You must have experienced just how important a role your knees play in your overall mobility. Not only do these joints need to support all of your body weight, but they must remain flexible while doing so as well. However, before you further discuss knees, it would be helpful to know that knees consist of the bones and cartilage parts. While performing their essential functions, knees receive support from nearby muscles and ligaments. If you exert your knees way too much, it will naturally lead to injuries. So, exercise care, not only while doing knee-intensive workouts but also while doing mundane daily activities like exercises and, in some cases, sports. Doing such activities appropriately and adequately is essential to avoid knee injuries.
The Need For Observing Proper Body Mechanics
Many injuries sustained by rowers occur due to the overuse of particular body parts. Sometimes injuries take place simply due to faulty body mechanics during the rowing exercise. A suitable rowing machine will help you to maintain proper body mechanics while doing the exercise. You can read more about such devices and as a result of rowing, your knee condition can both improve as well as deteriorate. Typically, the deciding factor in this is the knee condition of the rower. People who are already suffering from knee conditions might experience further irritation or exaggerated symptoms for their existing knee issues.
First-time rowers are likely to experience pain in their knees, usually due to flexibility and strength issues. So, besides your usual rowing machine exercises, you need to add free weight exercises to your workout routine too. These will make your knee joints more robust and more flexible. Another thing you must ensure is to place your feet properly on the rowing machine.
Rowing As A Physical Exercise
One form of exercise and workouts whose effects on knees are hotly debated is rowing. You can carry out this form of low-impact cardio training in the natural settings of waters and boats. However, rowing is indeed more popularly practiced in the convenience of the indoors in a rowing machine. Besides benefits to your knees, exercising on rowing machines brings a host of other benefits too. Rowing works as a comprehensive workout for your body and positively affects the following body parts:
- The arms
- The legs
- Body core
Besides being a complete and thorough workout for your body, rowing adds to your body strength besides burning up a significant number of calories. Knees are particularly vulnerable to rowing-related injuries. However, they present substantial benefits to parts of your knees as well.
Benefits Of Rowing
An excellent benefit of rowing is how they make the muscles in the knee’s adjoining areas stronger. When a person starts his rowing process, it extends the quadriceps placed just above the knee. Also, muscles like the gastrocnemius one’s and the hamstrings experience greater flexibility arising out of the muscle contractions resulting from the rowing process. As these muscles gain in strength, they serve to provide additional support to your knees’ joints. It is reported that stronger leg muscles help to cut down on chronic knee pain.
The Four Constituent Parts Of Rowing Movement
Rowing strokes are comprised of four distinct movement types which are as follows:
- The catch
- Driving
- Finish
- And the recovery
The rowing stroke begins with the catch, which calls for the knees to remain flexed – a common cause of knee injuries. You can prevent such iliotibial band syndrome or patellofemoral stress syndrome by ensuring that you don’t excessively bend your knees during the catch.
How Rowing Helps In Rehabilitation
There are several types of knee surgeries where rowing might prove helpful for recovery. The prime example of such a knee surgery is an ACI procedure or autologous chondrocyte implantation. In this particular type of surgery, the injured knee cartilage is replaced, and rowing helps rehabilitate people who have undergone such a surgery. Medical experts from London Metropolitan University inform that if your knees experience forty to seventy degrees flexion, you can minimize stress risks. It is however not enough to avoid the same entirely. According to their research, a rowing stroke’s drives call for only half of that amount of power. Accordingly, to prevent hyperextension, rowing is the preferred recovery exercise option. It is preferred over cycling, and other conventional exercises are recommended for the purpose.
If a rower experiences knee pain while exercising, they need to stop immediately. Pain is one of the primary characteristics of injuries. If you continue rowing, you will only make the potential injuries worse. Also, keep in mind the knee injuries that don’t occur due to muscle issues are particularly problematic to deal with. Should you damage knee components like cartilage or tendons, extensive and comprehensive treatment might be your only option, including surgical intervention. So, row away to enhanced knee health, albeit appropriately to avoid damage!