After spending time around numerous athletes at two prestigious regattas, we’ve learned a few critical things. Not only is team erging on the Stroke Master going to bring those athletes to be next lever performers, but we’ve also learned that its necessary for us to put together a quick recommendation guide for preventing injury all while increasing performance.
It’s not our job to come in and coach an athlete on form when they sit down on the Stroke Master, but we do have a quick guide to assist coaches and athletes alike. Form is critical, end of story. Think of it as the quality of your form is just as critical as the quantity of strokes you’re putting out. This will optimize athletic performance.
So, how do you put those two elements together, you’re probably wondering. STRENGTH TRAINING. Below is a list of 5 exercises that, when executed correctly, will assist in optimizing form on the erg, therefore making athletes more proficient.
1. Single Leg Squat
Single leg squat strength has great implications for function in most lifestyle movements and reduce the risk of knee injury. This exercise works on balance, foot strength, and stability as well as hip stability. For a demo of this exercise click here.
2. Single Leg Hip Extension Bent Leg
Unilateral training allows athletes to have equal balance in right and left side muscles. This exercise in particular allows the athlete to train the posterior chain muscles of the gluteus maximus and adductors. These two groups are typically underdeveloped and play a large roll in leg and hip power for acceleration, max speed, and deceleration patterns. Underdeveloped glute muscles can also cause injury situations stemming from overcompensation and injury to other muscles. For demo of this exercise click here.
3. Push Up – Bear Crawl
This is a full body movement that works on core stability as well as shoulder and hip flexibility. For a full demo of this exercise click here.
4. Single Arm Row
Surprisingly enough, as rowers, we benefit from the grip strength we gain here. With a unilateral movement focus strength balance is also a focal point with this movement. For a demo of this exercise click here.
5. Med Ball Slams
This is a simple whole body explosive movement that allows the athlete to engage deeply from the core, yet pull in all frontal muscles for the slam. A great exercise for the explosive stroke of crew. For a demo of this exercise click here.
Lastly, we are not professional trainers by any means. We have developed a product to increase the success of teams on the water coming out of dry land training season. These are simply tips that we have seen be successful for all athletes who focus on crew. If you’re interested in The Stroke Master and would like to schedule a demo, or purchase a run for your athletes contact us here.
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