Rowing involves more than 85% of the total musculature of the human body. It is excellent for both strength and endurance. However, rowing on linear ergometers also poses health risks if not performed correctly.

Linear ergometer poses risk for lower back

This is especially true for the linear ergometers, where there is a risk of overloading the spine with the risk of muscular injuries and especially herniated discs.
Due to the linear pull, which puts the spine under full load as soon as the pull begins. This effect is worsened when rowers set the resistance too high – which happens more often than not. The result is an immediate impact of very high force on the spine and intervertebral discs.

Linear ergometers favours bad posture

Unfortunately, the linear pull favors a bad posture of the spine, in that in the attempt to get as much length as possible in the extension, a hyper-kyphosis of the spine occurs, a “round back or rowing hump”. When the force from a leg kick (often several hundred kilos) is abruptly applied to this forward-bent spine (“quick catch”), there is an extreme pressure load on the front edge of the vertebral bodies, which the intervertebral discs cannot withstand in the long term.
(In a low steady state training of 45 minutes with a stroke rate of 20, 900 single wrong because one-sided compressions of the intervertebral discs result) this leads in the long run on the back of the vertebral bodies to a loosening of the edge of the intervertebral discs the so-called protusion or protrusion and in the worst case to a prolapse or prolapse of the intervertebral discs.

BIOROWER offers original rowing motion with lower spinal impact

With the BIOROWER, on the other hand, the arms move in a circular path around the cleats, just like in a real boat. This means that the arms are guided outwards when moving to the outward position. This favors an uprighting of the thoracic spine, which counteracts the “rowing hump”. If the pull-through is started from this position, there is an even load on the vertebral surfaces, in contrast to the previously described incorrect load when the thoracic spine is bent forward.

BIOROWER App provides live force curves to correct technique instantly

In addition, the force curves on the monitor provide exact and immediate feedback on the use of force, which makes any errors that occur much easier and, above all, more immediately correctable.

In the pull-through, the circular movement, in contrast to the linear movement, has the advantage that the force does not immediately act on the spine at full strength.
This is further enhanced by the dynamic mounting of the device on rollers.

Better body posture on the BIOROWER

Due to the upright posture in the delivery and during the pull-through of the BIOROWER, the muscles on the back of the body and those of the shoulder girdle and their mobility are also trained, which promotes an upright posture. The rounded back with a bent over upper body is the No. 1 cause of bad posture in the modern world with the predominantly sedentary work at a desk.
Regular training on the BIOROWER is an excellent way to counteract this.