Bilateral leg extension power and fat-free mass in young oarsmen

We evaluated the impact of bilateral leg extension power and fat-free mass on 2000 m rowing ergometer performance in 332 young oarsmen (age 21±2 years, height 1.76±0.05 m, body mass 62±6 kg; mean ±s). The 2000 m rowing performance time was correlated with height (1.62-1.93 m; R² = 0.23, P < 0.001), body mass (53-95 kg; R² = 0.53, P < 0.001), fat-free mass (47-82 kg; R² = 0.58, P < 0.001) and bilateral leg extension power (1202-3302 W; R² = 0.38, P < 0.001). Multiple regression analysis selected fat-free mass and bilateral leg extension power as regressor variables. Fat-free mass explained 58% of the variability in rowing performance and the inclusion of bilateral leg extension power improved the power of prediction by 5%. The results suggest that rowing involves almost every muscle in the body and that bilateral leg extension power is very important during this activity.