Paddling question

It's probably the winter chills sucking away your energy, but I've heard that angling your arms underneath your board at the apex (if that's what you'd call it) of your stroke is supposed to help. Maybe make sure that your are getting a full stroke thus getting the most energy out of each stroke.

 

For me,I go with smooth deep strokes keeping my arms close to the board.For endurance I run so that helps me to stay in shape for paddleing.

 

i'm still young lad and i almost got tendonitis in my dorsal area (big shoulderblade muscle on the back) from being a paddling freak during the summer. So now I have to do paddling warm-ups every time I got out.

 

run & SWIM for endurance...i like to hold one of those little foam blocks between my legs to keep myself from kicking a lot of the time...weight work geared towards endurance will improve your paddling as well...anything that works the shoulder muscles is good...low weight/high reps for that, tho. you don't want to get bulky.
that said, the best exercise for paddling is paddling. in more pleasant weather, i like to take either my 9'6" log or my dad's 10'6" paddleboard (NOT a SUP!) & just go out & paddle when its flat.
the upshot of all this is that if your form has a flaw in it, it will be sorted out by all that paddling. your body will naturally pick the mechanics that best suit it.

 

find a pool, seriously. it helps.

 

i have tendonitis and arthritis in my knees from squating and dislocating. but as for paddling just go out paddle around on a longboard. and practice swimming in a pool. then just lift weights for upper body.

 

A few things I'm gonna suggest. I've tried a lot of different work-out regiments and here's what I've found. Take it for what it's worth, but remember, genetics has a lot to do with it. Your body type is gonna be different than mine, and I'm sure not quite as good looking

DIET!!! What are you eating before you go out? I find during the summer I can get away with fruit, whole wheat bread sandwiches, some pretzels maybe and I'm fine for at least 4 hours before I gotta refuel. Pretty light stuff In the winter, I find I reallllllly need to load up a bit more. Fluffer nutters rule!!! Plenty of protein from the peanut butter and a healthy does of marshmellow to give you that initial dose of sugar when that cold water hits your face and you need the xtra motivation. But you really need to focus on what you eat a couple hours before you go out. Are you eating breakfast? Are you eating healthy on days you don't surf? Etc..... Work on that first. Easy fix too bc its more habit than anything. Even when it's Lake Atlantic out there, you can still adjust your diet and be conscious of it.

Cardio stinks. Here's the biggest issue I find with every single surf thread that has anything to do with work-out regiments. They all say "Run" or "Do laps in the pool" or "Weight train". WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT??? If you're lucky enough to have a gym membership, do your best to mimic the "cardio" of surfing. This, above everything else, is a constant start/stop motion. Think about it. You paddle out for 5 minutes we'll say. Then you sit. And sit a bit more. Then you see the set, but you say, "nah, too small" so you sit a little bit more. Then the set comes. You drop your jaw and paddle like a son-of-a-b**ch for maybe a minute? Maybe 30 seconds? But yet the consistent advice is to run miles at a time. Sprints baby. Sprint 1 minute. Jog 1 minute. Repeat till your nipples bleed. Better yet, which is what I do, SUPER SETS.

Super sets pretty much consist of 3 exercises, back-to-back of moderate wieight. Doing 10-15 reps of each exercise, depending on your skill and "motiviation" that day, and then resting. I do at least one exercies that targets each body part each day. And then let my body tell me what other exercises I should do after that. Remember too, never ever seperate your days into "body part" days. You should be doing complete and whole body workouts everyday. The idea behind building endurance and muscle is repeatedly "tearing and rebuilding" muscle tissue. You can't do this by focusing on 2 muscles groups one day a week. I use mainly body weight. I absolutely agree with the Yoga aspect, but try to incorporate that into more of a daily routine.

Jump rope. Push ups. Pull ups. Box jumps. Turn the bosu ball upside down and do stuff on that. The last thing you want to do also is hit any kind of heavy weight. Surfing means you have to be able to handle your own weight. So what's the point in adding muscle mass only to paddle it out? You have to determine on your own what your ideal body weight is for your body type. If you go beyond that, your gonna have more muscle, but less ability to paddle it through the water. If you go under that, you're gonna have less weight, but also less muscle to paddle that weight. Thus, if you incorporate a lot of body weight exercises into your regiment, you should come out ahead when you get on the water.

Sorry for the lengthy input, but I think I just got ultimately tired of hearing the same recycled advice, which, for the most part, has no scientific or logical explanation. Mine does fools.

Anyone else have success using the start/stop method? Anyone else ever try it?

 

Whens the book coming out?

 

paddling

Excersize is great. Yoga is great. diet is great....... but there is no substitute for surfing.

Holding your position on the board, duckdiving and poping up are so unique that I belive that the only cure for the noodle arm effect is surfing. When I start surfing 2 and three time a week in the spring I can barely put 2 hr in the water by June I can do 5 to 8 hr no problem. If you cant make it too the beach durring the week. Then find a pool. But nothing beats the real thing. After 2 or 3 weeks of surfing every other day your muscle memory will adjust and you wont feel sore or tired after a sesh. If your a weekend warrior
Combination therapy ( excersize, yoga, diet) will help.

 

Steroids?



/kidding

 

Yep... full body work, light weights, high reps, a good diet, yoga for flexibility, sprint/jog running... all good advice for increasing paddle power and overall fitness. Bulking up is not a good idea for most of us mere mortals. Cardio work can't hurt, and will keep you in the game long term. Absolutely... swim if you can, and surf as much as possible. Paddle back out instead of walking up the beach, if you have the time for an extended session. Don't pass on small days, days where the wind/current are bad... just get out and have fun. I have a surfing-specific routine at the gym that makes sense. PM if you want more info.

 

...get a bigger board.

 

Forgot to add that. There really is no substitute when it comes down to it. Also agree with oipaul. Didn't think about that.

But seriously. My neighbor taught me to surf. He was an advid surfer in the 80's and 90's and absolutely loves it. Well, 4 kids, different jobs, and the perfect mix he wasn't able to get out as much as he wanted. Then he started lifting weights and just running. I have no clue why. After a couple months on the water, unfortunately I was looking like the one who taught him. I said one sneering comment to him, he got pissed and was hell bent on getting back into shape. I got it through his thick skull to try my program and he absolutely looks like the teacher and I the student again, the way it should be. He dropped 40+ pounds, paddles through the water like a 25 year old and now looks back at me where I used to look back at him. Really proud that he stuck with it and now has the results he wanted.

 

Wrong!

I hate to break it to you man, this is a bunch of crap. I know THE BEST RAW PADDLERS in the country. Are you serious when you say, "CARDIO IS CRAP?" I invite you to come paddle with me and my little brother. You will beg for your mother when I am done with you. Neither of us will ever lift a weight. If you want the big picture, here it is. Phelps did not LIFT one single pound of weights "his entire life" until 16 months before Beijing Olympics....and that was to gain .007 of a second, and he was under direct supervision of the greatest trainer in the world. I am a swim coach, triathlete, lifesaving competitor and I have paddled for a long long long time. The only thing that is going to help you is long slow distance. In scientific terms we call this the "aerobic adaptation" and will have far greater impacts on your health and fitness then anything in the gym. SOOOOOOOOO, go run long long slow miles. Swim long slow miles. Paddle long slow miles. Kayak long slow miles. After you do that 6 days per week for at least 4-6 months, you can then start to add in some intervals.

DO NOT LISTEN TO JOHNNY D. Johnny D, your advice is not good. Please evaluate your information before passing it along to others. Johnny D, what references to use/read when you say "cardio is crap!" I haven't read that article. And are you saying that if I run 40 miles per week, bike 250 miles per week, swim 20,000 meters per week, paddle 25 miles per week; someone who lifts weights for an hour a day 3 times a week could take me in a paddleboard race? ...don't think so johnny!

 

Hands under the board and then push outward (away from the body) on your "follow through". Learned that from swimming/swimmers. Also, short, quick, strong, choppy strokes from a stand still to get you moving (sprint) once you can tell you are moving pretty good let them gradually turn into longer slower strokes to keep you moving. I use this method a lot on the paddle out or for chasing down a set and it is effective and helps to conserve energy.

Just my $.02

 

That is how I end off and I start with my hands out and up towards the nose. Conditioning and technique are the two important aspects. Strength is great but you need to know how to maximize your efforts.

 

One obvious thing you might be overlooking - Are you at the optimum position on your board when paddling ? If you are not trimmed out at the correct angle a simple paddle out can take forever. I know this is obvious but I have run into several guys who have been surfing for a few years and complained about the same thing. Once they realized what they were doing wrong their wave count also went up also.

 

obvious,but actually great point.