Muscle Synergies during 6 Minutes Maximal Rowing

Rowing is a physiologically intense sport which requires consistent and economically efficient strokes. Therefore, the muscles synergy is crucial to determine success in rowing either on ergometer or water. However, there is no studies have been done comparing the muscle synergy during rowing with and without slides system. Thus, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the muscle synergies during 6 minutes all out rowing with and without the slides. Nine physically active non-rower males participated in the study. Surface electromyography activity and kinematics patterns were recorded. Average power output, heart rate, stroke length and stroke rate were collected to evaluate the rowing performance. Electromyographic data were processed as recommended by seniam and time interpolated into rowing cycle. Principal component analysis with varimax rotation was applied to eight electromyographic patterns to identify muscle synergies. Results were compared between two conditions: rowing with the slides attached to the ergometer and without the slides. Three muscle synergies were sufficient to explain the majority of variance in both conditions. Rowing with slides emphasized on bi-articular muscles which explain significantly greater (p value < 0.05) rowing performance, indicated by increase in maximal heart rate, stroke rate, average power output, total distance covered and reduce stroke length compared to rowing without the slides. Rowing without slides relied heavily on trunk and upper limb muscles which caused early fatigue. The results proved the flexibility of muscle synergies to adapt to physiologically efficient technique in regards of mechanical constraint.