Abstract

We evaluated the impact of bilateral leg extension power and fat-free mass on 2000 m rowing ergometer performance in 332 young oarsmen (age 21 +/- 2 years, height 1.76 +/- 0.05 m, body mass 62 +/- 6 kg; mean +/- s). The 2000 m rowing performance time was correlated with height (1.62–1.93 m; R2 = 0.23, P <0.001), body mass (53–95 kg; R2 = 0.53, P <0.001), fat-free mass (47–82 kg; R2 = 0.58, P <0.001) and bilateral leg extension power (1202–3302 W; R2 = 0.38, P  <0.001). Multiple regression analysis selected fat-free mass and bilateral leg extension power as regressor variables. Fat-free mass explained 58% of the variability in rowing performance and the inclusion of bilateral leg extension power improved the power of prediction by 5%. The results suggest that rowing involves almost every muscle in the body and that bilateral leg extension power is very important during this activity. Verf.-Referat