The start of a new season usually brings a big jump in training after a quieter summer, and that is when the niggles and injuries tend to show up. A guide on JRN, published on 25 October 2026, sets out what good rehab looks like for junior rowers. It is written for juniors, but most of it holds for any rower coming back from an injury.
Staying available to train
The piece makes the case that simply staying available to train counts for a lot. It cites a five-year study of elite track and field athletes: those who completed more than 80% of their planned training weeks were about 7 times more likely to reach their performance goal. Rowing is built on steady, consistent kilometres, so every week lost to injury, or to a rushed comeback, costs you.
Build the plan backwards
The guide's approach is to start with the end goal and work back. Decide what you are coming back for, work out what that goal demands, measure where you are now against it, and then plan each week to close the next gap rather than chasing the finish all at once.
Three phases
Rehab moves through three overlapping phases, and you move on when you meet the criteria for the next one, not because a date has passed.
- Early: settle pain and swelling, keep your range of movement and hold on to fitness. Complete rest is rarely the answer, because healing tissue needs the right amount of load.
- Middle: rebuild strength, control and fitness, with progressive strength work, trunk and hip control, and cross-training such as cycling.
- Late: go from predictable to unpredictable. Steady ergo work, then pieces at rate, then a single in calm water, then crew boats, rough water, starts and racing.
“Too much, too soon, and you risk flare-ups or getting injured again.”
Its simple check for getting the load right is how you feel over the next 24 hours. If pain, stiffness or swelling is no worse the following morning, you can usually progress. If it is worse, ease back a step. The decision on when to race again should be shared between the athlete and the people around them, not made by one person alone, and the physio, the strength and conditioning coach and the rowing coach each lead at different stages.
Why it matters
Getting hurt and missing the water is the costly mistake, and Shaun has been honest that he made it himself. His advice on looking after your body is the same as the guide's: respect it, build up slowly and listen to the physios.
“you only have one back and it needs to last you your entire life”
“do your stretching before and after, every session, every day”
If you're coming back from a niggle, see a physio or doctor early, as the guide says, and follow the plan. Shaun's strength exercises for rowers covers getting strong without getting hurt, and why rowing sets you up for life is a reminder that a junior career is a long game.
Sources: Coming Back Stronger: What Good Rehab Looks Like for Junior Rowers (Kirsty, JRN, 25 October 2026)
