The Power of Sculling

The drive starts in the legs; a solid contraction, a jolt of force against the shell. Immediately a single bolt of tension arcs through the entire body, is applied to the oars, and a full 2.5 meters out behind the rowers body the blade catches, sinking slightly, pressing against water. Hydraulic pressure holds the blade fast, mechanical advantage soars, and motion is born. As fast as the body can manage, the legs extend, the bow pitches down and out, and the body recruits a progression of muscle contractions, perfectly ordered in descending strength, the smaller muscles building upon the motion initiated by the legs.

The bow rises up and cleaves the surface, the gliding arcs of the oars skim over the bulkhead, the blades, fixed tight against an immobile crest of water create a shallow depression on their leeward side. When the body comes to the end of the slide, the opposing muscle groups take over. From head to toe a moment of recovery allows the boat to slip beneath the rower and onward into the cleft it is slicing through the water. Balance and control reign during the recovery; mental preparation for the next catch.

In the time of a few seconds, the rower has just exerted nearly every major muscle group, begun a steep ascent towards their anaerobic threshold, and if they are a great talent, to a spectator, begun a silent and graceful glide across the water mirroring many of nature’s most beautiful movements.

Rowing builds strength, endurance, and flexibility. Because it almost always throws a rower against their anaerobic threshold, it also demands extreme mental fortitude. Because the motion of the stroke is a closed chain exercise, and takes the body through natural full ranges of motion with little joint impact, it is a perfect sport to build full body strength and coordination.

Pairing rowing with lifting is both a natural cross training solution, but also, results in synergistic results benefiting each sport and, of course, the body itself. Rowing ensures an even development of the body and significant muscle density. Lifting generates power, muscle endurance, and anabolic growth. Taken together, the two are an amazing combination.

True strength. True symmetry. True muscle.