Training Tips for Masters Rowers
Archive post from 10/5/20
I’ve coached a lot of masters rowers between my online coaching and Craftsbury camps, and have noticed some common misconceptions with a few practical takeaways for coaching and training.
#1: Rowing is a pretty safe sport
The vast majority of injuries are chronic, or non-acute and typically related to overuse factors: too much volume, load, or too rapid a progression of volume/load.
Even for masters. In our one available injury study on masters rowers, “Sport Injuries In International Masters Rowers: A Cross-sectional Study” (2018), the authors surveyed masters rowers age 27+ at the World Championships on their year of training leading up to the regatta and found:
Of the 743 rowers (475 men and 268 women), 160 experienced one injury, 66 experienced two, 21 experienced three, and one rower experienced four.
224 injuries were chronic and 135 were acute, BUT
68 acute injuries occurred during non-rowing activities: nine from strength training and 59 from cross-training or playing other sports recreationally.
138 injuries were “incidental” and rowers did not miss racing or training time.
So, 349 total injuries from 743 masters rowers competing at the highest level of masters sprint rowing, but 68 injuries weren’t due to rowing and 138 injuries didn’t cause any missed training time. That leaves us with 143 injuries from rowing training that caused missed time, most of which were chronic in nature. Chronic injuries due to volume, load, progression, and technical errors are much more under our control as rowers and coaches than acute or traumatic injuries due to contact or impact.
That leads me to my next point...
#2: What it means to “train hard”
I recommend saving hard efforts for the water, then the erg or cross-training, then strength training. Strength training exists to build, not test. The vast majority of my strength training with rowers is in the RPE7-9 range. I find myself saying “challenging, but manageable” or “difficult, but doable” a lot while coaching to describe this range of efforts. These sets should feel like solid effort, but without movement breakdown or risk of failure, and you should be able to do another one just like it after 3-4 minutes of rest.
We also “train hard” using different movements, not just high reps and heavy weights on deadlifts, squats, and rows. New masters clients often report that they thought the workout would be easy looking at it on paper, but felt an entirely different sense of effort and fatigue by the end of the session, and yet felt fine 24-48 hours later for their next training session. This is “hard training” via diverse movements and greater cumulative loading without as much specific loading in one set, movement, or session, and leaving plenty of room for greater efforts on the water or on the erg.
#3: “The point of attrition” is a murky concept
I’ve heard masters rowers throwing in the towel on progress because they “can’t improve anymore,” sometimes as young as 40-50 years old, and sometimes even before they have actually experienced a lengthy plateau or defined what "performance" means to them!
I’ll ask what they consider “improve,” and usually hear about how fast their 1km or 2km erg used to be, almost always presented as an unadjusted time usually from a training “test,” not from a competition.
Yes, of course there is a point at which age-related physiological changes will prevent time-based progress in fixed-distance erging.
However, a big part of the fun of masters rowing is how many different things “improve” can mean in the competitive context. The age-classed competition provides one element of improvement. Why worry about time-based training numbers when masters rowers compete against rowers of similar ages rather than purely the clock? Within this are all the possible competitive outlets from 1km sprints to 2km races, head races of wide-ranging distances and styles, erg/virtual races, and now coastal racing becoming a major player too.
If we’re just looking at time-based performances over fixed distance, especially in the over-simplified environment of the erg, we’re missing out on a lot of sporting elements. Consider focusing on a single race, evaluating average placing across several races, dedicate a year to focusing on one season (ie. sprints or head races) or one boat type, or set a goal of changing body composition (ie. losing fat or gaining muscle) and re-evaluate your rowing performances at that new bodyweight/build. We can still periodize training for those who don’t want to do formal races simply by setting different goals and targets for different phases of a year. I really try to avoid year-round hammering away at a single performance goal.
And this is just for those with a longer history in the sport. There are plenty of masters rowers getting started in their 40s, 50s, or 60s who are only going up in improvement from the first learn-to-row or novice season.
These factors are not considered in the research on age-related decline as measured by physiological indicators, standardized lab tests, and performances in elite competitors. Keep finding ways to improve!
#4: Masters rowers are still rowers
My strength training with masters rowers is not very different from junior or collegiate rowers. Unlike other sports, we’re all doing the same rowing motion with similar performance goals and training needs. While masters may lose some recovery ability in whatever age-related physiological changes do exist, I generally find this to be offset by their improved practices of nutrition, hydration, sleep quantity and quality, and often simply a better understanding of their body and training.
The strength training changes I do make with masters rowers are:
Slightly lower training volume, at least to start. If I'd have a younger rower do 5x8, we'll start a masters rower with 4x8 and build from there.
Deloading every 4-6 weeks instead of 10-16 (this is almost always a missing component in rowers' training programs)
More communication around intensity management. Do you use a polarized plan, pyramidal plan, or something else? Do you consolidate or distribute your high-intensity days? A more haphazard training approach might’ve worked in youth, but more planning and more intentional training yields better results with age.
For the most part, masters rowers strength train like any other rower, and differences are more individual than purely age-driven. Read about my strength training program priorities for all rowers here in what exercises we do, how we do them, and how we put them together in a training program.