Are rowers the fittest athletes?
Matt Wall
starting in later this month. It's called 'Smilebuster' and is run once
every 3 months in leading Health and Fitness Clubs, and it's a good one for
rowers.
The format is row, bike, run, and there are two distances, Sprint and Pro.
Series 1 is being run at around 450 clubs across the UK, many of which are
welcoming non-members to compete on the day at their event. All results are
fed back to the Smilebuster team and ranked in the Smilebuster Global Series
on www.smilebuster.com. Rankings are by overall time, by discipline and by
age/sex categories. The first event is expected to attract around 5,000
entries, making by far the UK's largest triathlon.
Later in the year the event is being held in clubs outside of the UK,
specifically in the USA, Germany, France, Japan and Australia.
For more information on how to enter, and to find out' Where in the World
are You' in terms of your fitness, visit www.smilebuster.com.
--
Matthew Wall
Smilebuster Global indoor triathlon
Tel: +44(0)1483 567800
Fax: +44(0)1483 851980
Mob: +44(0)7989 962235
matthe...@smilebuster.com
www.smilebuster.com
Freewheeling
I suspect that road cyclists probably have the best aerobic fitness. Who
else exercises at 90 to 100% of capacity for 4 to 6 hours a day, for three
weeks at a time, several times during a season? But I'm sure triathletes
are right up there as well, though since the running is high impact it'll
probably limit the amount you can do safely without repetitive stress
injury. The skeletal system isn't nearly as robust as the heart and lungs.
I have *never* done a six hour rowing session at an average heart rate above
150 (about 80% of maximum capacity), though this is not at all unusual for a
day of cycling. If I tried a rowing session this intense I'd probably do
permanent joint or lower back damage.
--
--Scott
freewh...@bigfoot.com
"Matt Wall" <ma...@smilebuster.com> wrote in message
news:k17i8.7225$nt.11...@news11-gui.server.ntli.net...
Neil Wallace
"Freewheeling" <email_at_b...@bigfoot.com> wrote in message
news:WJ7i8.990$KK5...@nwrddc01.gnilink.net...
> Matt:
>
> I suspect that road cyclists probably have the best aerobic fitness. Who
> else exercises at 90 to 100% of capacity for 4 to 6 hours a day, for three
> weeks at a time, several times during a season? But I'm sure triathletes
> are right up there as well, though since the running is high impact it'll
> probably limit the amount you can do safely without repetitive stress
> injury. The skeletal system isn't nearly as robust as the heart and
lungs.
> I have *never* done a six hour rowing session at an average heart rate
above
> 150 (about 80% of maximum capacity), though this is not at all unusual for
a
> day of cycling. If I tried a rowing session this intense I'd probably do
> permanent joint or lower back damage.
>
> --
> --Scott
Scott,
Matt was publicising an event, and challenging rowers to prove themselves. I
do not think he was expecting an answer.. nevertheless you have attempted to
do so very well.
As for rowing, running AND cycling... is it not a case of "Jack of all
trades.. master of none"?
Also, how is "fitness" quantified? The para-olympic athletes are obviously
massively fit, and yet some could not compete in all aspects of a triathlon
as mentioned.
That said, I would expect rowers to do quite well in this event.. especially
those lean mean lightweights who.
And it is for charity I presume??
Neil
Phate
6 hour bike(same HR) because in a bike you can shift up a gear and take some
of the pressure off your legs. You can;t really do that in rowing. Plus
rowers do a lot of cross training. A LOT!
phof...@math.uwaterloo.ca
Joe Tynan
strength to weight ratio or all athletes (on the elite level at least!
:). Since your sport gives us something that cross country skiing
doesn't: the combination of powerlifting with endurance for the entire
muscle system all at once. Cross country skiing comes close, the but
the physical loads on any muscle are less than that of a well pulled
oar. As for triathletes, a similar case; they may have a higher
cardiovascular endurance, but their strength is not as high.
Joe
phof...@math.uwaterloo.ca () wrote:
>No, nordic (cross-country) ski racers are.
To get in contact with me via email, please remove the NOSPAM from the email address.
Edd Edmondson
@at wrote:
> If I remember corectly, I believe that rowers have the highest
> strength to weight ratio or all athletes (on the elite level at least!
> :). Since your sport gives us something that cross country skiing
> doesn't: the combination of powerlifting with endurance for the entire
> muscle system all at once. Cross country skiing comes close, the but
> the physical loads on any muscle are less than that of a well pulled
> oar. As for triathletes, a similar case; they may have a higher
> cardiovascular endurance, but their strength is not as high.
>
> Joe
I seem to recall my dad once telling me about some competition organised on
TV between a bunch of professional and Olympic athletes. The one person who
really stood out was the guy who did Judo, who completely out-chin-upped
everyone else in the competition, probably including rowers. Clearly the
heavyweight boxers never stood a chance, but apparently he effortlessly
outdid everyone. Of course this is all foundless rumour, unless anyone can
back me up.
And then I'm sure rock-climbers could tell you a few stories about guys who
have phenomenal strength to weight ratios such that they can fly up a big
cliff without breaking a sweat (plus rumours of guys who could pull
themselves up a cliff with another guy hanging off them....) I doubt many
elite rowers could do that, even if they had the technical ability.
Seriously, I'd be *very* surprised if rowers had the best
strength-to-weight ratio. Being a skinny runt I reckon in terms of a
one-to-one ratio (ie strength/weight with no adjustments) I'm better than
most rowers, but I just can't pull the same ergs as even a half-decent
lightweight, even when weigh adjusted using the 2/9 power rule or whatever
it is, and I'll never be even a decent club rower.
Anyway, as to whether rowers are the fittest, rather than the strongest per
pound - at the top levels we could be here all year arguing it, but at the
very widespread amateur level I could believe rowers are fitter, as we seem
to have that bizarre obsessive mindset that won't let us get on with an
ordinary life :-)
--
Edd
Phate
leval....up at the elite....I dunno.
Pm_wi...@notmail.com
<edwarde...@linuxfreemail.net> wrote:
>
>I seem to recall my dad once telling me about some competition organised on
>TV between a bunch of professional and Olympic athletes. The one person who
>really stood out was the guy who did Judo, who completely out-chin-upped
>everyone else in the competition, probably including rowers. Clearly the
>heavyweight boxers never stood a chance, but apparently he effortlessly
>outdid everyone. Of course this is all foundless rumour, unless anyone can
>back me up.
>
I remeber the competition, it was called "SuperStars", the Judo Guy
was, if I remember correctly, Brian Jacks. I can remeber that he used
to wipe the floor with most of the other athletes, in every
discipline. However his most remarkable feature was a ridiculous perm,
à la Kegan.
Another memory from the series was when Jonah Barrington (squash world
champ) walked off in a huff beacuse he couldn't do frog jumps
properly.
On a more serious note, I guess that Judo requires cross training and
flexibility, If you asked a cyclist to do one chin up (they were
parallel bar dips) he would be strugling., in the same way ask Pinsett
to cycle Alp D'huez at an Indurain pace ..... It's going to a case of
measurement without repect to the sport, e.g. A VO2 Max test perhaps.
Anu Dudhia
> I seem to recall my dad once telling me about some competition organised on
> TV between a bunch of professional and Olympic athletes. The one person who
> really stood out was the guy who did Judo, who completely out-chin-upped
> everyone else in the competition, probably including rowers.
Probably he was thinking of Brian Jacks, and the TV series was called Sporting
Superstars or something similar (late '70s). 10 random athletes had to do a
variety of sporting tasks - sprinting, cycling, chin-ups, squat thrusts, etc.
They even included sculling at one point, until they realised that only the
proper rowers could get to the end of the course without falling in so they
substituted recreational type rowing boats.
And I think you'll find the people with the highest strength to weight ratio
are, by definition, the weightlifters.
Caroline Smith
> themselves up a cliff with another guy hanging off them....)
"The Princess Bride"- the Cliffs of Insanity- Fezzik, Vizzini, Inigo Montoya
and Buttercup. Nuff said! :o)
(Is officially vacation- sorry!)
David Freeman
"Anu Dudhia" <dud...@atm.ox.ac.uk> wrote in message
news:3C8C71DF...@atm.ox.ac.uk...
> Edd Edmondson wrote:
>
> > I seem to recall my dad once telling me about some competition organised
on
> > TV between a bunch of professional and Olympic athletes. The one person
who
> > really stood out was the guy who did Judo, who completely out-chin-upped
> > everyone else in the competition, probably including rowers.
>
> Probably he was thinking of Brian Jacks, and the TV series was called
Sporting
> Superstars or something similar (late '70s). 10 random athletes had to do
a
> variety of sporting tasks - sprinting, cycling, chin-ups, squat thrusts,
etc.
> They even included sculling at one point, until they realised that only
the
> proper rowers could get to the end of the course without falling in so
they
> substituted recreational type rowing boats.
>
I would imagine that any new version of Superstars would include an erg
competition. Not that they'd be able to persuade any of today's highly paid
& valuable sports stars to do it, and if they wanted to their agents &
managers wouldn't let them. Certainly none of Manchester City's players
would be allowed to compete :)
Dave
Mike De.Petris
povero All :
DF> I would imagine that any new version of Superstars would include an
DF> erg competition. Not that they'd be able to persuade any of today's
DF> highly paid & valuable sports stars to do it, and if they wanted to
DF> their agents & managers wouldn't let them. Certainly none of
DF> Manchester City's players would be allowed to compete :)
In the first 80ies the same kind of competition was held in Italy at national
level for few years, I remember having seen it two or three times in Italy.
There various events,
- running events on short lenghts, footballers first
- on long lengths, can't remember
- weightlifting, rowers best
- parallel bar dips, kayakers/paddlers best.
Practically there was one event intended for each sport, and famous sport
stars competed. I perfectly remember the results or at least my
considerations:
- at the very top: Abbagnale the rower, in the first places of ANY event
except sprint running
- strange, the weightlifting (weigth over the head) was the event dedicated
to rowers, and won by far by Abbagnale brothers
- parallel dips: Oreste Perri, the great paddler destroyed all competitors
doubling the number of repetitions of other competitors that at best was
bowers, which were in the last places of any other event
- long running: after "specialists", rowers and paddlers destroyed all other
competitors, note that Oreste Perri was 10000m world champion in K1
- running sprints were the only event were footballers did something, instead
of being the last as in any other event, even after the boxers.
It was really funny.
Ciao, *Mike* mike...@triesterivista.it www.triesterivista.it
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Kit Davies
to rank various physical activities by a variety of attributes
(all-out strength, strength/weight, endurance, oxygen intake, etc).
Rowing and cycling were both in the top 2 or 3, + both judo & Xcountry
skiing were close by. But top by miles was... ballet-dancing!
And if you don't want to do the training, 8 guys rowing in tutus
should be enough to kill off most opposition.
NO***SPAMcaustic(@at)NO_SPAMseattleu.edu (Joe Tynan) wrote in message news:<3c8dce3a...@news.qwest.net>...
Caroline Smith
> to rank various physical activities by a variety of attributes
> (all-out strength, strength/weight, endurance, oxygen intake, etc).
> Rowing and cycling were both in the top 2 or 3, + both judo & Xcountry
> skiing were close by. But top by miles was... ballet-dancing!
another version of something that sounds similar at
http://users.ox.ac.uk/~kebl1337/toughestsport.htm
Rowing doesn't even get in the top 10!
Michael Sullivan
OK, I'll get snagged on this thread. I took ballet for
a year.
training and performance is so specific to sports that it's
quite silly to try and figure out which 'sport' is superior
as far as training. Once you are dealing with pain, it's all
the same. If you want to find the best, most fit athletes,
follow the money.
What I found interesting in my own 'athletic' career was watching
my athletic ability in other sports being hosed by intense
rowing training. I ran middle distances in track in high school.
I ran the mile once or twice and got ~ 4:40. In college
and afterward I was much more fit, did a lot of running to
train, but because I was now 185 instead of 165, the best I
could run was 4:55 or so, just under 5:00.
Similarly, I was a HS basketball player, could dunk on a run.
In college and training for a couple years after, I played
ball infrequently, but in spite of all my strength gains could
NOT dunk all the time I trained in rowing. Yet, after I stopped
heavy training, played hoops again, I was able to dunk better
than I was before, pretty near being able to do so from a standing
jump, and could do it on a asphalt court.
I stayed off the courts during racing season, but as soon as racing
ended I'd wander out and find some game. Here I'd be, the
best shape in my life, and I'd be wheezing trying to run a
full court game. The stop and go is so very different, different
muscles involved. It would take me a time to 'get in shape'.
This was a big lie told to me in high school - that I should
go out for cross country to get in shape for basketball. Bullocks.
I was all league 2nd team in x-country my senior year, but when
basketball practice started, I was losing the running drills!
After a couple weeks I'd find myself working toward the top
again - but it was pretty annoying.
That all being said, what freewheeling said about cycling is backed
up by the VO efficiency numbers collected by the Hagermans from
various Oly teams. They can spend hours more time daily in the
aerobic zone because there is less impact than the runners, less
stress on the back as the rowers, and more large muscle usage than
the swimmers.
Mike
Nick Morrell
> http://users.ox.ac.uk/~kebl1337/toughestsport.htm
> Rowing doesn't even get in the top 10!
Sorry, but having read the list, I have to admit to laughing at the
number 10 - Football. Come on, who are they trying to kid?!?
However, I will readily bow to the guys who made it in there at number 5
- anyone who is nuts enough to do Bull Riding earns my deepest respect.
Nick
Jon Andrew
is pretty meaningless - what are you measuring? Each sport has an
emphasis on different systems.
From current experience - I have been rowing for 13 years non-stop and
am having a break this year to do an Ironman Triathlon. Now I have
experienced acute fatigue in workouts courtesy of London RC's chief
coach and would reckon that I was a pretty fit rower. However, the
tail-end of a 90 mile cycle ride currently leaves me fit for nothing
for the rest of the day(got to hope that changes come the event!).
Specificity of training means that you cannot expect to be good at one
sport and expect to transfer well to another discipline - even when
you are using the same muscle groups.
Premiership footballers maybe utterly hopeless on an ergo but elite
rowers will find it very hard to repeatedly sprint up and down a
football pitch for 90 minutes while maintaining reasonable control and
skill levels. The rowers might cope better than most other athletes
doing the same but will still be outclassed by the footballer (and
probably also in the nightclub antics afterwards).
Jon
mi...@bbsgate.interware.R.E.M.O.V.E.T.O.R.E.P.L.Y.it (Mike De.Petris) wrote in message news:<5731...@bbsgate.interware.R.E.M.O.V.E.T.O.R.E.P.L.Y.it>...
Matt Wall
"Nick Morrell" <N.C.M...@durham.ac.uk> wrote in message
news:3C8D2529...@durham.ac.uk...
Anu Dudhia
on Gladiators?
Normally the "Contenders" are normal size but aerobically very fit (for the
final race off against each other), which means that the "Gladiators" who are
rather more muscle-bound, but probably less aerobically fit, get to beat them up
in the preliminary rounds. Pinsent & Redgrave, on the other hand ...?
edwarde...@linuxfreemail.net
> Nick
Given that they watch ESPN2, which I've never heard of, and refer to
something called 'math' rather than 'maths', and talk about ninth grade
they are clearly talking about American Football, rather than football
proper.
As someone else said, on a post that got forwarded to
alt.humor.best-of-usenet it is pretty cheeky of them to refer to football
as soccer, and use the word football to refer to a game which mostly
involves playing with something not ball-shaped with something that isn't
your foot.
.... and American Football clearly involves being bashed about a fair bit,
so I can give them that.
How on earth they managed to let that in anyway, rather than something
insane like extreme skiing or cave diving I'll never know.
--
Edd
Katy Cameron
>
> I bet they mean 'Gridiron'
>
Yeah, but they do even less than footballers here do, at least most of
the footballers stay on for 90 minutes!
KT
Rachel Q
It was kind of honours even, from what I remember - P & R had, as
it happens, quite often talked about strategies to win those games, over
Leander breakfast in the previous year. Without checking the tape, which
I have somewhere, I am pretty sure they each beat or drew with the
Gladiators more than normal, due to a combination of strength, strategy,
competitive instinct. There was one game (?pogo sticks) where someone
came a cropper, but on the whole they validated their athletic status
pretty neatly and in at least a couple of games, made the G's look
pedestrian.
The real mismatch was the two oarsmen against the other star
athletes taking part - it wasn't really in doubt who would end up in the
final race. Which was, of course, a total fix.....
RQ.
Kieran Coghlan
Michael Sullivan <gc....@forsythe.stanford.edu> wrote in message
news:3C8CFA...@forsythe.stanford.edu...
> This was a big lie told to me in high school - that I should
> go out for cross country to get in shape for basketball. Bullocks.
Bullocks? BULLOCKS, Mike?!?!?!? Good Lord! This ng is going to the Brits,
an yer gittin pulled down withum!
Time for you to stop by Cotati one Thursday eve, and we'll grab us up some
double-bacon cheeseburgers and beer at Mike's, and talk about Ford V8's vs.
Chevy V8's, and say thing's like, "y'all" and "horsepucky!"
;)
> That all being said, what freewheeling said about cycling is backed
> up by the VO efficiency numbers collected by the Hagermans from
> various Oly teams. They can spend hours more time daily in the
> aerobic zone because there is less impact than the runners, less
> stress on the back as the rowers, and more large muscle usage than
> the swimmers.
Agreed. However, in a triathlon with rowing, running and cycling... I
SERIOUSLY doubt that a very well conditioned lightweight rower couldn't win
the thing hands down. Cycling and running don't take much skill to do
"pretty well." Rowing on the other hand... :P Even becoming "pretty good"
takes weeks of technique training. Whereas, almost everyone can run and
slightly fewer than that can ride a bike.
-Kieran
PS, sorry I missed the Duvall thread... I had a great time, too. :)
Kenneth Burres
wrote in message
news:5731...@bbsgate.interware.R.E.M.O.V.E.T.O.R.E.P.L.Y.it...
This question has been asked and answered:
Cross Country skiers with the highest recorded VO2 max: in the range of
84!!
Next is middle distance runners, 400 - 800 meters.
Rowers are in the top ten
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