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Rowing is a low-impact, total body workout
Tuesday, July 10, 2001 By Deborah Weisberg
Pam Harding of Squirrel Hill doesn't always find it easy to get onto the river at 5:30 in the morning. "But once I'm out there, I'm glad I did," said Harding, 52, a Steel City Rowing Club board member who took up crew in mid-life. "It's pure sport. And I love the quiet water."
She is one of a growing number of Pittsburghers who are making the city's rivers its hottest new athletic arena.
"It's a flexible sport, in that you can make it as strenuous or as easy as you want," said Dori Martin, executive director of Steel City Rowing in Verona and an active competitor and coach. "Either way, it's a total body workout, but low-impact, so there's little chance for injury."
Larry Grollman, director of Sports Medicine at the UPMC Center for Sports Medicine, called rowing -- either on a machine or in the water -- a great aerobic alternative to biking and running, provided the rower uses proper technique.
"If you work inefficiently, you'll have muscle fatigue and put yourself at greater risk for injury."
When done correctly, rowing elevates the cardiovascular system, and works the abdomen, back and upper extremities, Grollman said. "As an endurance activity, it's outstanding."
People of any age or level of fitness can take up rowing. It might be helpful, Grollman said, to practice on an indoor rowing machine before heading to the water.
Martin runs and lifts weights as part of her training program and always warms up for rowing with a series of stretching exercises. "It's the best way to avoid a sore back," she said.
A rowing machine can be used to warm up for other activities, said Dr. Freddie Fu, an orthopedic surgeon, medical director of UPMC sports medicine and an avid cyclist.
Rowing can be recreational or competitive, and is done in singles, doubles, quads or eights.
Sculling involves two oars. Sweeping uses one.
The only absolute for sculling is a one-person boat, while very few eights scull.
Typically, rowers affiliate with clubs that provide access to boats as well as training facilities and coaches.
"It takes a certain independent kind of person to do singles," said Mike Lambert, executive director of Three Rivers Rowing Association at Washington's Landing. "Other people prefer the spirit of cooperation you feel when you're part of a team, and there are no superstars."
The heart rates of competitors can reach 180 to 200 beats per minute.
Recreational rowers can paddle lightly, maintain a heart rate of 120 or 130, and still benefit from the sport, said Martin, who also touts rowing for people recovering from injury, whether it's hips, shoulders or knees.
She discovered it in the process of rehabilitating a broken leg.
"It can be so very gentle on the body."
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