Common Rowing Injuries and Pains

Intro

An important (but not universally accepted) concept: You can row without pain

In my rowing career so far, I have dealt with a number of pains/injuries myself, helped out teammates with their tight or painful areas, and have learned a little bit more about my body and the sport each time.

Here, I’m trying to give a general outline of the most common rowing pains/injuries, why they are happening, what the underlying mechanisms are, and how you can avoid or work out of them.

More on “pain” vs. “injury” in sports here: https://www.outsideonline.com/health/training-performance/pain-versus-injury-research/

Background: My Injuries

I’ve learned a lot of this after dealing with back and rib injuries myself.

I’ve had a rib stress fracture, general rib pain (call it an intercostal strain, tightness, etc), low back “tweaks” and strains, and serious tightness in my oblique/back/hip that kept me off the water for a few weeks.

Anatomy - Pelvis, Spine, and Rib Cage

What we are talking about when we say “core”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LijC9dUS7VA

Anatomy - Where is your hip?

Your hip joint is where the top of your femur meets your pelvis.

Your hip joint is NOT where your spine meets your pelvis.

Doing a hip hinge means rotating your pelvis forward/back over your femurs. As discussed above, your spine should remain perpendicular to your pelvis, and your rib cage should remain stacked over your pelvis, not tilted forward or back.

Low Back and Hips

Tight Hips - Using your low back as a second set of hips

Tight and overdeveloped quads from using them in a seated position in the boat (then going to sit in a chair/couch the rest of the day) pull your pelvis forward (anterior tilt). Glutes and hamstrings are weak from being squished all day in those chairs and pulled tighter bc the rear of the pelvis is being tilted up (from the quads pulling the front down - anterior tilt).

When your hips can’t move from this position, your low back (lumbar spine) acts as a joint instead. Not great for your discs.

So, some things you can do are 1) learn how to use your glutes and hamstrings, 2) strengthen your glutes and hamstrings in a full range of motion, 3) roll and stretch those quads and hip flexors, 4) strengthen your deep core — transverse abdominus, pelvic floor, etc — to teach your lumbar spine to brace in a strong position again and NOT move.

Shoulders and Ribs

Tight Shoulders - Using your back and ribs as a second set of shoulders

In a rowing position, as well as a desk/computer/texting position, your shoulders are rolled forward. Even at the finish of a stroke, most people don’t get their shoulders behind their chest.

The pecs shorten and get tight, and often the upper traps are being used to pull your arms and shoulders back, so they strengthen and roll your shoulders up to your ears as well.

We want the shoulder blades to be able to slide around the rib cage. With your shoulders down, away from the ears, the serratus anterior works to slide those shoulder blades forward, and the mid-and low traps should work to pull them back (posteriorly).

If your pecs and upper traps (and others) are so tight, and your serratus and low traps locked tight/weak, that your shoulder blades cannot move around your rib cage, your rib cage, and, by association, your thoracic spine, will just move instead to get the job done.

This (in my opinion) is one contributing factor to rib and low back injuries. We want the skeletal structure (spine and rib cage) to be in a strong position, able to support those repeated loads.

Don’t use your rib cage to move your shoulders. Stretch out those pecs and the front of your chest (without just spreading your rib cage open and extending your thoracic spine!). Strengthen the serratus and mid- and low-traps through a FULL range of motion and stop using your upper traps to finish the stroke.