Strength Training Practices for Rowing – Part 1 – Reducing Injuries

by Williamson Ruth, CSCS and Blake Gourley
NSCA Coach April 2020
Vol 6, Issue 4

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This review will focus on two of the most common and costliest injuries in rowing, as well as provide resources that can be used by strength coaches, rowing coaches, and self-coached rowers to inform training practices.

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This article originally appeared in NSCA Coach, a quarterly publication for NSCA Members that provides valuable takeaways for every level of strength and conditioning coach. You can find scientifically based articles specific to a wide variety of your athletes’ needs with Nutrition, Programming, and Youth columns. Read more articles from NSCA Coach »

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References

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2. Buckeridge, E, Bull, A, and McGregor, A. Biomechanical determinants of elite rowing technique and performance. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports 25(2): e176-e183, 2015.

3. Cook, G. Athletic Body in Balance: Optimal Movement Skills and Conditioning for Performance. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics; 2003.

4. Evans, G, and Redgrave, A. Great Britain rowing team guideline for diagnosis and management of rib stress injury: Part 1. British Journal of Sports Medicine 50: 266-269, 2016.

5. Holt, P, Bull, A, Cashman, P, and McGregor, A. Kinematics of spinal motion during prolonged rowing. International Journal of Sports Medicine 24(8): 597-602, 2003.

6. Hosea, T, and Hannafin, J. Rowing injuries. Sports Health: A Multidisciplinary Approach 4(3): 236-245, 2012.

7. Koutedakis, Y, Frischknecht, R, and Murthy, M. Knee flexion to extension peak torque ratios and low-back injuries in highly active individuals. The International Journal of Sports Medicine 18(4): 290-295, 1997.

8. McDonnell, L, Hume, P, and Nolte, V. Rib stress fractures among rowers: Definition, epidemiology, mechanisms, risk factors and effectiveness of injury prevention strategies. Sports Medicine 41(11): 883-901, 2011.

9. Mountjoy, M, Sundgot-Borgen, J, Burke, L, Carter, S, Constantini, N, Lebrun, C, et al. The IOC consensus statement: beyond the female athlete triad—relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S). Accessed July 31, 2019 from https://bjsm.bmj.com/ content/48/7/491.

10. Muscolino, J. The thoracic spine: The silent saboteur. Journal of the Australian Traditional-Medicine Society 23(4): 192-198, 2017.

11. Newlands, C, Reid, D, and Parmar, P. The prevalence, incidence and severity of low back pain among international-level rowers. British Journal of Sports Medicine 49: 951-956, 2015.

12. Ng, L, Campbell, A, Burnett, A, Smith, A, and O’Sullivan, P. Spinal kinematics of adolescent male rowers with back pain in comparison with matched controls during ergometer rowing. Journal of Applied Biomechanics 31(6): 459-468, 2015.

13. Ogurkowska, M, Kawałek, K, and Zygmańska, M. Biomechanical characteristics of rowing. Trends in Sport Sciences 22(2): 61-69, 2015.

14. Ogurkowska, M. Analysis of radiological characteristics distribution in the vertebral bodies of the lumbosacral spine of competitive rowers. Biology of Sport 27(3): 213-219, 2010.

15. Parkin, S, Nowicky, A, Rutherford, O, and McGregor, A. Do oarsmen have asymmetries in the strength of their back and leg muscles? Journal of Sports Sciences 19(7): 521-526, 2011.

16. Smoljanovic, T, Bojanic, I, Hannafin J, Hren, D, Delimar, D, and Pecina, M. Traumatic and overuse injuries among international elite junior rowers. American Journal of Sports Medicine 37: 1193-1199, 2009.

17. Stutchfield, B, and Coleman, S. The relationships between hamstring flexibility, lumbar flexion, and low back pain in rowers. European Journal of Sport Science 6(4): 255-260, 2006.

18. Teitz, C, O’Kane, J, Lind, B, and Hannafin, J. Back pain in intercollegiate rowers. The American Journal of Sports Medicine 30(5): 674-679, 2002.

19. Thornton, J, and Vinther, A. Prevention of rib stress injury in rowers. What do we know and where do we need to go? Sports Orthopaedics and Traumatology 34(3): 278-286, 2018.

20. Thornton, J, Vinther, A, Wilson, F, Lebrun, C, Wilkinson, M, Di Ciacca, S, et al. Rowing injuries: An updated review. Sports Medicine 47(4): 641-661, 2017.

21. Vinther, A, Kanstrup, I, Christiansen, E, Alkjaer, T, Larsson, B, Magnusson, S, et al. Exercise-induced rib stress fractures: Potential risk factors related to thoracic muscle co-contraction and movement pattern. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports 16(3): 188-196, 2006.

22. Wilson, F, Gissane, C, Gormley, J, and Simms, C. A 12-month prospective cohort study of injury in international rowers. British Journal of Sports Medicine 44: 207-214, 2010.

23. Wilson, F, Gissane, C, and McGregor, A. Ergometer training volume and previous injury predict back pain in rowing; Strategies for injury prevention and rehabilitation. British Journal of Sports Medicine 48(21): 1534-1538, 2014.

24. Wilson, F, Gormley, J, Gissane, C, and Simms, C. The effect of rowing to exhaustion on frontal plane angular changes in the lumbar spine of elite rowers. Journal of Sports Sciences 30(14): 1481-1489, 2012.

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Williamson Ruth, CSCS

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Will Ruth is a former high school rower who returned to the sport with the Western Washington University mens rowing team, coaching there for several ...

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