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paddling fatigue
- Thread starter anothergrom
- Start date
When I was in high school the basketball coach had us lifting 3 days a week & shooting everyday..In those days it was believed that lifting would ruin the jumpshot..he told us as long as we were shooting we'd be fine.
Look at nba players today vs 70's & 80's
At my gym a 71 yr old 150 lb dude just deadlifted 315 lbs. mindblown!
hypertrophy in the gym and training with little rest in between sets helps overall, but for building up the paddling cardio just simply surfing more/longer and dropping some lbs is #1
Paddling a kayak regularly in all reasonable conditions. Push hard for a day or two than either take a day or two off or go easy and enjoy the water. Eat well, whole foods. I can't imagine anything else doing more for me than I got from this in addition to surfing as often as possible. All summer and fall. I'm as good as can be expected considering all the self a use over the years.
I'm not certain that it helps paddling to any measurable degree, but my hands are larger, wider to be specific today than they were several years ago when I started barbell training.
that was sick. cheers brahThoracic mobility:
The 30 Second Mobility Cure
The quick drill will make you stronger, more flexible, and more resilient…instantly. Check it out.www.t-nation.com
the trick with thoracic mobility is to add rotation as well as flexion and extension.
Rotation is the key to more mobility.
Rotation is the key to more mobility.
One key thing I've come to realize as I'm coming back from shoulder problems is that my ability to arch my back isn't what it used to be. Spending my days sitting at a desk and driving are a big part of the problem along with age. If you can hold your chest up higher off of the board your shoulders won't have to work so hard and your shoulders won't have to rotate as far which means less stress on those rotator cuffs. Basically the angle of attack of the paddling stroke will be more underneeth your body rather than above your head. Next, if you can arch your back really well you won't have to bend your neck nearly as much to hold your head up. Finally if you can arch your back properly while paddling into a wave you will be in a better position to pop up quickly. This stuff is key especially as you get more and more tired during a session. Throw on a hooded 5 mil wetsuit and its even more critical.
Check out the body position of a teenage ripper who surfs all day every day when he's paddling his board and look at how much curve he is creating in his back and how high he can hold his chest and head up off of the board.
On the flip side, look at a kook no matter their fitness level or an out of shape old fart and you will notice that a lot of them can barely get their chin up off of the deck of the board while they are paddling.
Paddling a surfboard is a very unique movement because of this back arching aspect and is why things like swimming in a pool or working out in the gym don't necessarily translate into strong paddling on a surfboard.
I've been working on two key things for about a month now and am noticing improvements that should help a lot in the water.
1. Stretching the heck out of my hip flexors and the muscles in the front of my thighs. Have to reverse the effects of sitting which shortens those muscles and tendons. Basically if you can't get your pelvis to move properly you're never going to be able to arch your back and hold your chest up properly or you're going to have to work a lot harder with your lower back muscles to do it.
2. Strengthening the muscles in my back and the backs of my legs. In order to arch your back properly while laying on a surfboard it takes a lot of strength in the middle and lower back and a surprising amount in the back of your legs. The exercise I've been doing twice a day for this is real simple. I take a couple of throw pillows from my couch and stack them on the floor. I lay on top of them at my body's balance point around the pelvis and I lift both my chest and legs off the ground as far as I can and I balance there for as long as I can. You will notice right away that this position feels a lot like paddling a high performance shortboard. While doing this I try to work on breathing as well as adding in some shoulder rotations to simulate paddling and reduce fatigue. I do this a few times in the morning and a few times in the evening. In the past month I've noticed that I can do this a lot easier and hold it a lot longer.
Check out the body position of a teenage ripper who surfs all day every day when he's paddling his board and look at how much curve he is creating in his back and how high he can hold his chest and head up off of the board.
On the flip side, look at a kook no matter their fitness level or an out of shape old fart and you will notice that a lot of them can barely get their chin up off of the deck of the board while they are paddling.
Paddling a surfboard is a very unique movement because of this back arching aspect and is why things like swimming in a pool or working out in the gym don't necessarily translate into strong paddling on a surfboard.
I've been working on two key things for about a month now and am noticing improvements that should help a lot in the water.
1. Stretching the heck out of my hip flexors and the muscles in the front of my thighs. Have to reverse the effects of sitting which shortens those muscles and tendons. Basically if you can't get your pelvis to move properly you're never going to be able to arch your back and hold your chest up properly or you're going to have to work a lot harder with your lower back muscles to do it.
2. Strengthening the muscles in my back and the backs of my legs. In order to arch your back properly while laying on a surfboard it takes a lot of strength in the middle and lower back and a surprising amount in the back of your legs. The exercise I've been doing twice a day for this is real simple. I take a couple of throw pillows from my couch and stack them on the floor. I lay on top of them at my body's balance point around the pelvis and I lift both my chest and legs off the ground as far as I can and I balance there for as long as I can. You will notice right away that this position feels a lot like paddling a high performance shortboard. While doing this I try to work on breathing as well as adding in some shoulder rotations to simulate paddling and reduce fatigue. I do this a few times in the morning and a few times in the evening. In the past month I've noticed that I can do this a lot easier and hold it a lot longer.
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Unless your immobile for weeks at a time your muscles and tendons aren't shortening.
There is zero medical evidence that stretching does anything useful.
If you are too week to hold your chest up, trying to lengthen your groin muscles isn't going to do anything.
Lifting pillows isn't doing anything to increase strength....unless feathers are unusually heavy for you.