Common Rowing Mistake: Overusing Your Lats

It is good to see that coaches and trainees are now coming to understand the importance of rowing to keep the shoulder healthy.  However, to reap the benefits of rowing you must be performing it correctly.  A while back I posted about a common mistake during rowing, anterior humeral glide, and it is still the biggest mistakes I see people make.  If you have not seen my video, you can check it out below.




Today, I would like to discuss another common mistake during rowing - overusing your lat, teres major, and posterior cuff muscles.  Almost every client I work with that has some experience with rowing is very "balled up" in their posterior cuff area and a large reason for this is poor rowing mechanics.  So watch the video below to determine if you are making this mistake.

Tips to improve:

-Try keeping your elbows a little wider (this will help take out the lats somewhat).

-Keep your shoulder somewhat elevated.  Not everyone needs to try and depress their shoulder blade while rowing.

-Think of leading with the head of the humerus.  A lot of people use the cue "lead with your elbow", but this often leads to overusing the lat because you don't actually move the scapula.

Let me know if you have any questions or comments.