TRAINING OF ROWERS BEFORE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

In rowing. static and dynamic work of approximately 70% of the body's muscle mass is involved for 5.5 to 8 min at an average power of 450 to 550 W. In high load training phases before World Championships, train ing volume reaches 190 min d(-1), of which between 55 and 65% is perfo rmed as rowing, and the rest is nonspecific training like gymnastics a nd stretching and semispecific training like power training. Rowing tr aining is mainly performed as endurance training, rowing 120 to 150 km or 12 h wk(-1). Rowing at higher intensities is performed between 4 a nd 108 of the total rowed time. The increase in training volume during the last years of about 20% was mainly reached by increasing nonspeci fic and semispecific training. The critical borderline to long-term ov ertraining in adapted athletes seems to be 2 to 3 wk of intensified pr olonged training of about 3 h d(-1). Sufficient regeneration is requir ed to avoid overtraining syndrome. The training principles of cross tr aining, alternating hard and easy training days, and rest days reduce the risk of an overtraining syndrome in rowers.