run vs row

[dragman]

It's been so long since I've been able to run.. I'm wondering how rowing transfers to running.. I used to wrestle back in college, and had a mile run down to around 5min 50sec. Now, new to rowing, totally out of shape, and rather heavy with bad (really bad) knees, I did a 2K at 9:05. Can humans row faster than run?

[Carl Watts]

Your going to be hard pressed to row faster than running on a single erg.

What the main difference will be however, is the rower is a low impact exercise as far as your knees are concerned and it is an all over body exercise unlike running. There wouldn't be many forms of exercise better than rowing with the only one I can think of being swimming.

I would be interested in how rowing improves your running ability as I have signed up for the annual 8.4km "Round the bays" run and cannot remember the last time I put a pair of running shoes on.

[steves]

In my experience, intensive training for rowing (or erging) improves running performance, but not vice versa.

Running up stairs or up rows of stadium seats was widely held to to improve rowing performance and it was a core component of rowing teams' training programs, but I believe this has been largely abandoned since the C2 erg was perfected.

I did a lot of hill work for a couple of seasons, and though it was effective in improving my running endurance, it didn't seem to carry over onto the water.

I'd be interested to learn if there is much of an emphasis on running up stairs, hills, or stadia in the current training schedules in youth and university rowing.

[APM]

Good morning all;

as an experienced runner I find that erging really helps my running, and, in my opinion is the best form of cross training. In fact I did 60-70% of my marathon training (for running) last summer on the erg, due to a slightly dodgy left knee.

However, I believe that in comparison time wise to running, erging actually takes a shorter period of time to cover the same distance. For example, and using myself as a case study:
Rowing 10k- 40:33
Running 10k- 44:02

Hope this helps!

[tiredboy]

I can't comment about the effect of rowing on running or vice versa as one of the reasons I use the erg is to avoid running but if you are interested in looking at the relative speeds of the two there is a thread here:

http://concept2.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.p ... 32#p493311

In that thread there are links to older discussions on it.

[aharmer]

It's been so long since I've been able to run.. I'm wondering how rowing transfers to running.. I used to wrestle back in college, and had a mile run down to around 5min 50sec. Now, new to rowing, totally out of shape, and rather heavy with bad (really bad) knees, I did a 2K at 9:05. Can humans row faster than run?

To answer your final question...humans can run much faster than they can erg. The male running world records for all distances and head and shoulders faster than on the erg.

However, this definitely doesn't hold true for all individuals. I was a decent runner but will surpass my running times pretty quickly on the erg. I'm built much better for the erg than for running. Your 9:05 2k time, assuming it was when you started erging, will come down very quickly with fitness and technique improvement.

[macroth]

My opinion and experience is that the relationship between erging and running is the same as with any form of aerobic crosstraining. There is some carry-over both ways, but it varies a lot and is difficult to predict.

The reason is that swimming, rowing, running, cycling, skating, cross-country skiing, all use different muscles or use the same muscles differently. It's "cardio", but whatever systemic effects you get from training each of them may not carry over that much. The best (worst?) example of this is Lance Armstrong, who produced a rather pedestrian 3 hour marathon in NYC, even after several months of training. Crosstraining is still popular because it helps break the monotony and/or enables athletes to increase their training volume while resting their "main" muscles and joints.

Many factors come into play, such as your experience and level in the sport. For novices, anything can make them better at everything. When you're out of shape, rowing will make you a better tennis player.
A middling but experienced amateur athlete can benefit from crosstraining as well (strong legs from rowing, for example) without having to worry about how it may interfere with learning/perfecting the sport.
Elite athletes, however, need a focused training plan that builds on their strengths and addresses weaknesses, and can't affort so simply switch half their training to a similar activity, hoping for some marginal carryover.

Now, to answer your second question, from what I have noticed taller and heavier individuals usually erg faster than they run, while lighter and shorter individuals tend to run faster than they erg. Different sports, with different ideal bodytypes.

[Laura Ann]

In fact I did 60-70% of my marathon training (for running) last summer on the erg, due to a slightly dodgy left knee.

An intriguing idea, given how injury prone I am. Did you swap mile for mile, or should one put in more miles on the erg? Thanks!

[hjs]

It's been so long since I've been able to run.. I'm wondering how rowing transfers to running.. I used to wrestle back in college, and had a mile run down to around 5min 50sec. Now, new to rowing, totally out of shape, and rather heavy with bad (really bad) knees, I did a 2K at 9:05. Can humans row faster than run?

Good rowers, row faster then run, for rowing you have to be relative tall and heavy, this won,t do you much good while running. Top heavy's can,t run.

[APM]

In fact I did 60-70% of my marathon training (for running) last summer on the erg, due to a slightly dodgy left knee.

An intriguing idea, given how injury prone I am. Did you swap mile for mile, or should one put in more miles on the erg? Thanks!

Hi Laura;

well basically I suffer horrendously from ITBS in my left knee, and, as such, cannot run half as many miles as I would like.

In terms of specific training; I did not subsititute exact workout for exact workout (so I did not row 8k when I was mean to run 5 miles, etc. etc.); however I build a great cross training base (rowing on average 70-80K a week at peak) which allowed me to concentrate on longer runs without a high fear of injury.

Come the event I ran with one of my best friends who solely ran to a relatively high demanding marathon programme, with only about 10% of his training coming via cross training. Ability wise we have always beenn similar; but I felt so, so much stronger than him come all of our main training runs and lead up events.

I not not naive enough to suggest that there are not other factors contributing to end result between the pair of us. I firmy believe that rowing really did make the difference, and will be using this strategy again this year for my marathon training.

[bloomp]

I have noticed the same distinction as APM, but over shorter distances mostly. After a hard season of erging in fall 2008, I ran a 5k PR at 18:44. Before then I was hovering over 20 for the same distance. Since then I've reduced it to 18:30 but only after adding more running in. There is much less support in the other direction - rowing needs much more muscle and running doesn't build muscle. You just get lean and more efficient.

And you'll see in my signature that my 5k time on the erg is nowhere near as fast as on foot. Yet.