Arm and leg exercise versus rowing for evaluation of performance of male and female collegiate rowers

The cardiorespiratory response of 13 male and 9 female members of their respective male and female college crew teams was measured during maximal exercise on both a Schwinn Air‐Dyne ergometer (SA‐ergometer), which involved both upper and lower body musculature, and on a rowing ergometer. The relationlship between the maximal physiological response of the athletes to each type of exercise and to a standard 2500 meter rowing time on an ergometer was examined. Rowing elicited a higher group mean VO2max, 4.23 ± 1.7 vs 3.44 ± 1.5 1/min−1, from the athletes than the SA‐ergometer (p s 0.05). There was no significant difference in VEmax and HRmax. A negative correlation with the standard 2500 m rowing task time was demonstrated for both the male and female rowers, VO2max (males = ‐0.69; females = ‐0.92) and for the female rowers VEmax (‐0.75). When male and female crew members were grouped the same, a significant negative correlation was established for each of the respective variables, VO2max, VEmax, Rmax, between both types of ergometry and the 2500 m rowing task standard time trial. The results indicate that rowing elicits a higher cardiorespiratory response than a combined arm (push‐pull) and leg (cycle) exercise for rowers and that a relationship exists between the maximal physiological response and a rowing performance time trial for crew members.