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Rowing Fitness Testing
There are several main physical attributes that are important for success in rowing. Rowers need to have a very good endurance capacity. Body size and composition also play an important role in the success of a rower - a low body fat level and being tall with a good reach.
Athletes struggling to keep within their weight category need to have their body composition monitored regularly.
Listed below are some suggested tests, there are many other tests that you could use (see the complete List of Fitness Tests). See also an example of tests that are used for the recruiting rowers for the AIS eTID program and the Australian Rowing NTID Program.
Suggested Rowing Fitness Tests
- Body Size — Height, Sitting Height, Arm Span, Body mass and Skinfolds. Long levers of the arms and legs is important to obtain maximum propulsion. Athletes with an arm span greater than their height indicate greater lever length. Low body fat improves power to weight ratio.
- Flexibility — Sit and Reach. Important for full range of motion.
- Strength — 1RM bench pull, squat.
- Endurance — VO2max on a rowing ergometer, or endurance test using an arm/leg cycle ergometer.
- Rowing Specific — 500m and 2km rowing ergo test
| Fitness Test | Result |
|---|---|
| body mass (kg) | 85.7 |
| height (cm) | 195.6 |
| Skinfolds, sum of 7 sites (mm) | 33.3 |
| Grip Strength (kg) | 52 |
| 1RM Bench Press (kg) | 100 |
| Vertical Jump (cm) | 53 |
| Sit and Reach (cm) | +18 |
| VO2max (ml/kg/min) | 67 |
Example results for a Rower
Here is an example of a series of tests performed on Australian Olympic rower, Drew Ginn, conducted in 2009 (as detailed in the Herald Sun Newspaper). A summary of his results are in the adjacent table.
He has a very good aerobic score on the VO2max test, as expected for a rower. More important though is his absolute VO2max score (l/min not per kg body weight), as rowers ave their body weight supported by the boat.
Related Pages
- Rowing Talent Identification: the eTID Program and NTID program
- Rowing Fitness
- poll about the fitness components for rowing
- Fitness Testing for Sports including sport specific tests