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Applicable bits of rowing research

Jarek MäestuSports Scientist (PhD),

Ex rower and rowing coach,Rowing Academy Scientist

SPORTLYZER

ROWING ACADEMY

CONVERTING LABTEST RESULTS TO

ON-WATER

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Why is performance evaluation important?

• To get feedback whether the adaptation of the athlete is positive and according to what was planned;

• To determine and control the intensity zones for particular athlete.

Feedback from evaluation must allow changes to be made in the plan if necessary.

To get the most of the test, the test should be as specific as possible.However, it is not always easy to follow this in rowing, as standardized conditions could be created in lab, but on-water conditions are often affected by wind, currents, waves etc.

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Measurements in lab and on-water

Though it has been shown that rowing ergometry and on-water rowing have similar physiological and energetic demands on particular intensities (Figure 1, Hofmann et al. 2007), there may also be some divergences.

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Figure 1. Rowing at anaerobic threshold and the corresponding lactate concentration on ergometer and on-water rowing

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One of those divergences may rise due to the position in the boat where the athlete is. It has been indicated that lactate performance curves of two rowers could differ completely in the lab and on water (Figure 2, Coen et al. 2003).

Figure 2. The influence of the position in the boat to the lactate performance curve in coxless pairs. Rower A – stroke side, rower B – bow side.

As can be seen, rower A who indicates a lactate performance curve that can be considered better compared to rower B on ergometer test, actually has higher lactate values in the boat. This may cause problems in setting the appropriate training intensities and eventually results in much higher training load for rower A in the boat than expected.

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In Conclusion

• Rowing on the ergometer and on-water can be considered physiologically similar;• The position of the rower in the boat can, however, affect the physiological response

to the certain intensity.

References

• Coen B, Urhausen A, Kindermann W. Sport specific performance diagnosis in rowing: An incremental graded exercise test in coxless pairs. International Journal of Sports Medicine, 2003; 24: 428-432.

• Hofmann P, Jürimäe T, Jürimäe J, Purge P, Mäestu J, Wonisch M, Pokan R, von Duvillard SP. HRTP, prolonged ergometer exercise and single sculling. International Journal of Sports Medicine, 2007; 28: 964-969.

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