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| Coaching on the Cam |
I started rowing in my first term at Cambridge, and like most other things that happened during my first Michaelmas, I had absolutely no idea what was going on. I was unashamedly peer pressured into signing up. While I have thrown myself wholeheartedly at the sport, enjoying the oft confused 'rowing at Cambridge' and 'rowing for Cambridge', one thing all rowers will agree on is the torture of the dreaded 'ergo'. It is also known to outsiders as 'the rowing machine'.
Mention this contraption to a rower, and their eyes will glaze over, a look of distant yet immediate pain will cross their faces. Sometimes their hands will rise upwards to the horizontal, as if in a hypnotised state, they will mimic the movement seared into their minds. What is it about this machine that scares its sportsmen and women so much more than a treadmill will scare its runner?
Firstly, (correct) use of an ergo will engage nearly every muscle in the body. If you are prone to pain faces, it definitely engages every muscle in the body. But there is more than physical pain. There is a constant mental effort to maintain technique, posture and rhythm.
In the midst of your physical and mental exertion, the screen hovers over you. The screen is a mirror, reflecting everything you do in terms of distance, time and split. If you let up for one stroke, the screen will show you the extent of your slip up. If you push with everything you've got, the screen will tell you that in your tired state, your everything isn't worth that much. It will taunt you with how far left you have to go; completely exhausted, you look up and discover you still have 800m left to go of a 2k test. At that point, you realise how much of rowing takes place in the mind, to fight through screaming muscles until the timer reaches zero.
The only way to beat the erg, is to erg more. The longer you stay away, the harder it is to get back on.
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