Citation

Bonacina P, Pessina R. J. Sports Traumatol. Rel. Res. 1998; 20(3): 151-155.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1998, Kurtis Publications)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

A brief account of the mechanical principles of rowing and its movements is followed by an examination of the forces to which an oarsman's lumbosacral spine is particularly subjected (torsion and shear stresses). An investigation of 40 fixed-seat and 40 sliding-seat oarsmen disclosed: 1) radiographic pictures of unilateral or bilateral interapophyseal involvement in 30% with hypertrophy and reduction of the rima, especially in single-oar rowers, who are mainly exposed to excessive tension stresses; 2) isthmic spondylolysis (12.5%) and spondylolisthesis (5%), mainly in scullers, who are exposed to shear stresses that will probably lead to disruption of the pars interarticularis or forward displacement of a vertebra. In fixed-seat rowing, these derangements arise because of the greater functional overloading of the column, whereas increasingly stressful training with weights can also be significantly incriminated in sliding-seat rowing.

Language: en