INJURY PREVENTION & PERFORMANCE OPTIMISATION FOR SCHOOL & YOUTH ROWING
As we approach the school rowing season, Kellie Wilkie has been educating rowers, parents and coaches about how to prevent injury and optimise performance in young growing bodies. Kellie travelled with the Australian Rowing Team for 9 consecutive years including going to the London and Rio Olympic Games. She was the lead Physiotherapist for Rowing Australia in the Rio Olympic cycle and has managed Australian Team Rowers for 20 years!
Currently Kellie manages rowers in the Tasmanian Institute of Sport Rowing Program and is involved in research related to low back pain in rowers and athletic low back pain. She has published several peer reviewed papers in this area and is therefore the ideal person to deliver this education.
It is tricky to get in to see Kellie in a timely manner due to her long wait to see new patients. Because of this, Kellie has been continually upskilling other Physiotherapists at BODYSYSTEM so that rowers can be seen promptly – an essential part of managing an athletic low back pain episode or in assessing individual risk for rowing related low back pain.
Nick Cannell and Belinda Dorner are BODYSYSTEM Physiotherapists who have a special interest in assisting young rowers with low back pain.
Taylor Wilczynski is a BODYSYSTEM Exercise Physiologist that can screen rowers for low back pain risk, assist with training load management, advise on ergometer rowing technique and implement strength and conditioning programs for rowers.
More information about accessing services for rowers at BODYSYSTEM can be found here ‘Preferred BODYSYSTEM Rower Services’
What do we know about preventing low back pain in rowing?
- Rowers that have an upright pelvic posture are less likely to get back pain
- Keeping rowing ergometer time under 30minutes reduces your likelihood of low back pain
- A slow and steady increase in training load and maintenance of consistent training load reduces a rowers chance of becoming injured
What exercises can a rower do to prevent low back pain?
The 5 essential exercises in this link ‘Essential Exercises For Developing Rowers’ will;
- Increase hip motion and ankle motion to get to the catch in the best posture
- Increase hamstring length to enable the rower to keep a flat low back position through the drive phase of the rowing stroke
- Improve abdominal endurance so that a flat and strong low back posture is maintained from mid-late drive
What happens if I get low back pain as a rower?
The link to this handout steps you through ‘What you should do if you experience low back pain as a rower’
Experiencing discomfort in the low back can happen in rowing and is not dangerous, if you experience the following low back pain features, you stop rowing and see a Physiotherapist or Doctor with rowing specific experience;
- Sharp or intense pain when rowing or ergometer rowing
- Pain that is getting increasingly worse when rowing
- Pain that lasts > 30 minutes after rowing
- Having to change the way you row due to low back pain when rowing
Make sure you speak up and let you coach know. The sooner you unload and get assessed, the more you limit the severity of injury and the quicker you can get back to rowing.
What are some other important things I need to optimise performance?
- Sleep 8 hours per night – you are almost 2x more likely to get an injury if you sleep less than 8 hours per night
- Eat – plan your food throughout the day so you have energy to row, grow and recover
- Strength is best gained in the off season – trying to row and gain strength results in reduced strength gains and can increase your overall load
- Conditioning – it is ok to do dry land exercises for flexibility, trunk strength, endurance and movement control during the season
- Young, growing, male rowers should prioritise gaining and maintaining hip mobility
- Young, growing, female rowers should focus on trunk strength and endurance
RESOURCES
A link to the talk for parents and rowers is here ‘Parent Rower Injury Prevention Talk’
A link to the talk for rowing coaches is here ‘Coaches Rower Injury Prevention Talk’
A link to safeguarding youth in the sport of rowing is here ‘Safeguarding Young in the Sport of Rowing
