When you lift weights, do body weight exercises, work on getting your pistols going (one legged squat), you need to have the right footwear. Take note of the Olympic lifters and the shoes that they wear... the soles are totally flat. Finally there are running shoes with FLAT shock absorbent soles which allow running with the the middle part of the foot.
I would like to say that I have never been a runner, but this statement is not really accurate. Certainly, I am a lot bigger than any semi serious runner, but the type of shoes that I had been using never facilitated running as cross training workout. The other day, I found out that I had some spring in my step when I had to chase my 3 year old on my bare feet. Very naturally I used my mid foot, avoiding the heal ball type of stride. This sudden discovery made me look into different shoes and to my surprise the trend is on ZERO profile soles.
So why do the right shoes make you row faster? It is simple. You have a much better connection to the foot board on the rowing machine... AND and this the most important, you will be able to enjoy a healthier ankle movement when you do different cross training exercises, let alone start running-jogging-footing-trot, and feel light on your feet.
:0)
Xeno Muller, Olympic gold and silver medalist, indoor rowing, rowing technique.
Xeno, are you advocating using these 2 types of shoes for rowing, I currently use squash shoes which are flat and have no cushion support through the soles! I agree with your final paragraph but was unsure what you were finally recommending to utilise?
ReplyDeleteObserver9
http://www.observerrow.co.uk
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ReplyDeleteHi! Great that you find this post. I swear, shoes need to be a good fit, otherwise it is really hard to 'feel' the boat.
ReplyDeleteA SNUG FIT WITHOUT BIG PADDING is the way to go!
Have a look at the stroke analysis on www.xenorowingcoach.com this will help speed up things also.
good luck from California