Firefighter Jari Saario rows across oceans and doctor Joel Naukkarinen rows two kilometers as hard as his body can. Do these have anything in common other than the name of the species?
Finland’s best track and indoor rower, licentiate in medicine Joel Naukkarinen30, thought for a moment about the answer to the following question: is his and the fireman Jari Island51, do rowing goals have anything in common other than the name of the sport?
During 2023, Saario rowed across the Atlantic Ocean first from Europe to the Caribbean and then from Canada to Europe. Naukkarinen competes in the 2,000-meter track distance, for which she is aiming for a place at next summer’s Olympic Games in Paris.
He is also fascinated by an Olympic place in the new sport of coastal rowing, which will be on the competition program in Los Angeles in 2028. In addition, Naukkarinen is among the world’s elite in ergometer, or indoor rowing, whose good news the steel men also wanted to spread during their visit to Urheilustudio on Saturday.
Hell of a pain
On Saturday, the duo visited Urheilu’s Talvistudio to talk about their future goals and previous activities.
– The name of the sport is the same, but the nature of the work is completely different. On the 2,000-meter journey, I suffer absolutely hellish physical pain, the blood lactate level rises above 25 (millimoles per liter, an extremely high reading) and I completely empty myself of fast energy sources, i.e. carbohydrates.
With 11,800 kilometers of oars in hand, the nature of Saario’s work is completely different.
– His pain cannot be related to oxygen-consuming things, but to mental things. Loneliness, lack of sleep, lack of food. First, Jari has burned his carbohydrates, then his fat, and at the same time he has moved into a more physiologically harmful phase, where the body burns muscle mass for energy.
25 kilos left
Saario, who slogged in the ocean on dry food, left for the trip at 104 kilos and returned to Europe at 79 kilos.
– Joel is spared by the finish line, which is always quite close behind his back. I thought that maybe in a few days the coast of Ireland would be looming, Saario laughs.
– He is an athlete, I am an adventurer. This is the same thing as one running a marathon and the other walking in the forest, says Saario, who will probably return to work at the fire station in Espoo in March.
He is not worried about the mandatory fireman’s exam for rescuers.
– I can still perform at the limits even at the age of 75, said Saario, who is already planning another brutal rowing challenge.
At the request of his partners, he remains silent about the details.
Good news from the ergometer
Naukkarinen trains a lot on a rowing ergometer, for which the sports association’s challenge has been set up to increase the hobby base. A rower who is writing a dissertation reminds us of the benefits of the sport.
– At the top level, rowing is a sport that mercilessly loads every muscle group, which absorbs energy from the athlete more efficiently than any other sport. It raises lactates to ME readings, even over 35, increases blood pressure to extremes and so on. Even more moderately, outside of total discomfort areas, its health benefits are excellent.
Ergometric rowing effectively develops the athlete’s muscle condition and oxygen uptake capacity, safely.
– The device does not impact or cause joint load. Even being overweight is not a big disadvantage, because the rower does not support his weight in the device. It gives, as it were, the benefits of water sports, but more efficiently.
Muscle maintenance in advance
For example, anyone who has rowed an ergo for an hour knows that after that the lower back is hard and the position sinks into a forward bend.
– That’s why I recommend advance muscle care. Squats and deadlifts. Good mobility of the hips and muscle strength help to find a good sports technique, which allows the legs to receive the ideal 60 percent, the middle body 30 percent and the arms only 10 percent of the workload.
Trips that develop and test performance on the ergo are typically 500 and 2,000 meters. Naukkarinen’s 500 meter record of 1.13.5 is the former SE time. He has panted 5.46.1 for the longer distance. Both quotations are tough in the world history of ergometer testing.