Juergen M. Steinacker

Training of rowers before world championships.

In rowing, static and dynamic work of approximately 70% of the bodys muscle mass is involved for 5.5 to 8 min at an average power of 450 to 550 W. In high load training phases before World Championships, training volume reaches 190 min.d-1, of which between 55 and 65% is performed as rowing, and the rest is nonspecific training like gymnastics and stretching and semispecific training like power training. Rowing training is mainly performed as endurance training, rowing 120 to 150 km or 12 h.wk-1. Rowing at higher intensities is performed between 4 and 10% of the total rowed time. The increase in training volume during the last years of about 20% was mainly reached by increasing nonspecific and semispecific training. The critical borderline to long-term overtraining in adapted athletes seems to be 2 to 3 wk of intensified prolonged training of about 3 h.d-1. Sufficient regeneration is required to avoid overtraining syndrome. The training principles of cross training, alternating hard and easy training days, and rest days reduce the risk of an overtraining syndrome in rowers.

Response of growth and myogenic factors in human skeletal muscle to strength training

Objective: To investigate the response to different strength training techniques of growth and myogenic factors in human skeletal muscle, with particular emphasis on satellite cell (SC) activation. Methods: 24 volunteers were divided into two groups and performed a 6-week strength training (group A trained with maximum contraction and group B had training combined with maximum contractions, ballistic movement and stretching–shortening cycles). Muscle biopsies were obtained from triceps brachii 3 days before and 7 days after training. For estimating gene expression of insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1), mechano growth factor (MGF), MyoD and myogenin, real-time RT-PCR was performed. Results: In group A, there was an increase in the 1 repeat maximum (1RM), but no change in Vmax (maximum movement velocity) and an increase in MHC (myosin heavy chain) IIa and a decrease in MHC IIx; in group B both 1RM and Vmax increased significantly along with an increase in MHC IIa and a decrease in MHC I. The MGF gene expression increased significantly in both groups (by 1160% and 59%, respectively), and IGF-1 increased only in group A (by 335%). MyoD and myogenin gene expression increased in group A (by 107% and 94%, respectively) but did not change in group B. Conclusions: Response of growth and myogenic factors occurs during muscular adaptation to a prolonged training, and strength training with different strategies caused different responses with respect to gene expression of these factors. These results suggest that SC activation is involved in the muscular adaptation process to training and might be attributed to MHC isoform transition.

Clinical Findings and Parameters of Stress and Regeneration in Rowers Before World Championships

The evaluation of the clinical state of an athlete, e.g. of current trainability and of the diagnosis of overload and overtraining, is already one of the most complicated tasks in athletic medicine. Training is not only repetitive physical exercises, but also regular regeneration as an integral part of a successful training program. As already shown in several experimental studies, clinical, metabolic and hormonal findings, including the psychologically-related monitoring of stress and recovery, seem to reflect the clinical state of athletes.Such parameters can be used to monitor training and regeneration in athletes. However, there remains some uncertainty concerning reliability of such parameters for monitoring training and regeneration of elite athletes during periods preparatory to major events like World Championships.This review deals with some of the aspects of these important practical and scientifical questions based on the experience of several preparatory training camps in rowing. Rowing has to be seen as strenuous middle time endurance stress of 5.5 to 8.0 minutes’ duration, for which the athletes perform hughe training programs in which the monitoring of adaptation is essential to prevent long-term overtraining.

Total Haemoglobin Mass, Maximal and Submaximal Power in Elite Rowers

Elite rowers are highly endurance trained and present with a large lean body mass (LBM), which is closely related to total haemoglobin mass (tHbmass), a major determinant of blood O2-transport. This study aims to determine the magnitude of tHbmass in elite rowers and its relation to performance parameters that are common in rowing worldwide. 13 rowers (3 lightweight) performed a 2000 m test to evaluate maximal performance on the rowing ergometer (P2k) and an incremental test to evaluate power output at lactate 2 and 4 mmol/l (N=15). tHbmass was measured by CO-rebreathing. tHbmass amounted to 1285±123 g (open weight) and 1059±48 g (lightweight). Coefficients of correlation between tHbmass and power output increased with intensity, being highest for P2k (r=0.80). An increase of 100 g tHbmass is associated with an increase of 24 W in P2k between subjects. The ratio between tHbmass/LBM amounted to approximately 16 g/kg. Absolute tHbmass in elite rowers of open weight class is very high. In relation to body mass or LBM, data is similar to other endurance athletes. The relation between P2k performance and tHbmass is very large. However, it is partly mediated by body composition.