Managing Tightness

[MiddleAgeCRISIS]

Hi, Ive been rowing since April and been doing 20km a day. I am struggling with ITB tightness - has anyone managed these issues and what works best ?

I'm keen to understand specific stretches, heat treatment, TENS, percussive massage advice, foam rolling efficacy. Also keen to know how long i should spend. I'm spending 2 hours rowing and wonder if I should bolt on 10 mins or 20 minutes of quality stretching.

Regards

Rob

[mict450]

Rob, I don't know what your training history is, but if you're new to rowing & only active since April, you're doing a heck of a lot of volume, possibly more than you can recover from. Mebbe try cutting back on your volume & intensity. More rest, ice, anti-inflammatory meds. Others I'm sure will be along with advice on massage, stretches etc. Good luck to you.

[lindsayh]

Hi, Ive been rowing since April and been doing 20km a day. I am struggling with ITB tightness - has anyone managed these issues and what works best ?
I'm keen to understand specific stretches, heat treatment, TENS, percussive massage advice, foam rolling efficacy. Also keen to know how long i should spend. I'm spending 2 hours rowing and wonder if I should bolt on 10 mins or 20 minutes of quality stretching.
Regards Rob

Welcome Rob
I had the same thought as Eric if you are doing 20km every day since April then that is a lot of meters.
60-80K a week is regarded as a heavy load so twice that will certainly be hard on your body
You should definitely include a rest day (or 2) as part of your program and think about reducing meters.
Posting a video here might help to see if there are technical flaws that are contributing
If you are keen to understand stretches and physical therapy then you would be best to engage with a sports physiotherapist and/or exercise physiologist to get proper specific advice rather than listening to much more general and anecdotal advice here.

[jamesg]

I'm spending 2 hours rowing and wonder if I should bolt on 10 mins or 20 minutes of quality stretching.

Most sites suggest exactly the opposite, such as:
https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/orthopae ... juries.cfm
Most rowing injuries are caused by overuse. Any abrupt changes in training level, technique, or the type of boat rowed and a rapid increase in training volume contribute to their occurrence.

I suspect the knee angle at the catch can be critical. If so, a frontstop on the rail can help.

[robbiep]

I'd agree with previous replies.

What might be an idea is to do a 5-10 minute gentle warm up, and then 5-10 minutes of doing some stretching (NEVER bounce a stretch) before another 40-50 minutes of the main set of exercise, followed by some more stretching.

You don't mention what you are doing for the 2 hours of rowing per day, but if it's all exactly the same steady state exercise, possibly you need to put in a bit of variety. Dropping the resistance, upping the stroke rate will change how you use your muscles, and may help too.

When I've had ITB problems in the past (from too much running in my case, the rower has never caused me to have ITB problems), I've used this stretch :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bPutn1 ... iropractic

[ampire]

Things to look at beyond IT band might be your foot stretcher position (hole #), shoe (heel or no heel), position on seat (forward or back).

[Dangerscouse]

Agree with the above, and also you may benefit from doing Pilates workouts, that should include glute exercises.

Weak glutes are a big issue with modern sedentary lifestyles and rowing doesn't help at all either, and can exacerbate any underlying problems as they offer notable protection to your back, and strong glutes will also develop your hip flexors: something that may be an issue for your IT band.

[MiddleAgeCRISIS]

Rob, I don't know what your training history is, but if you're new to rowing & only active since April, you're doing a heck of a lot of volume, possibly more than you can recover from. Mebbe try cutting back on your volume & intensity. More rest, ice, anti-inflammatory meds. Others I'm sure will be along with advice on massage, stretches etc. Good luck to you.

Thank you for your best wishes. I've not really done much for 10 years , i can hold the volume now, but its the tightness element thats scuppering me. I did suffer from insomnia early doors but thats sorted now.

[MiddleAgeCRISIS]

I'd agree with previous replies.

What might be an idea is to do a 5-10 minute gentle warm up, and then 5-10 minutes of doing some stretching (NEVER bounce a stretch) before another 40-50 minutes of the main set of exercise, followed by some more stretching.

You don't mention what you are doing for the 2 hours of rowing per day, but if it's all exactly the same steady state exercise, possibly you need to put in a bit of variety. Dropping the resistance, upping the stroke rate will change how you use your muscles, and may help too.

When I've had ITB problems in the past (from too much running in my case, the rower has never caused me to have ITB problems), I've used this stretch :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bPutn1 ... iropractic

Thank you. I hadn't thought of sitting down and stretching in that way. I will try that. I am doing 10km in an hour , I started at 3 minute splits and 107 bpm HRM , now I am doing 2.30 splits at 120 bpm. I occasionally do 2 minute splits for 5k. I'm trying to keep it gentle I suppose.

[MiddleAgeCRISIS]

Things to look at beyond IT band might be your foot stretcher position (hole #), shoe (heel or no heel), position on seat (forward or back).

Thank you. I've just refined my technique to have higher heels and to transfer my power from toes to heels as i had started to push on tip toes. I did try a seat pad but it swapped out seat bone pain for lower back pain and numbness.

[MiddleAgeCRISIS]

Agree with the above, and also you may benefit from doing Pilates workouts, that should include glute exercises.

Weak glutes are a big issue with modern sedentary lifestyles and rowing doesn't help at all either, and can exacerbate any underlying problems as they offer notable protection to your back, and strong glutes will also develop your hip flexors: something that may be an issue for your IT band.

Thank you , I will build in some squats on my TRX , thats been super effective for me previously.

[MiddleAgeCRISIS]

I'm spending 2 hours rowing and wonder if I should bolt on 10 mins or 20 minutes of quality stretching.

Most sites suggest exactly the opposite, such as:
https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/orthopae ... juries.cfm
Most rowing injuries are caused by overuse. Any abrupt changes in training level, technique, or the type of boat rowed and a rapid increase in training volume contribute to their occurrence.

I suspect the knee angle at the catch can be critical. If so, a frontstop on the rail can help.

Thank you. I had got in the habit of bumping my seat into my heels which I had thought might help flexability. I have stopped doing this now as on reflection the movement is creating load in a very weak position.

[MiddleAgeCRISIS]

I'm spending 2 hours rowing and wonder if I should bolt on 10 mins or 20 minutes of quality stretching.

Most sites suggest exactly the opposite, such as:
https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/orthopae ... juries.cfm
Most rowing injuries are caused by overuse. Any abrupt changes in training level, technique, or the type of boat rowed and a rapid increase in training volume contribute to their occurrence.

I suspect the knee angle at the catch can be critical. If so, a frontstop on the rail can help.

Thank you for the article. The last paragraph is very pertinent . It has been painful at times , Im hoping to resolve the tightness and crack on.

[MiddleAgeCRISIS]

I'm spending 2 hours rowing and wonder if I should bolt on 10 mins or 20 minutes of quality stretching.

Most sites suggest exactly the opposite, such as:
https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/orthopae ... juries.cfm
Most rowing injuries are caused by overuse. Any abrupt changes in training level, technique, or the type of boat rowed and a rapid increase in training volume contribute to their occurrence.

I suspect the knee angle at the catch can be critical. If so, a frontstop on the rail can help.

Thank you, i've used a cloth as a front stop and its really helped.

[Paul teare]

Hi.
Im 56 and have had sore left knee and stiff left hip for decades. Surgery didnt help. Physio. Waste time and money. Then one day out on bike something popped in neck meaning left hand constant discomfort and arm limited movement. 5 months of that took me to chiropractor who solved it in 10mins. He recommended i get my running gait analysed. That led to been given set of simple exercises to do 3 times a week. This has led to slower ratings which have shown poor technique to be root cause. Weak left glute causes left knee to flap out causing trauma. By rowing slower allows emphasis to eradicate left weak technique. Hopefully.