New Video: Improving the Rower's Chinup

Archive post from 12/12/22

I recorded a new video to go with my new article on how to start strength training for rowing. I recommend a focus on bodyweight exercises for beginner strength training, but the chin-up is a bodyweight exercise that is simply too challenging for most rowers, even those beyond the beginner level.

Biomechanics is the main reason for this. Rowing typically selects for a taller body type, and taller typically means longer limbs. Longer limbs means greater range-of-motion (ROM), which means greater force needed to move over a longer ROM.

With this in mind, I often reduce ROM on pushups and deadlifts as well. All things equal, it’s more work for a taller athlete to do pushups from the floor or deadlifts from the starting height of a 45lb plate or bumper plate. We can easily scale this on pushups by elevating the hands to an aerobic step, bench, or box height, and by elevating the starting position of a deadlift with high handles on a hex bar, a Romanian deadlift focused on the top half hip hinging motion, or a block or rack pull.

We can’t change the ROM of the chin-up quite as easily, so it takes a little more creativity to scale to athlete ability. This is the focus of my new video. Check it out below for how to use the slow-lowering chin-up, band-assisted chin-up, band/cable lat pulldown, and the seated chin-up.

Even with rowers strong enough to do bodyweight chin-ups for sets of 8+ reps with good technique, I still like to use these different variations for higher rep training, to keep training engaging, and to focus on different elements of strength and muscular development. Most rowers doing year-round strength training don’t want to do the same five exercises all the time. If you do, great! If you don’t, here are some ways to keep training engaging and effective.