Ideal Rowing Anatomy
Any keen rowing enthusiasts will have seen a change over the years in the build of top rowers. The arcitypeal rower 40 years ago was no different really to his average man. They had no height increase and did not wiegh of whole lot more. These days though, rowing performers have more developed physiques and are generally much larger. 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. An ideal rowing body is what then?
Firstly rowers are as tall as surfboards, men often reaching above 6’5” and woman above 6’0”. What this essentially means is that their pull distance is more than most peoples and the forces that can be generated increase proportionally. Regularly squatting their own body weight, a rowers legs are one of the strongest parts of their body and they do a lot of gym work to maintain them. Powerful legs are called upon at the start of the race when movement generation is the goal but they are in use throughout the whole race so need to be able to sustain their work rate. 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 view a supreeme site as they pulsate and create great power. These strains would likely be unbearable for a normal humans lower body to bear.
Another element of a rower that is incredibly strong is the back. Often rowers have poor posture but like a duck, they may look ungainly on land but once in the water, their anatomy makes sense. A rowers back has good muscles density and size which means the their stoke is functionally very efficient. As with the legs this also helps sustain power during the entirety of 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 means they are able to sustain their activity for longer durations and can mean the difference between first or last place in the common long races. A lot of rowing events are long distance and you’ll see these are often suited to slighter body types. However, rowers also need high-end strength for the fast and powerful movement they perform and so they can equally be found with lots of fast-twtich fibres. For snowboards and canoes please visit EST.
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