Rowing – The Most Suitable Body Type
It is clear that the build of rowers has changed since the early days of the sport. There was nothing out of the ordinary in rowers of late, there bodies where reasonably lean and had no more height than the average man. Nowadays however, rowers are a great deal larger and their body proportions are very different. Put simply, they have been optimised for the art of rowing; they are handpicked based on genetics and their diets and exercise routines are aimed at sculpting the perfect rowing machine. What then is the ideal rowers body and why?
Firstly rowers are tall, men often reaching above 6’5” and woman above 6’0”. This means that the length of their stroke is far greater than the average person and this results in a larger generation of power with each pull. Squats are one of the most regular exercises that rowers do in the gym and this is to work on their legs which are insanely powerful. 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 the Henley Regatta Hospitality take a look at the legs of the rowers when they are pulling away from the start. You will see that they are bulging and generating incredible power, something that would injure the average person’s legs in seconds.
The upper and lower back of a rower is one other section that holds immense power. Often rowers have poor posture but like a duck, they may look ungainly on land but once in the water, their anatomy makes sense. To deal with the vast strains involved in pulling the ores through the water repeatedly, their backs are highly developed and they hold a large amount of bulk around the shoulders and torso. Lastly, whilst rowers are very well built, they actually have a great deal of slow-twitch fibres in their muscles (often associated with long distance athletes). 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 corporate hospitality events are long distance and you’ll see these are often suited to slightly body types. That is not to say that rowing athletes are not in possession of fast-twitch element’s and provide speed and gross strength attributes.