The effect of augmented eccentric loading on 1,000-meter rowing ergometer time trial performance in junior elite rowers

The purpose of the study was to compare the effects of 2 different warm-up protocols on a 1,000-m rowing ergometer time trial performance (RETT) in junior rowers: (1) a rowing warm-up extended with inclusion of augmented countermovement jumps, potentiated warm-up (PW), and (2) non-potentiated warm-up (NW). To investigate this, ten junior rowers, (age: 17 ± 0.8 years old, height 171 ± 5 cm, body mass 69 ± 8 kg) performed 2 RETT trials 7 days apart. Rowers were randomly assigned to either NW or PW warm-ups using a repeated - measures design. The augmented external loading conditioning contractions in the PW consisted of 2 sets of 6 dumbbell countermovement jumps (DB-CMJ) of 20% body weight, 30-seconds rest between each set. The 1,000-m RETT was conducted after each warm-up condition, where mean power output and mean stroke rate were assessed every 100 m. Results: The PW improved mean power output by 5.5% (p < 0.05) and mean stroke rate by 4.7% (p < 0.05) in the first 500-m split. No substantial differences were observed in power output over 1,000-m RETT distance, where mean power output was enhanced just by 0.3% (p > 0.05), resulting in a small reduction of 0.1% (p > 0.05) in completion time, compared with the NW only. The results indicated that the inclusion of plyometric exercises to the rowing warm-up acutely enhanced power production in the initial stages on the 1,000-m RETT could lead to rowing sprint-start success during competition than a rowing warm-up alone.