Some Cross-Training Ideas for Novice Rowers

Adair Ferguson, BSc, BA (Human M'vt), MSc (Qual.)
Sport Development Officer for ACT Rowing

Quite a few rowers have asked me about what other types of training they should be doing in addition to their rowing activities, and what is the 'minimum amount of training they can do in order to race'.

Because of other commitments, or limited access to suitable equipment, many novice and masters rowers in particular can only spend a limited amount of time training on the water. On-water rowing sessions can be quite time-consuming by the time you drive or cycle to the rowing club, wait for others to turn up, find your oars, get your boat out, row, come in, put your boat and oars away, shower, perhaps lock up the shed, then drive home or off to work.

If you can only row, say, 1 to 4 times a week, there is a range of other sports activities that are not only enjoyable in themselves, but which can also enhance your rowing fitness, to the point where you can be fit enough to race competitively at club level with minimal disruption to other aspects of your life.

For example, a I once knew a Swiss rower, of average technical standard, who could only row on Saturdays because of his job commitments, which resulted in his being in the mountains, a long way from the water, during the week. He spent what little spare time he had walking, running and hiking in the hills. Despite his limited rowing opportunities he managed a bronze medal in the lightweight single scull at his national championships! You can't do that without being fit, and his general fitness activities obviously were of great benefit to his rowing performance.

The Components of Fitness

There are various components of fitness-you may have heard of terms such as aerobic fitness, strength, flexibility, anaerobic power and muscular endurance. Very simply,

• aerobic fitness refers to your general endurance or ability to sustain an activity (e.g. rowing, cycling, running, swimming) for a long time
• strength and flexibility are self-explanatory
• anaerobic power or fitness refers to your speed, sprinting ability or high-intensity fitness
• muscular endurance refers to your ability to repeatedly contract a muscle or group of muscles against a medium to heavy resistance with minimum fatigue in those muscles.

If you require any further clarification of these terms, any decent book on training or strength and conditioning will provide appropriate formal definitions. Alternatively, phone me and I will do my best to explain further.

Rowing Fitness

In rowing, the most important aspects of fitness, in my opinion, in descending order, are:

1. Aerobic fitness
2. Muscular endurance
3. Strength/power
4. Anaerobic fitness

The training of all of these aspects should be combined with flexibility exercises before and after any training session.

If you've got limited time and don't know which area to concentrate on, concentrate on the aerobic component-as well as being the key to effective rowing performance, it's more important for your general health as well.

The importance of Heart Rate

For any meaningful fitness training program, you must either be aware of your heart rate through using a heart rate monitor, or be able to take your own heart rate manually, either at your wrist or at the carotid artery (at the side of your neck, to the front, just under the jaw line).

Aerobic Fitness

Most studies suggest that for significant improvements to occur, at least four fitness sessions per week are required, of 30 minutes to one hour in duration, at a heart rate of 60­80% of your maximum heart rate.

Your maximum heart rate, in beats per minute, will be approximately 220 minus your age, although this can vary significantly for some individual cases. Thus, if I am 40 years of age, my maximum heart rate is about (220 ­ 40 = 180) beats per minute. Thus, my aerobic training zone (rounding up to the nearest 10 beats) will be in the 110­150 beats per minute range. At this kind of intensity, continuous exercise of 30 minutes to one hour or more should be possible without too much discomfort.

Anything below 110 will not be very effective for improving aerobic fitness, and anything above 150 may result in your encroaching into the anaerobic range.

Exercising in the anaerobic range means that you will start relying on the quite limited stores of glucose in your muscles, liver and the blood stream to supply energy for the exercising muscles. A by-product of this process is lactic acid, which causes feelings of pain and fatigue and sometimes nausea. If this is continued indefinitely you will reach a point where your legs will feel like bricks and you may feel like throwing up. You will eventually have to either stop through exhaustion, or continue the activity at a greatly reduced intensity (a phenomenon often referred to by athletes as 'blowing up'). Meanwhile, someone who took things steadily within the aerobic zone cruises past...

Straying into the anaerobic training zone is no reason for panic, however. It's OK to take your heart rate into the anaerobic zone for short bursts-in fact, it's quite effective for race fitness, as your body learns to adapt to and tolerate a higher level of lactic acid in the bloodstream. However, once you feel like you've had enough, just back off a little and your heart rate will drop back into the aerobic zone and your body will start to clear some of the lactic acid you've developed.

Aerobic Activities that Benefit Rowing

There are many ways of exercising in the aerobic (often called the 'steady state') zone which will have a 'flow-on' effect to your rowing fitness. The best activities usually involve the big muscle groups-principally the legs and arms, and are continuous, i.e. minimal stopping and starting. Here are some suggestions.

• Walking briskly
• Running/jogging
• Cycling
• Roller blading
• Kayaking
• Swimming
• Ice skating
• Dancing
• Aquarobics
• 'Spinning' (stationary bicycling) classes
• Aerobics

Sports such as tennis, squash, football, and soccer can all put your heart rate into or above the aerobic training zone, but usually only for very short periods until there is a period of relative rest. This does not develop aerobic fitness as effectively as continuous exercise.

Choosing an Aerobic Activity

The best way to choose your activity is to pick what best fits into your lifestyle with the least disruptive effect, and is an activity you can share with family and friends. Your training really has to be pleasant, enjoyable, and part of your family and social life to have any chance of being maintained.

This really is my main message for starting any cross-training program for rowing, or indeed ANY general fitness program-ENJOY it, and you will stick with it.