The high-rep versus low-rep debate in resistance training for rowers

Strength training is a common feature of most rowing programmes – but is it better to do lots of repetitions of a low weight, or fewer repetitions at a high weight?

That is the question which Dr Frank Nugent, an assistant lecturer in sports science in the Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences at the University of Limerick, and four other researchers asked themselves. Their research paper, published last year in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research [https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000004217], looked at the effects of high-repetition strength training (HRST) compared to low-repetition strength training (LRST) on performance in endurance sports.

Ex-rower and current coach Nugent and his colleagues examined 11 studies, three of which focused on collegiate rowers in their 20s, to find out if HRST produced improved performance for endurance sports compared to LRST. Their research defines endurance sport as being a cyclical sport involving more than one minute of maximal effort activity. HRST is resistance or strength training involving loads that are under 67 per cent of an individual’s one-repetition maximum (1RM) for 12 or more repetitions; LRST involves loads of more than 67 per cent of 1RM for less than 12 repetitions, and with long rest periods.

The research shows a HRST session involves higher oxygen consumption, heart rate, perceived exertion, and blood lactate concentrations than a LRST session, and will result in higher levels of fatigue.

“Rowing coaches suggest that HRST improves a rower’s ability to sustain submaximal forces during the main component of a race,” says Nugent. “These elite rowing coaches that have been around 20, 30 or 40 years are a rich source of information, and there’s a reason why some of them use this sort of training.”

However, rowing in and of itself does not make you ‘strong’, and therefore some form of strength or resistance training is important. Nugent explains HRST is popular in rowing to help build the power required to sustain sub-maximal force throughout the time it takes to race 2 000m. LRST, in contrast, helps generate the power required to get off the blocks hard, sprint to the line or produce a killer move in the middle of a race, as well as sustaining sub-maximal.

The research suggested that in fact HRST does not result in improved overall performance, and produces similar results to LRST. But there is an important caveat – the studies Nugent & co looked at had a mean duration of just eight weeks, and mostly involved recreational endurance athletes rather than elite athletes. More research over a longer period of time, with a larger group of athletes, would be useful.

The research also focused predominantly on male athletes. The 11 studies covered 216 participants – 181 male and 35 female – although 26 of the female athletes were in fact rowers. Nugent says he would tend towards recommending LRST for female rowers, although HRST could be useful for those who are aerobically weaker.

He thinks more research focusing specifically on the effects of strength training for female athletes is likely to start emerging in the next few years.

“The past four years there’s been a massive boom in that area and there’s a lot of exciting PhD research being done at the minute,” Nugent adds.

While the paper suggests HRST and LRST produce similar effects, Nugent says HRST might still have a useful role for rowers, particularly juniors or those with a low training age like novices. HRST programmes, starting with exercises at body weight, could help improve range of motion, strength endurance and potentially reduce the risk of injuries.

“If we can improve someone’s pelvic and spinal positioning during the stroke and ensure that they can maintain their improvements as fatigue increases that could be really beneficial for reducing risk of low back pain,” he says.

According to the research, HRST may also result in physiological adaptations that are similar to aerobic training such as increased capillary density and a shift from fast-twitch muscle fibre to more oxidative fatigue-resistant type fibres.

But Nugent adds a final note of caution. HRST may have its uses in endurance sports like rowing, but there must be a balance of quality over quantity, and coaches should take into account the effect of the fatigue it brings on the rest of the programme. If you can’t walk for a week after your HRST session, was it really worthwhile?