I don't believe in spending a lot of time trying to find gym exercises that mimic the paddling motion. If I'm in the gym I'd much rather work on the component of strength I'm working on in more general, less specific terms. I think it is enough to train the muscle groups you use in paddling and the neural pathways that recruit those muscles for explosive, powerful contractions. I don't think you should feel the need to try to work those muscles in some motion that closely approximates the paddling motion. The fact of the matter is, as hard as you try you’ll be hard pressed to come up with an exercise that mimics the feel of the paddling motion exactly.
The best exercise for paddling is paddling, and short of the Kayak Pro ergometer or Jimmy Terrell's flume there really isn't an effective way to do a paddling workout that doesn't involve getting out on your board.
While we think of the weight room as the place to develop strength and the board as where to apply it, it is possible to train specific strength - that is strength specific to the paddling motion - on your board through the use of resistor training.
Resistor training involves either paddling with something wrapped around your board to increase drag or towing something behind you. Whatever tool you use to slow your board down is your resistor. I've done both over the years and personally prefer the wrap around the board method to dragging something, although we did have fun one year in Florida camp when a bunch of us bought plastic tugboats at Walmart that we towed behind our C1s. The problem was they would inevitably capsize and then create way more drag than was intended!
Using a resistor increases the drag and makes the board move through the water much more slowly. Since we are always trying to pull our board by our paddle this becomes much more difficult and the stroke feels much more heavily loaded. You'll recall in a previous Tip of the Week I talked about using an unlimited board to lessen the resistance you're used to when paddling a 12'6" or 14' board, and how you can use that to help you learn to work more dynamically with your blade in the water. Using a resistor is taking the opposite approach. It's going to make the stroke heavier and slower because the board will be moving much more slowly. However the extra load you feel every stroke helps you build strength in your paddling muscles in the precise movements you use when racing on your board. If you do the right amount of resistor work and do it the right way, you'll get stronger on your paddle but won't lose the feeling of the dynamic stroke that you've been working on. In fact, it can help you learn how to paddle better and be more dynamic.
The other big benefit of resistor training is that it can help you master technique. For some reason, many paddlers have difficulty properly loading their paddle and feeling water on their blade. Adding drag from a resistor makes it increasingly hard to move the board anywhere without finding good load. The increased drag caused by resistors can, if the resistor is big enough, make the water feel as solid as dry land when it's gathered behind the paddle blade. Even someone who is reluctant to trust the blade to take their body weight and support them will feel how the blade supports their weight if the resistor is big enough. Once they feel this they can gradually move through a series of smaller resistors and at the end of the process it is almost certain they'll be able to load their blade better.
Lastly a resistor can be a useful way for a paddler to isolate part of the stroke in order to improve it. By making the entire stroke heavier the increased drag allows that paddler a better chance to feel the water behind the blade at each spot in the stroke and feel the muscles being used and the sequencing of contraction and relaxation of those muscles. This affords the paddler a better understanding of how to execute proper technique in each part of the stroke. Through repetition with the resistor and then repeating the process with a series of smaller resistors the paddler can isolate and then correct almost any technical flaw and find a way to enhance connection with the water.
Making your own resistor
So what should you use to create more drag and slow your board down? The easiest way is simply undo your leash and toss it behind you so you are dragging it in the water while you’re paddling. You’ll feel the board is harder to pull by the paddle and the increased load on your blade that results from that. I tend to prefer wrap around resistors because I feel a more constant resistance as speed changes. Resistors you drag tend to pop out of the water a bit the faster you go, diminishing drag. If you want to try this method, just wrap your leash around your board.
By far the best resistor that I have found, and one that provides
varying levels of resistance, is a bungee with three tennis balls threaded onto
it (see photo). To make your own, simply
get a canister of tennis balls and cut an X in either pole of each ball using a
pair of box cutters. I strongly
recommend you wear work gloves while doing this and use extreme caution. The tennis balls are surprisingly difficult
to cut and the box cutters are very sharp.
One slip and you can end up seriously cutting your hands. Once you’ve cut the balls you can thread the bungee
though them and you’ve got your resistor.How to use your resistor
If you’re working on isolating and correcting a technical flaw, you’ll want to start slow with a big resistor. As you isolate the point in the stroke you’re working on you’ll find that the added load caused by the resistor allows you to feel how you’re moving currently and how you’re moving as you change your technique. Isolate what you’re working on and use the extra feeling the resistance provides to correct your movement. I’d recommend doing short intervals of approximately one-minute duration as you’re learning new movements, and gradually lengthen them once you feel you’ve made some progress in adjusting your stroke and want to consolidate those adjustments. One of the biggest technical flaws I see in my clinics is a reluctance to get outside the board and fully load the blade. Using a resistor is an excellent tool to address this.
As you feel you are improving, you can move down to a smaller resistor (drop from three balls down to two) and see if you can still feel the improvements you’ve made to your stroke. You can continue this process, dropping from two balls to one, and ultimately to just the bungee itself. The last step is paddling with your improved technique with no resistor.
If you’re working on specific strength you’ll want a fairly big resistor as well. In this instance you’ll want to make a real effort to paddle dynamically even though it will be very difficult with the added resistance. Remember, you’re not interested in slow muscular contractions when paddling. You want to be able to paddle with explosive, dynamic contractions so try to work explosively against the extra resistance. Generally, you’ll find this easier to do in some shorter intervals of two minutes or less.
Often you’ll find you’ll use the resistor to work on both technique and specific strength/power at the same time. I generally start with three balls and do a short set like 2’, 1’, 30” with 1’ rest, then remove a ball and repeat after 3’-4’ rest. I end up doing four sets in total, one each with three, two, and then one ball followed by just the bungee. I’ll often do a fifth set with no resistance. Remember in each set you need to focus on being dynamic, and in each set you’ll need to be more dynamic then the previous one simply because your board will be moving faster.
Troubleshooting and precautions
There are a few things you need to be aware of when using resistors that will make your workout more effective and reduce any chance of injury or harm to your technique.
·
Make sure your tennis balls are centered in the
middle of your board or they will play havoc with your steering. You should be able to track pretty much normally
if they are properly centered.
·
Wrap the bungee around your board in front of
where you stand and in front of the widest point on the board. If you don’t you might lose it during your
workout as it could slide off.
·
Because resistors create a much greater load on
your paddling muscles, especially with three balls, get a good warm up first
and gradually build up to hard dynamic paddling to reduce risk of injury.
·
Don’t over use this training
modality. The most sprint canoe-kayak
athletes use resistance when paddling is two times per week, and rarely for
more than 30 minutes of total paddling.
Overusing your resistor can lead to injury, nervous system fatigue and
can, over time, harm your technique by slowing your motion down. Remember it is all about being dynamic and
always working more quickly with your blade against the water than your board
is moving through the water. If you do
too much paddling on a board slowed down by a resistor it is inevitable that
your stroke will slow down as well, despite your best effort to be
dynamic. Coupling regular weekly usage
of a resistor with paddling on a faster board once a week (see Tip of the Week
from March 26, 2015 “Paddle on an Unlimited Board Occasionally”) should help you strike the perfect
balance in your training and help you develop an optimal stroke.
Give it a try. I’m
confident you’ll find using a resistor becomes an
important part of your training program!
