Rowing Questions You Didn’t Know You Had
People ask all sorts of things about rowing – and we’re here for it! We’ve rounded up some rowing-related questions that people are searching for online. Some are practical, some are quirky, and all of them are worth a quick read. Let’s get into it!
Is Rowing a Good Workout?
Rowing is one of the best workouts you can get because it works the whole body – upper, lower and core, using around 86% of your muscles. It combines both cardio training with strength training meaning it can help keep your heart healthy, build muscles and burn calories. It is also low impact compared to other popular forms of exercise such as running so it’s better for your joints and less likely to lead to impact injury.
Not to mention the fact that rowing is very rhythmic and so can help to reduce stress. Rowing on the water add lots of other benefits too as you are outdoors, often in very peaceful and beautiful environments, and on water which in itself brings countless benefits.
Why is rowing good for you?
Rowing brings countless physical benefits as mentioned above – it’s a full body workout, combining both cardio and strength training all while being low impact so gentle on joints. But rowing is also good for you in so many other ways. typically when you row you are part of a crew and a squad so it’s a great way to meet new people and feel part of a community of like minded people. Working and progressing together as a team is great to make you feel great.
How to Use a Rowing Machine?
A rowing machines is a great piece of sporting equipment. It gives a full body workout which uses around 86% of the muscles in our bodies targeting the upper body, lower body and core! To get the most benefit of these machines (which are also known as ergometers), it’s really important to use the correct technique. Not only will this help you get better scores, it’ll also help avoid strains and other injuries. It also means your rowing stroke will translate much more effectively to a rowing boat on the water!
So what is the correct technique on a rowing machine? Before we even talk about technique, let’s think about set up. Most rowing machines will have a footplate with straps were you put your – yep you guessed it – your feet! You can usually adjust the height of the footplate to best suit your size of feet and your level of flexibility. A good starting point is to make sure the strap is at the level of the widest part of your foot (which is often the bottom of your show laces).
Now let’s think about your starting position. When you first pick up the handle, you should aim to have your shins vertical, your arms straight and your back straight with your upper body slightly hinges forwards at the hips. You can see one of our students in the photo sitting at front stops at our Indoor Rowing Championships.
Once you have this strong starting position, it’s all about getting the sequencing right from here. From front stops, the first thing you do is to push your legs against the footplate. Once your legs are straight you then pivot your upper body (trunk)so it tilts slightly backwards. You’ll need to keep your core strong here to make sure you stay stable and upright (no slouching!), and then bring your arms in to the bottom of your ribs to finish the stroke. This position is known as backstops. From here, you do the opposite – start by pushing your hands out straight, then tils your body forwards at the hips, then move your legs until you find front stops position again. The easy way to think about it is – legs first, then body, then arms, body, legs. It can be helpful to say this mantra as you go through the positions as you get used to it!
What are rowing boats called?
Rowing boats are called, well just that – rowing boats! But, as with any sport, you’ll also hear them referred to as other things. There are different types of rowing boats. There are boats made specifically for racing in and these can often be referred to as “shells”. Those made more for recreational rowing would be referred to as stable boats or explore boats (made for exploring rather than racing).
There are two types of rowing – that which requires the use of two oars per person, and that which requires to use of one oar per person. Equally, boats are made to carry different sized crews – usually for crews of one, two, four or eight. Depending on how many oars each rower uses, the boats are known as: Singles (for one person with two oars – boats for one person with just one oar do not exist in rowing – as the boat would just go round in circles!)), Pair (for two people with one oar each), Doubles (for two people with two oars each), Fours (for four rowers with one oar each), Quads (for four rowers with two oars each) and Eights (for eight rowers with one oar each) and Octs (for eight rowers with two oars each). Some boats also have a seat for a coxswain (aka cox). The cox faces the direction of travel and steers the boat with steering cables attached to a rudder, as well as giving coaching and motivation calls to the crew). Boats that include a cox would be called “Coxed” and those without would be called “Coxless”. So, for example, a boat which holds four rowers with two oars each would be known as a coxless quad. A boat for four rowers with one oar each and a cox would be called a Coxed Four.
And of course, rowing boats would usually be given a personal name. This could be the name of a person who the rowing club has decided to honour, a made up name that means something to the person who named it, something linked to the sponsor of a boat, or some kind of rowing pun. At one of our site, one of our private boats is called “Chicken & Mash” because that’s the favourite meal of its owner!
So as you can see, the answer to what a rowing boat is called could be as simple as “a rowing boat”, as random as “chicken & mash” or as specific as a coxless four!
How fast do rowing boats go?
If you’ve read the answer to the above question, you’ll now know that there is a whole range of different rowing boats and they will all have a different range of speeds. And, of course, the speed of any boat is also massively influenced by the crew who is rowing it – their size, strength, technical ability, to name but three factors. But as a general rule, an eight can go almost 14 mph (22.5kmph)
How long is the longest rowing boat?
With eight rowers and a cox, the 8+ (coxed Eight) is one of the longest rowing boats and is typically between 60 and 62 feet long. When we say one of the longest rowing boat – that is in pretty much every boathouse in the world, However, there is one boat which was built to seat 24 rowers and a cox! Specially made by the Swiss rowing boat manufacturer Stampfli, this boat, known as “The Stampfli 24 Express” is a whopping 144 feet long! As far as we’re aware, it’s the only one in the world, and its last outing at the time of writing was at the Paris 2024 Olympics as part of the torch relay.
How much do rowing boats cost?
About the same as a piece of (rather expensive!) string! The cost of a rowing boat depends on so many things. Like cars, some manufacturers make premium elite racing boats, while others make more standard club training boats. And, as you’d imagine, the cost is reflected in this. But to give an example, for a single (the smallest boat which take just one rower), you could get one for around £3.5k but you could pay up to around £15k!
Looking at the biggest of the boats (excluding the Stampfli Express!), for a coxed 8, you could pay anything from around £20k to almost £30k. So they are not cheap! But, we think, worth every penny!
How long is The Boat Race?
The Boat Race is a traditional race between the universities of Oxford and Cambridge which happens every year. The first race amongst men’s crews was in 1829, with the first women’s race in 1927. The course – known as The Championship Course – is 4 miles and 374 yards (6.8km) and is along the River Thames in South West London.
Where does The Boat Race start and finish? It starts in Putney (just downstream of Putney Bridge) and ends in Mortlake (just before Chiswick Bridge. The course runs past many London landmarks and passes under Hammersmith and Barnes Bridge.
There’s more where that came from. If you liked learning a bit about rowing, why not stick around? We’re all about making the sport more accessible and changing young lives through the sport of rowing.
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