Gym Rowing as Exercise and Sport
How to Achieve Fitness, Weight Control and a World Ranking
Jun 25, 2008
Long used for winter training by outdoor rowers, indoor rowing (sometimes known as “erg” rowing after a measure of physical work) has something to offer everyone, from the fitness-minded to the competitive athlete.
It’s a non-impact activity that can improve endurance, strength and flexibility. Because indoor rowing can be done all year around, fitness gains can be cumulative: there’s no need to “start over” with another sport when the season changes.
History of Indoor Rowing
According to Larry Gluckman in Rowing Faster (Edited by N. Volker. Champaign: Human Kinetics, 2005), there are patents for indoor rowing machines dating back to 1871. After the turn of the century, the machines were known as “Narragansetts” after their manufacturing company on Rhode Island. Early indoor rowers were designed as training devices for outdoor rowing athletes, providing an opportunity for technique coaching through the use of mirrors and photographs.
In the early 1980s, US Olympic rower Dick Dreissigacker and his brother Peter designed the Concept 2 Indoor Rower (C2IR), the predecessor of machines used around the world in rowing clubs and gyms today. Using air as a braking system to simulate water resistance, the C2IR had two advantages over earlier indoor rowers. It was relatively sturdy and affordable; and it was equipped with a monitor, which offers the user feedback after every stroke. The basis had been laid for the growth of indoor rowing as an exercise and a sport.
Rowing for Fitness
Technique is especially important in indoor rowing, with many of the benefits related to proper alignment of the body during each phase of the stroke. Basically, you need to learn to move your legs, torso and arms in the right sequence. It’s a good idea for people new to the sport to receive some basic instruction. With proper technique, rowing improves flexibility because it uses most of the major muscle groups in a wide range of motion.
As Gluckman observes, the monitor on the indoor rower helps the user to accurately control the length and intensity of the row. This means you can develop a cardiovascular programme including low- and high-intensity aerobic as well as anaerobic workouts, while adding in elements to improve your strength and power.
Most gyms can provide advice on how to use a rowing machine to achieve fitness goals. In addition, there is a wide range of information available on the Concept2 websites. Indoor rowing may be unusual in the significance of the role played by a single sporting-equipment company in growing the activity. For example, Concept2 suggests strategies for people seeking to achieve goals such as weight control, and seeks to support “communities” of rowers including blind and adaptive rowers.
Indoor Racing
From small beginnings more than a quarter-century ago, competitive indoor rowing has experienced a world-wide growth. Races are large and small, held at local schools and indoor tracks, over a variety of distances and to specified rules. Organisations such as the New Zealand Indoor Rowing Association have emerged to promote the sport and keep results and records.
The growth of internet communications has also allowed competitive indoor rowers who may not be able to travel to races to compare their results with others of the same gender, age, and weight category. Concept2 keeps world rankings (filed on-line and subject to verification rules) for prescribed distances such as the five-kilometre row and the marathon.
A “Different” Sport
Indoor rowing might strike enthusiasts of mainstream sports such as football and road running as somewhat…unusual. Also, rowing on land is not the same as training in the early morning on a mist-covered lake (although Gluckman asserts that “the movement of the rower’s centre of gravity and the feel of “floating” are very similar to the feeling of being on the water”.)
Nevertheless, for fitness enthusiasts and competitive athletes looking for new challenges, indoor rowing appears to be meeting a need.
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