Why doesn't phonetically begin with an f? Why is there only one Monopoly and Mergers Commission? If Santa knows where all the bad girls live, why does he only visit them once a year? If you ask him any of these questions three times Olympic rowing coach, and commentator at this year' British Indoor Rowing Championship, Terry O'Neill would look at you like a dog shown a card trick. Send a query about training or fitness to [email protected], however, and he's in hog heaven. Katherine Croft: What would be the perfect body for rowing, what would the proportion of the lengths of the legs and the arms be and which would be the strongest muscles?What compensations would be necessary if the person was a paraplegic? Do you know if adaptive rowing can be used by paraplegics? Is there an indoor version of adaptive rowing?Terry O'Neill: For the perfect body, look no further.Seriously this is quite a difficult question to answer. Taller people have an advantage because for a given stroke length they can operate over the most efficient range of muscular contraction. Competitive rowing is about power and so they would need to be strong as well as having endurance. Why I said it is a difficult question is that indoor rowing has several distances from 2,000m to the marathon and in the long distance events the more slightly built person comes into their own.The legs provide 60-70% of the power in a normal rowing stroke and over 50% of the stroke length, with the upper body supplying the remainder. The machine can be adapted for paraplegics. It requires a seat with a back similar to that of a recumbent cycle and a strap so that the rower doesn't fall to the side. They are then able to row from a fixed seat using their arms and shoulders.As far as compensating this would be a matter of trial and error as I don't know of anyone who has researched this.+++++++++++++++James Reid: According to the Indoor Rowing Training Guide, when it comes to the high aerobic/anaerobic intensity workouts it states that the rest/recovery phase should last no longer than the work phase, i.e. one unit of anaerobic work then no longer than one unit rest. Yet the exercise physiology texts state one unit work followed by three units rest. This ensures maximum performances each time and to promote the desired physiological adaptations.Terry O'Neill: It depends on what stage of development you are at in the programme and what training effect you are looking for.Close to competition where you are looking for absolute quality then the work to rest ratio for intensive intervals would be 3:1. At the early stage of the intensive interval phase where you are looking to improve the lactate shunt system and also mental toughness, then the work rest ratio could be 1:1.+++++++++++++++Tina Terry: How do I stop the foot straps from working loose when using the Indoor Rower at my local gym.Terry O'Neill: The locking system on the foot strap is pretty good; I have just gone around some of the machines here, including some that have been used extensively, and they don't move easily. So does anyone else have trouble with the straps? If so, then ask the centre manager to change them as they may be badly worn. Alternatively it may be your technique or where the placement of the strap is on the foot. If the strap is to high up on the foot (further away from the toes), then as you rise up onto the ball of the foot you are putting too much pressure on the strap. By dropping the foot height, so less holes are showing at the top, until the strap comes across the crease in your trainers, then as the foot rises it will not pull on the straps.