Whether you’re a SUP racer or just enjoy paddling SUP for exercise and fitness I strongly believe you should do some supplementary fitness work on land.
When I was on the National Canoe Team I used to think of my races like a Formula 1 automobile race. In F1 you want a car with an incredibly powerful, high horsepower engine. I equated that with being as strong and as powerful as I could be. In F1 the cars also have to be fuel-efficient. The longer they can go without having to pit stop the more chance they’ll have to win. That seemed analogous to me needing to have great endurance. Finally in F1, that powerful but efficient engine has to be connected to the wheels effectively and the car has to handle well. I thought that seemed to be analogous to being able to move my boat well with good technique.The point of this trip down memory lane is that if you are competing in an event that is human propelled, you need to be fit (strong with great endurance) to succeed. Sure, incredibly fit but unskilled athletes will lose to less fit but more skilled athletes. But all other things being equal, fitness will play a very large role in determining who wins. If you are seriously competing can you really afford to have shortcomings in the fitness required for your sport?
Stand up paddling is a unique sport that places a wide variety of fitness demands on athletes. I summarized those in an October 2012 blog post called Training for SUP Part 2 – Essential Elements of Fitness. If you’re serious about racing you need to address all of those elements. You really can’t afford any weaknesses.
The great thing is that fitness is easy to improve. Unlike technical skills like paddling technique, surfing, downwinding, etc. which are sometimes really difficult to grasp and can take perhaps a lifetime to learn to do at a high level, fitness is something that is easy to master as long as you are willing to put in a little old-fashioned hard work. There’s no secret to developing fitness, just sweat. You’ll need to hit the gym and do some running or maybe get out on the road on a bike, but really there is no excuse for a serious racer to be lacking in fitness. If you’re someone who paddles SUP for leisure and exercise and have no intention to race, I like to make the case that you should consider doing things for your fitness off the board as well.
Consider that it’s easier to develop strength on land in the gym than it is on the board. You don’t need to build a lot of muscle, but the strength you gain by spending just a little time in the gym will make the time you spend on the board more enjoyable. Your muscles won’t fatigue as quickly, you won’t be as stiff after paddling and you’ll drastically reduce the chance of ever getting injured. You’ll also find that leg and core strength will help your stability and make you feel a whole lot more confident on your board.
Consider also that it is a lot easier to
raise your heart rate to an effective training zone by jogging, riding a bike,
getting on an elliptical trainer or doing an aerobics class. You’ll develop your aerobic fitness better on
land than you ever will as a beginner on the water. But as your paddling skills improve and
you’re able to paddler harder, you’ll find that the increased level of aerobic
fitness you got from dry-land training will open up a whole new world of SUP
paddling and on-water fitness training for you.
