn in the rowing community, whether it's high school rowers, college athletes, or even national team hopefuls, I hear of people dreading the erg. I've never heard about a cross country runner 'dreading' a track workout. True, basketball and football players may dread running wind sprints or other such conditioning acti...
Read more