Goal: 10 meters-per-stroke for 60 minutes at a smooth, unhurried, pain free pace.

When I started the workout it was 7:30 P.M.. That’s late, I was tired, and Sandy and I had eaten a big lunch at Zuni. The overriding goal was to stay pain free.

Very early in the workout I found that staying relaxed, especially keeping my shoulders low, and hands, arms and back relaxed while focusing on sitting upright was the surest guarantee that I would remain pain free. So I carefully kept myself from slouching and the pace at 10 meters-per-stroke.

Surprisingly every time I started to slouch my split times became slower. Sitting upright, on the other hand, produced the best split times I have seen on the Dynamic erg.

So what do rowing coaches mean when they advise oarsmen to sit upright and keep the back straight? Aren’t they trying to tell us that good rowing technique should preserve the natural curvature of the spine. In other words, the back should be relaxed without being too stiff or too loose. You don’t want the spine to give way, but also you don’t want it to be too rigid.

"Spinal curves. When viewed from the side, an adult spine has a natural shaped curve. The neck (cervical) and low back (lumbar) regions have a slight concave curve, and the thoracic and sacral regions have a gentle convex curve."

The last lesson this evening’s workout taught me is that it is impossible to preserve the natural curvature of the spine without pivoting at the hips during the drive and recovery.