Indoor rower

A row of Concept2 "Model C" indoor rowers

An indoor rower, or rowing machine, is a machine used to simulate the action of watercraft rowing for the purpose of exercise or training for rowing. Indoor Rowing has become established as a sport in its own right. The term also refers to a participant in this sport.

Modern indoor rowers are also sometimes known as ergometers (colloquially erg or ergo), an ergometer being a device which measures the amount of work performed. The indoor rower is calibrated to measure the amount of energy the rower is generating. Ergometer comes from the Greek words ergon (ἔργον), meaning work, and metron (μέτρον), meaning measure. "Ergometer", therefore, literally means "work measurer". A bike, fitted with mechanical work measurement devices is also an ergometer.

History

Machines using linear pneumatic resistance were commonplace around 1900, but they did not simulate actual rowing very accurately. In the 1950s and 1960s, rowing coaches in many countries began using specially made rowing machines for training and power measurement. The normal design was a large, heavy, solid iron wheel with a mechanical brake on it. They were considered something of a torture device, and were extremely unpopular among rowers of the time.

Around 1980, air resistance rowing machines were introduced, and, in 1988, a hydraulic flywheel rowing machine design was released. Many modern rowing-machine designs are a hybrid of these earlier designs. Common variations of the rowing machine include kayak trainers, and sculling trainers.

Layout of the machine

The most common rowing-machine design consists of a flywheel connected to a chain and handle. The rower pushes their body backwards with the legs, then pivots their back, and pulls on the handle, causing the flywheel to spin. The flywheel has a braking mechanism applied (using either pneumatic, hydraulic or magnetic damping) that is intended to simulate the feel of an oar moving through water. Depending on the machine the rower either moves back and forth as part of the rowing action, or the rower remains stationary and the flywheel mechanism moves.

Some machines calculate the user's power by measuring the speed of the flywheel during the stroke and then recording the rate at which it decelerates during the recovery. Using this and the known moment of inertia of the flywheel the computer calculates everything else.

Exercise

Indoor rowing primarily works the cardiovascular systems with typical workouts consisting of steady pieces of 20-40 minutes. Like other forms of cardio focused exercise, interval training is also commonly used in indoor rowing. While cardio focused, rowing also stresses many muscle groups throughout the body anaerobically, thus rowing is often referred to as a strength-endurance sport.

Unlike high impact exercises, which can damage knees and the connective tissues of the lower body, rowing's most common injury site is the lower back. Proper technique is a necessity for staying injury free, with a focus on both mechanics and breathing, as correct rhythm, exhaling on the drive and inhaling on the recovery, is a stabilizing force for the upper body. Non-rowers commonly overemphasize the muscles of the upper body, while correct technique uses the large muscle of the thighs to drive much of the stroke. Also, good technique requires that the angle of the upper body is never too far forward, nor too far back, both of which jeopardize the lower back and compression injuries on the knees and hip flexor muscles.

In addition to the high levels of fitness attained, rowing is an intense calorie-burning exercise. Although rowers with less ability and training will burn fewer calories, the ergometer is an excellent tool for use in a weight-loss program.

The standard measurement of speed on an ergometer is generally known as the "split," or the amount of time in minutes and seconds required to travel 500 meters at the current pace. For example, a 2:00 split would correspond to a 2:00 time for a 500 meter race, or an 8:00 time for a 2 kilometer race. The split does not necessarily correspond to how many strokes the rower takes (the "rating") since strokes can vary in power.

Ergometer Testing

Ergometer tests are used by rowing coaches to evaluate rowers and is part of athlete selection for many senior and junior national rowing teams. During a test, rowers will row a set distance and try to clock the fastest time possible. The most common distances for ergo tests are 2000, 5000, 6000 or 10000 meters. Results of these tests are an objective measure of an athlete's fitness; however, weight, technique and team coordination also impact performance in a boat, thus assembling a crew based purely on ergo scores is not an optimal strategy. In fact it is not unknown for teams that are considerably faster on the ergometer to be beaten on the water.

Rower Variety

Piston Resistance comes from hydraulic cylinders that are attached to the handles of the rowing machine. The length of the rower handles on this class of rower is typically adjustable, however, during the row the handle length is fixed which in turn fixes the trajectory that the hands must take on the stroke and return, thus making the stroke less accurate than is possible on the other types of resistance models where it is possible to emulate the difference in hand height on the stroke and return. Furthermore, many models in this class have a fixed seat position that eliminates the leg drive which is the foundation of competitive on water rowing technique. Because of the compact size of the pistons and mechanical simplicity of design, these models are typically not as large or as expensive as the others types.

Braked Flywheel resistance models comprise magnetic, air and water resistance rowers. These machines are mechanically similar since all three types use a handle connected to a flywheel by rope, chain, or strap to provide resistance to the user – the types differ only in braking mechanism. Because the handle is attached to the resistance source by rope or similarly flexible media, the trajectory of the hands in the vertical plane is free making it possible for the rower to emulate the hand height difference between the stroke and the return. Most of these models have the characteristic sliding seat typical of competitive on-the-water boats.

Magnetic Resistance models control resistance by means of electromagnets that engage a mechanical brake with the flywheel. The magnetic braking system is quieter than the other braked flywheel types. The braking resistance is adjustable and energy can be accurately measured on this type of rower.

Air Resistance models use fanlike air-fins on the flywheel to provide the flywheel braking needed to generate resistance. As the flywheel is spun faster, the air resistance increases. Due to the fact that the resistance mechnism is essentially a fan, this class of rowers tend to be as loud as a floor standing fan of wattage similar to what the user is pulling. A damper can be used to adjust the airflow with respect to the air fins and thus change the feel of the stroke, however, the resistance level itself is a function of how hard and how often the user pulls and it is possible to achieve low or high resistance regardless of where the damper is set. The energy dissipated can be accurately calculated given the known mass of the flywheel and speed sensors to measure the deceleration of the flywheel. Air resistance rowing machines are most often used by off-season on-the-water rowers and competitive indoor rowers.

Water Resistance rowing simulators use a "waterflywheel" which consists of a paddle revolving in an enclosed tank of water. The mass and drag of the moving water creates the resistance. The advantages of the WaterFlywheel is that it simulates the ‘real’ feel of the oar locking onto moving water, providing a natural, smooth and very realistic action. Much like a moving boat, the resistance created by the WaterFlywheel is a function of the speed of the water moving past the tank or boat. This precisely mimics rowing’s natural self-regulating resistance, similar to other aerobic activities such as swimming and kayaking, canoeing, etc, there is no resistance adjustment. The faster you go the more the resistance generated and the harder you must work. The WaterFlywheel design , like rowing, burns work by moving a relatively slow moving heavy mass, making the stroke more even and uniform throughout. Air flywheels, by contrast, are lighter and faster moving making them heavier at the beginning and lighter toward the end of the stroke and often having a distinctive ‘flat spot’. The work done during a rowing stroke should be evenly applied through the full length of the stroke generating a uniform aerobic load over all the muscle groups, utilising 84% of the muscle mass in one smooth, flowing action.

Performance calculation on all rowing machines monitors is dependent upon the algorithm used by the individual manufacturer, and will be effected by the type of resistance used and other factors. The higher quality machines will come with monitors that are calibrated so that they accurately measure and record performance that can be compared to each other.

Competitions

A large number of indoor rowing competitions are held all over the world, including the indoor rowing world championships (also known as CRASH-B Sprints) held in Boston, Massachusetts, United States in February and the British Indoor Rowing Championships held in Birmingham, England in November. The core event for most competitions is the individual 2,000m; less common are the mile (eg., Evesham), the 2500m (eg., Basingstoke - also the original distance of the CRASH-B Sprints). Many competitions also include a sprint event (100m-500m) and sometimes team relay events. The machines used are consistent although the resistance may be adjusted. The resistance adjustment does not affect the energy measurement so a result on one machine can be fairly compared with results on other machines regardless of resistance level.

Most competitions are organized into categories based on sex, age, and weight class. While the fastest times are generally achieved by rowers between 20 and 40 years old, teenagers and rowers over 90 are common at competitions. There is a nexus between performance on-water and performance on the ergometer, with open events at the World Championships often being dominated by elite on-water rowers. Former men's Olympic single scull champions Pertti Karppinen and Rob Waddell and five-time Gold Medalist Sir Stephen Redgrave have all won world championships or set world records in indoor rowing.

In addition to live venue competitions, many erg racers compete by internet, either offline by posting scores to challenges, or live online races facilitated by computer connection.

See also

• Rowbike
• Rowing

External links

• The World Rowing Network
• Crash-B Sprints - Internationally recognized competition
• US Rowing - Official US Rowing organization
• Article of the effects of weight on ergo times