7 Ways to Become a Stronger Rower

To become a stronger rower, you must never give up on working on your rowing technique. There is always room for improvement! If you are serious about becoming a stronger rower, you know that rowing workouts both on water and on land are crucial to your development and need to be taken seriously.

Your rowing workout may include daily drills aimed to refine the four sequential elements of a row stroke. These elements are: the catch, the drive, the finish, and the recovery. You can choose workouts that target each element of a row in order to maximize your overall performance. Here are seven ways you can improve your rowing technique.

How to Improve Your Rowing Technique

1. Weight Training: Dead lifts, back squats, body rows and pull-ups will be your new best friends. These specific exercises target areas and muscles you need to be a strong rower. A dead lift resembles a rowing stroke and is one of the best exercises you will have in your arsenal.
2. Erg Workouts: Add erg training to your regular rowing workouts. Keep a log and set goals for yourself to beat. Any improvement is significant and gives you something to work towards. Being in competition with yourself in this way is a strong motivator.
3. Anaerobic Threshold Training: Rowing is an endurance sport, which means you need to increase your aerobic capacity and anaerobic threshold level. Try adding a weekly tempo run to your routine.
4. Core Strengthening and Balance: Try yoga and Pilates to augment your rowing workouts. These practices are great for core strengthening and for building balance, giving you more stability when getting in and out of your rowing shell, among other benefits.
5. Mental Training: Focus on your training and give it your all. Let go of any need to perform perfectly and throw yourself into it! Ask yourself, what motivates you, why are you here? and stay focused on those things.
6. Watch Yourself Row: You may be reluctant to watch a video of yourself, but this trick is extremely useful and can help you improve your technique. (And be sure to use your regular rowing equipment.)
7. Join a Rowing Club: Find a rowing club. This will give you the opportunity to put your training to the test.

The best way to perfect your rowing technique is with convenient, easy, low-profile access to the water. Contact AccuDock to learn more about our rowing docks.