Rowing provides both physical and mental health benefits. It works the entire body through a full range of motion that is low impact. The technique of rowing involves catching the water with the oar blades, driving with the legs and back to propel the boat, and finishing the stroke by recovering for the next catch. Perfecting timing is important for an efficient stroke. Crew requires teamwork, discipline, and pushing through discomfort to finish a race, building both physical strength and mental toughness.
This year has been the worse year for the crew team. We started out with about ten people. The crew team seemed like a cult to the majority of the school. My entire project is centered around showing you guys what crew is really about.\n
Crew is a ridiculous work out. It works almost every muscle group in your body in one stroke. Whether it be physical fitness or just a new sport you want to try out its good for you. Yes it is time consuming but most sports are. Rowing is relaxing in multiple ways but I’ll get into that later. \n
Im not going to bore you with its history but it did have an interesting start. Rowing dates back to some time in B.C. but it wasn’t until 1715 A.D. that boats were raced. Now as you can see by the picture thats a boat that we race today but back then they were racing this. Next Slide.\n
This is a whaling boat. Extremely big and heavy. They raced these for small prizes just to see who had stronger men under their control. It wasn’t until 1825 that they began to design smaller boats. Eventually they just became smaller and smaller until you get to now. Now instead of huge trees we use carbon fiber to make racing shells that cost around 15,000 to 50,000 dollars. \n
From my personal experience I can tell you that I find the water relaxing. Theres just something about the rhythmic click of the oars while gliding over the water that calms me down. Im not the only one that feels this way. According to Dr. Marcella Beaulieu a general practitioner from the Royal Columbia Hospital in British Columbia she has tested the effects of rowing on the body. It is therapeutic in different ways. One would be the impact on stress. Imagine you’ve had a stressful day. Im sure everyone has. Now imagine finding a way to get rid of that anger and stress in a safe and positive way. Rowing allows you to take your anger out on the water which results in better physical fitness. The second way is a sort of zen type of relaxation. It is free flowing motion with rhythmic sounds. \n
Rowing is whats called a low impact sport. This just means that it doesn’t put much stress on your joints. Running is a great example of a higher impact sport. As your feet hit the ground the force is transferred into your ankles and knees. Rowing is better for the joints and keeps them healthy because of the range of motion. \n
What makes rowing such a great workout? Its how many muscle groups are active all the time. As you can see through these pictures each muscle group is high lighted in different colors. The legs back and arms are always active. This results in a better workout.\n
This will be followed by a small video. or a demonstration???\n\nRowing is like every other sport. If you don’t do it correctly you will get nothing out of it or even hurt yourself. Everything has to start somewhere. The stroke begins at the catch. Its called the catch because this is when your oar will be placed into the water. Here your knees should never be passed your toes. You would never jump like that. you have to have your feet planted on the footboard. back should be straight with hands out straight. Shins should be perpendicular to the water or floor in this case.\n
The Drive is where the power comes from your arms should be locked out whether you want them to be or not. The pressure from the water should be too much for you to keep your arms bent. The legs engage and you jump off the floorboard. Once the knees are down your back swings back and thats exactly what this move is called. Your back should always be straight if it isn’t your airways are being constricted which makes it harder to row properly. All the pivot should come from the hips never arch the back. \n
Once your leaning back a bit but not too far your arms break and come into the body about 2 to 3 inches above the naval. This is called the finish since the stroke is finished at this point the recovery begins which is the exact same thing but in reverse. your arms lock out then you swing your back back into the upright position. Then the knees break and you’re back at the catch. Now this is a good time to explain something we rowers call ratio. In order to properly row with a team you must understand ratio. It is the time it takes you to complete a stroke versus the time for you to recover if done properly the stroke should be half the time of the recovery.\n
Without timing you break your buddy’s back or your buddy breaks your’s depending on where you sit. There is one man or woman who has a lot of responsibility. They control the speed at which you row. They are called the stroke seat. They maintain rhythm for the entire boat. Once timing is established the boat will be in perfect unison which maximizes the efficiency of each stroke. \n
The set of the boat is how balanced the boat is. Keeping your eyes on the back of the person in front of you is extremely important not only for timing purposes but the average head ways about 8 pounds. The slightest movement of 8 pounds can completely throw off the boats balance. Boats are designed to be balanced and they are until people get into them. The Holland 8 was a boat that raced in the olympics. The men in this boat were not the strongest but had the best technique that many people had seen. They won the gold not because of their power but their technique, set and timing were so close to perfect that what ever power they could muster up was pure power coming through to the boat.\n
I created flyers to put up around the school in a hope to advertise and motivate people into joining the crew team. the fact is the crew team is fun to be a part of but the rumors and other things that were said about it left a bad idea and a lot of peoples minds. My idea was just to turn that around and let them know we are a fun loving team that strives for the best.\n
I also created a commercial to be run during pulse which (may or may not be) run during pulse. It strived to show that the crew team was just another team that did a sport that they loved. We work hard but we play just as hard. \n
