Biomechanics of Erging

Biomechanics of Rowing Erging is what I have been focusing on for the past few weeks due to how much time I have spent on the infamous indoor rower.

I have picked a few of the national-team members brains about tips to increase speed on the erg, both with and without sliders. This is my summary:

Without sliders the 'normal' erg needs utilizes straight power developed from the deep-compression at the catch all the way through to the finish. In my opinion, the finish on a normal erg needs to be dramatically magnified or over-emphasized to force the flywheel to spin at at higher rate going into the next stroke. This prevents the flywheel from slowing down as much on the recovery back to the catch and in turn less power is needed to pick the flighwheel's speed up (See picture below). The way I see it, the force applied at the start and end of the stroke compared to the recovery will give the power reading (watts or speed/500m). The true effort in erging without sliders is to develop force against the flywheel but also the ability to change direction (momentum) of your body-weight between the drive phase and recovery phase, which isn't used in on-water rowing nearly as much.

Pilfered from facebook (D O'F photo)

With Sliders

Sliders are the rolling rails on metal frames that are placed under the erg and it moves back and forth underneath the athlete. With use of these gems, the light-weight erg (27lbs) will slide back and forth underneath the athlete. The ability to keep the stroke-rate much higher will contribute to preventing the flywheel from slowing down, as I mentioned previously. I find during a standard 2000m piece, I will be 4-5 beats higher decreasing the power needed each stroke. I have heard it explained before as "tapping it along" - once the preferred speed is reached it is easily maintain with less perceived effort.

 Even though I have only done a half dozen workouts and a few erg tests on sliders, I prefer them.  In my mind, erging with sliders is more like on-water rowing and that is the main reason for training indoors. Also, I feel there is a decreased chance of injury using sliders.



Video by KW
More Biomechanics of Rowing at British Journal of Sports Medicine 

Ergloo

For the past month I have spent four sessions a week training in the new Erg Centre at the Pacific Institute for Sports Excellence. Travis dubbed it the Ergloo due directly to the fact that the average morning temperature has hovered around 0.7*C. After the frost melts off the inside surface of the tent, the moisture starts to drip down on us erging away on the cement pad below. Warm-up for the workout usually is a team of toque and mitten fully-clothed athletes. I actually really like training there. First, because it is a dedicated centre for national team performance. Second, I feel it is good to have the ambient temperature cooler because then it is less stress for my body to keep internal temperature low and more effort can be attending to performance. And, the third reason I enjoy training in the erg centre, the clinic I work at, LifeMark Sport Medicine, is literally 50 meters across the tarmac. See panorama below.

 

Slides on Slides

Rares discovered a new technique of indoor rowing! This is post-workout today trying to see if there is benefit from multiplying the slides, concept 2 slides that is. If one set of slides drops your workout by 3 "splits" does adding two more sets drop it by 6 or 9 splits? From this angle it is hard to see not to mention poor quality but there is some interesting point to it. I had to speed it up to keep it exciting.

B&W Erg

The Lightweight group has spent four workouts a week in the new "Indoor Training Centre" at PISE. Here are a few shots from today's workout (2x25min).

 

 

 

Testing the Limits (December)

 

The winter is here to stay. At least I hope it is with the current balmy Victoria weather. The nights have been clear with crispy frozen windows to scrape in the early morning but after 9am the sun is out warming up everything. Today I actually saw people walking to the PISE gym in (short) shorts. Did the hemispheres switch and we are now south of the tropic of Capricorn?

The training program has been materializing excellently into a consistent day-by-day base training workout program. Nearing the end of this week I have reached a new level of exhaustion. Deep down, however, I really enjoy the draining feeling with soreness in [all] my muscles. I know I must be improving or at least, in theory, should be.

We have spent many workouts just maintaining a consistent aerobic level hitting the range of 140-160 bpm heart rate. Each piece I try to hold [read: hold-on] the same level of intensity and getting into a rhythm. My limiting factor recently has been my own mind - the mental aspect of pulling as hard as I can without blowing-up halfway through the workout. Testing the limits I would say. Below is a shot of Kenny Wu, the lwt RCA coach, with Travis and John on a recovery between pieces.

Below is a shot of the "New" erg centre @ PISE that we are now training in 3x/week.