Five Essential Skills for Rowers

Notes and videos from my summer 2024 Craftsbury workshop

I did a weekly strength training workshop for the Craftsbury sculling camps for the last three years. In 2022, I just taught the hip hinge, Y-W-T raise, and seated rockback. In 2023, I did “Basic Strength Training for Any Rower,” demonstrating different movements and focusing on key points of technique, tempo, and range-of-motion. I did an instruction-focused session again this year, coaching the five movements that I see delivering the greatest carryover in technical learning.

In my experience, the greatest areas of initial gain are the hips, shoulders, and core. These are the transfer areas for rowers, acting between the big prime movers of the legs, back, and arms. The bigger muscles (legs, back, arms) get lots of work naturally through rowing and quickly become stronger than the less emphasized transfer areas that need more specific training. Training for the transfer areas increases efficiency and improves technique. This improves performance and reduces risk of injury. We can then increase power of the main prime movers and have it actually go somewhere productive.

These are all bodyweight or low-load exercises done for coordination, learning, and beginning strength training. Do them as part of the rest of a strength training session, as their own short session, and/or as part of a warmup for any kind of training. I’ve noted sets and reps as I use them in a 10-minute warmup or mini-session on their own. They are also part of my full full-body warmup series. Each one has a video link to my Youtube channel for demonstration and key points.

Hip Hinge (video)

Why: The foundation of the rowing stroke. Can you keep the spine neutral and fairly rigid while using the legs and hips? This is much easier to learn on-land and then work to transfer the skill to on-water or on-erg!

Key Points:

• Feet in your rowing stance: Width of the feet on the footplate

• Slight bend in the knees: Push the hips back while the torso comes forward

• Neither a forward-fold (too much back bend) nor a squat (too much knee bend)

• 20-50 bodyweight hinges (with/without PVC pipe) before rowing/erging

Y-W-T Raise (video)

Why: All the stroke force from the lower body has to go through the shoulders in order to get to the handle! Shoulder coordination is especially challenging moving between erging, rowing, and sculling. People spending lots of time in a seated position (studying, working, driving, etc.) also need the shoulder “opening up” emphasis before training.

Key Points:

• Hip hinge position: The deeper the hinge, the harder the exercise

• Use 0-10lbs of weight and a slow tempo: The goal is control and activation, not loading it up

• “Shoulders in the back pockets” the whole time: Back-and-down position

• 1-2 sets of 10 Y-raises, straight into 10 W-raises, straight into 10 T-raises

Pushup (video)

Why: Use the shoulder coordination from the Y-W-T Raise through the horizontal plane. The horizontal plane is similar to rowing, while the opposite motion (pushing away) is different. Strength training exists to fill gaps from sport training, as well as improve general sport skills!

Key Points:

• Shoulders down: Elbows at 45 degrees at bottom position similar to release

• Hold the plank position: Straight line from feet-hips-shoulders-head

• Elevate hands to make the exercise easier: Achieve technique and reps

• 1-2 sets of 10-20 reps with a 2:1 lowering-to-lifting tempo

Glute Marching (video)

Why: Prepares the hip extensor muscles (glutes) for good connection and power. Alternating marching prepares the hips and lower trunk to be the stabilizer muscles when rowing, rather than making balance or set adjustments at the shoulders and arms. This also fills a valuable gap of rotational hip strength.

Key Points:

• Heels only: Keep the forefoot off the floor and only make contact with the heels to emphasize glute muscles

• Maintain hip extension with no sagging or side-to-side rocking

• Take as small “steps” as necessary to achieve technique: Add challenge with the hand position progression

• 1-2 sets of 10-20 reps (one rep = one “step” per foot)

Seated Rockback (video)

Why: Most rowers’ core exercises are static hip/static trunk (eg. planks), or mobile hip/mobile trunk (eg. crunches/situps). The purpose of the abdominal muscles in rowing is to slow the torso swing on the drive, stabilize at the release, and reverse position into the recovery (body/shoulders forward/over, however you like to think about that). Rowers need this skill and strength with a mobile hip and stable spine to achieve ideal rowing technique.

Key Points:

• Heels down: Think feet-out rowing, but core exercise

• Sitting up tall: Emphasize release and body-forward positions

• Synchronized breathing with goal stroke technique: Commonly exhaling on the rock-back (drive), inhaling on rock-forward (recovery)

• 1-2 sets of 10-30 seconds (holding release position) or rocks (slow/faster tempo)

Enjoy your training!