On a recent trip to Seattle, I found myself on the University of Washington campus, in the shadow of the Conibear Shellhouse, home of the University of Washington rowing team. While of course being the current home of the team, it also holds its esteemed place in history as the home of the 1936 Olympic Team that went on to win gold in Men’s 8s. Over this past weekend, as I was watching “Boys in the Boat”, which detailed the story of the aforementioned legendary 1936 US Olympic Men’s Rowing Team, it dawned on me while watching some of the scenes surrounding the training, rowing really is a full body workout. At first glance, one might see it as mostly an upper body workout, but to maximize your rowing, it really takes engaging the legs and core as well. Truth be told, I’ve had athletes over the years ask me how rowing can be of benefit to their running and how to appropriately implement it into their cross-training regimen. My hopes with this article are to explain how you can use it as a cross training tool.
Rowing is a Full Body Workout
As alluded to in the introduction, rowing is in fact a full body workout. Even though rowing is done in a seated position, it helps build stability, something many runners lack given the singular-planed nature of running. I’m big on the concept of “building the whole athlete” and rowing will most definitely have you using muscles that you normally don’t use while running. While one might justifiably question whether rowing is really an accessible activity, chances are that your gym likely has a rowing machine or two. So just because you don’t live near open water or live in a cold weather environment, you can still get a good rowing workout in.
Like all modes of cross training, rowing can help break up the monotony of running training and prevent injury. In addition, rowing can help improve efficiency and provide a low impact exercise option. Rowing can also increase force production (more speed with less effort) and improve endurance, even with a tight, concentrated time window.
On the topic of injury prevention, rowing does this through helping improve one’s posture. To maximize your rowing, you need to make sure to not be in a hunched over position as rowing works the posterior chain, specifically the hips and hamstrings. In outlining these three key performance benefits of rowing for runners, who tend to be reliant on their quads. Renowned running PT Jay Dicharry states “rowing workouts offer a solution by helping runners to “find their hips, waking up and strengthening the posterior chain can help enhance stability and transition runners away from hunched, injury-inducing forms”. Like with all exercise, it is important to practice proper form and by nature, rowing is a hinge-based movement just as much as performing a deadlift in the weight room is.
How to Implement in your Training Plan
Jjust because you don’t live near open water or in a warm weather climate (this particularly didn’t stop the 1936 UW team, most of their fiercest collegiate competition hailed from northern states), doesn’t mean that there isn’t a place for rowing in your running training plan. In fact, due to the more controlled environment, it would almost be preferred to do these on a gym rowing machine. While with running, we often preach specificity, chances are the open water isn’t necessary for the runner’s rowing workouts as that isn’t the focus of performance. Plus, the added benefit of indoor rowing workouts is the ability to implement them year-round.
Given the power benefits of rowing, sprints are easy to implement into training as is anaerobic threshold training. For intervals, you go based on time (again, improving our 2k row time isn’t a likely goal many runners reading this have) much like you would if you were programming intervals on an elliptical or bike.
Not only does rowing have a place on higher intensity training days, but also on recovery days too. You can simply swap a running day for a rowing day and voila. Like running, rowing can help you improve not only your aerobic base, but your anaerobic capacity as well, both components that are necessary to maximize running performance. Often, you can even implement both of these in the same training session, a silver lining many runners may find helpful or motivating as runners tend to neglect the anaerobic or speed work necessary for improving race times. Total Row Fitness breaks it down in the context of their individual classes as every class “will incorporate both types of fitness, helping to improve your aerobic base (allowing you to go further) in pyramids, ladders, or mixed sets, and your anaerobic capacity (allowing you to go faster) through intervals, Big10s, and races ). This also highlights how one can really maximize the benefits in a short window because let’s face it, we’re all crunched for time every now and then. It really shows how rowing can give you more bang for your buck and not just be implemented when on an injury break or in need of a change of routine or scenery, but as a bonafide component of your training schedule.
Conclusion
To summarize, rowing is a very underrated form of cross training for runners. If on the runner’s mind at all, it is often on the back burner or simply not even considered as a cross training option. However, as seen in these outlined benefits, it very well could serve a place in your training plan regardless of where you are at in terms of your running. Do you seek to maximize your running performance? Rowing has a place for you. Simply looking to break up the monotony and get a change of scenery? Rowing can do that. Injured and looking to maintain or even build fitness during your time off? Rowing can do that too. All in all, I hope this article inspires you to embrace that rowing machine at your local gym and use it as a means of cross training. Or maybe like me when it came to the idea of getting around to writing this article, you were inspired to do so by “The Boys in the Boat” story. But like in all things when building consistency, it doesn’t matter if you go far or fast, but that you just simply go and give it a try.
Coach Brian Comer is a coach with Team RunRun. To learn more about him or to work with him, check out his coach profile.