Infinite Ideas - Gym Fitness: Secrets Of Fitness and Health Success

Gym fitness

Infinite Ideas with Steve Shipside

7. Row like Redgrave I: Style points

Strength, stamina and smoothness are the promise of the rowing machine. So why do so many users look less like Steve Redgrave and more like Mr Bean? As with so many things, its all down to style.

Rowing is right up there with swimming as one of the best all-round exercises you can do but with the handy difference that you dont have to navigate shrieking ten-year-olds at half term and youre unlikely to end up with a nose full of chlorinated piss.

Done properly, rowing is a great calorie burner, combining weight control with strength development and a cardio workout. It works your legs, your arms, shoulders and back muscles. Do it badly, however, and you end up staggering away from the machine bent over double in those ooooh me lumbago poses beloved of ancient TV sitcoms. So heres the low-down on rowing like Redgrave how to build strength and stamina with smoothness and precision.

Breaking it down

Beginners look at the rowing action and see two parts: the pull back, which is the hard bit where they grunt and sweat; and the flop forwards again, which is the easy bit at least until they put their backs out. Pros, however, break the action down into four distinct movements:

The catch

Youre sat on the rower and your feet are safely strapped so youre all ready to unleash the Herculean force of your whole body without your feet flying off so you end up with your ankles wrapped around your ears. Its time for the catch. Slide forward so your shins are vertical, and you have the handle grasped in both hands with your wrists flat and your torso leaning slightly forwards from the hips.

The drive

The powerhouse for this is the legs and never the arms. So straighten those legs, pushing hard against the foot rests, and keep the arms straight for the first part of the drive. As your legs straighten out and you are nearing the end of the drive, then your arms start to bend slightly and your upper body comes into play leaning slightly backwards.

The finish

Legs straighten completely, upper body leans lightly backwards, and you pull the handle in towards your stomach just below your rib cage. At the end of the pull your elbows should be tucked in close to your body and behind your back, not sticking out sideways as if youre doing the Birdie Song.

The recovery

First the arms extend forwards, then your upper body leans lightly forward, and your legs bend as you slide smoothly back towards the flywheel down by your feet.

And back to the catch

It sounds simple enough, but if you bear the above in mind and take a good look at your fellow gym rowers youll see that there are plenty of people who snatch at the handle, and try to pull back with their arms. Others end the whole movement still hunched forward or learning backwards, even as they recover. Theres always one, inevitably a bloke, who thinks that they will get the best benefit by flogging themselves to death regardless of form in a triumph of strength over style. Get it right, however, and not only do you reduce soreness and the risk of injury, but you will effortlessly increase both your speed and endurance which in turn means you are more likely to enjoy the challenges of IDEA 8.

How did it go?

Q Why does the muscle that runs from my neck to my shoulders hurt when Im rowing?

A You may well be tensing up your back and arms. Try relaxing your shoulders as you row and keep your grip on the handle firm but light. Think of all those swashbuckling films where the young hero is taught to hold the sword as if it was alive like a bird in the hand.

Q I get tired after only a few minutes. Am I doing something wrong?

A It could be that you are using too high a resistance setting, or that you are a little out of shape, but the chances are that your biggest problem is poor form. Check for wastes of energy, like rowing with bent wrists, or reaching too far forward at the catch (so your shins go beyond the vertical).

Q Im catching and driving OK, but why do I get tired in the muscles right across my back?

A Sounds like you may be trying to get too much force from the finish, rather than from the drive. Try to get more of your stroke from your thighs, then feel the pull move seamlessly through your upper body and arms. Remember that put your back into it is just an expression.

Q My lower back hurts. Am I OK?

A If you are getting lower back pains, then you must seek the advice of a sports physician. Back pain is no joke, and while more exercise and stretches may well be the answer you should take the advice of an osteopath, chiropractor or doctor before adding any load to your back.

Heres an idea for you

See the lever on the flywheel that sets the difficulty level? On pretty much all the machines youll see in the gym it can be set from anywhere between 1 and 10. Pros call it the damper, and if youre using a standard air flywheel it lets air in or out. Set it at 1 and it keeps the air trapped in the wheel cage. Since the resistance you feel is the air being turned, and trapped air is already spinning from the last stroke, this gives least resistance. Shove it up to 10 and the air that youve just grunted to spin around is released and replaced with fresh air that you have to get moving again from scratch hence the extra effort. Not many people know that. In fact few of us really understand resistance levels at all, with the result that the unsure slot the lever down to 1 and most blokes whack it up to 10 in case anyone should think theyre not Olympic heroes. Real Olympic heroes tend to go for the feel that is most like a real boat, which according to Terry ONeill, former Olympic rowing coach, means a level of 3 or 4. Then they concentrate on stroke rate, aiming for about 35 strokes a minute. Next time, instead of thrashing away at the maximum setting, try taking a leaf from the real-life water warriors, and see how long you can keep up the same pace.

Defining idea

For an idea of how you can improve your stroke count versus distance, try stroke golf as described in Idea 8.

8. Row like Redgrave II: Revenge of the rowing machine

Youve mastered the style, youve wiped out those energy-wasting errors and your rowing is now a symphony of power and precision. Great. Now what? Time to step up to your own Olympic challenge.

At their peak Redgrave, Pinsent and co. didnt have to worry about getting bored or going off the boil in the gym.

There were several reasons for this.

First, they had the incentive of being the best in the world, and wanting to stay that way. Second, they had an East German coach bellowing at them if they slowed down for a second. Third, working at the limits of physical endurance they had the bonus excitement of not knowing if they were about to throw up or fall off at any moment.

You and I, on the other hand, probably dont have any of the above except possibly the third if we go training after a heavy night out. Us mere mortals tend to plateau we do all right and then hit a point where training doesnt seem to bring any benefits. Sure you can try and get through it by training harder, but doing the same thing for longer can get tedious. Going for a gut-busting personal best on speed every time can end up being off-putting, to the point where you dread strapping your feet into the rower and may end up avoiding the gym altogether. Interval training, however, aims to add a little spice to your gym life by mixing and matching on pace, stretching both your speed and your endurance. Whether youre looking for extra power, or simply the motivation to keep on shedding those pounds, interval training can help.