Pulling with the arms before the leg drive...

[mmayzak]

Just wondering? If a rower was start the arm pulling before finishing the leg drive do they actually make the legs work harder by shifting the force of pulling the handle to the leg drive?

Being this rower is me I can relate: ).

I can see where this would give the rower the illusion of a better stroke while actually just working harder to cover actually less distance due to overlapping the leg drive and arm pull.

Help me with the why's behind the whats...or watts. Lol

GO ROW!

Mike from Oklahoma

[christopherregisryan]

Just wondering? If a rower was start the arm pulling before finishing the leg drive do they actually make the legs work harder by shifting the force of pulling the handle to the leg drive?

Being this rower is me I can relate: ).

I can see where this would give the rower the illusion of a better stroke while actually just working harder to cover actually less distance due to overlapping the leg drive and arm pull.

Help me with the why's behind the whats...or watts. Lol

GO ROW!

Mike from Oklahoma

Hi Mike. The biggest issue with an early arm pull is that it causes your arms to have to work against the power of your legs. This will cause them to burn out quickly and your stoke will lose the power in your arms/back. Even worse, weak arms pulling too early may cause some of the leg drive power to be lost before it gets to the handle. Straight arms allow the power of your leg drive to be transferred to the handle by your traps, shoulders, back and abs. It's the same with opening your body too early. Waiting on your body and arms allows you to transfer more of your leg drive power PLUS it allows you to continue your drive for a longer period of time. To summarize, more efficient transfer of power to the handle and less stress on your lower back and arms, which will delay fatigue. Best. - Chris

[mmayzak]

I completely get it....

[jamesg]

It's best to use the legs at the start of the stroke, because we have to get our entire mass up to flywheel speed as soon as possible. Otherwise we lose stroke length. The legs are strong and have relatively long action, so are well suited to this duty. Low drag.

In any case, we are in charge of our technique: just do it, you'll see the results on screen (if you set to Watts) in awful detail. You can always drop the rating a little: if you hold the same rating, it will be as if you moved up a band.

This is the key to making UT2 the toughest workout of all, if you follow the band/rating relationship.