There is a major problem associated with designing fitness training regimes for a club or a crew as a whole. Firstly, no two human bodies are alike, so the fitness training requirements even of members of an elite crew may vary widely. Secondly, no two rowing events are alike, so there is a different optimal fitness training regime for each event, for each rower. The chances are that if any two rowers undergo the same fitness training, then at least one of them is not training optimally. These conflicts present a major problem to land training instructors and club managers.
The typical club 'lowest common denominator' approach is one of ad-hoc circuit training (see callisthenics) and occasional torture by ergo. There is little idea of who is benefiting, by how much or for what event. However, the interests of training a club or crew as a whole need not be inconsistent with the interests of training the individual rower. Indeed, ultimately they are the same - fit individuals are the substance of fit crews. If fitness training is to be effective, it must be carefully designed to encourage measured achievement against goals within highly personalised, concurrent training programmes. The typical club approach towards land training needs to be changed.
Land training is all too often regarded as part of the crew selection procedure, or as the price of being in the club, rather than primarily as an efficient means of becoming a better rower. While a competitive environment may provide motivation to endure the pain of exercise, an environment of selection will inevitably create pressures to perform exercises in the easiest way rather than the most beneficial, and to attempt to impress rather than improve. Those instructing at land training sessions should be present not as figures of authority or agents of selectors, but in the capacity of exercise consultants to help each rower achieve his or her own potential.
Rowers need to develop a relationship of trust with their instructors, to enable a free discussion of and concentration on their weakest points. From the point of view of fitness training, instructors and selectors have conflicting interests, and should ideally be independent of each another. At the very least, training sessions and selection sessions should be distinct and formally separated. So, as part of a scheme to improve the quality of exercise we have removed the fear of deselection. What motivating force should replace it ?
The best motivation for fitness training is the belief that, whatever level of effort is made, it is rewarded with the maximum possible genuine returns. That is, there is genuine improvement against personal goals, and that it is obtained efficiently. There are three suggested motivational components.
The pressure is always to improve upon the previous performance level. Over a period of weeks the log provides testimony to the effectiveness of each exercise and of the programme as a whole. Continuous monitoring enables continuous fine tuning of the programme, and gives a credible record of achievement as a motivation to continue once the initial novelty and pain of exercise has worn off.
Repeated instruction on correct exercise technique is no substitute for the knowledge of why a technique is best and what technique is optimum for any particular fitness objective. A model of the processes involved, together with the pressure from the training log of an improved score for the next session, concentrates the mind on obtaining the maximum benefit from an exercise rather than just going through the motions.
Transfer the responsibility for fitness training from the club back to its individual rowing members. A club should act as enablers and encouragers of its members' fitness programmes. For example, the club may provide some or all of the following.
With individual logs, goals, knowledge of exercise physiology and experience of their own bodies, each rower becomes his or her own best fitness training manager. A personal responsibility for fitness improvement will heighten interest in effective fitness training and produce better gains. Such an approach eventually results in an increased awareness that fitness training, like a rowing event, is a very personal battle against one's own physical limits.
