Fitness – Paddle Faster, Paddle Further

Winter 2007

This is an article from WaveLength Magazine, available in print in North America and globally on the web.
To download a pdf copy of the magazine click here: > DOWNLOAD

Build a Stronger Core

by Adam Bolonsky

With spring paddling season not too far around the corner, now is as good a time as any to strengthen your core. Strengthen your abs, lats, hip flexors, obliques, hip adductors and abductors—known collectively as the core muscle group—and you’ll find yourself paddling with better balance and increased efficiency, and you’ll have an easier job of bracing or rolling the boat.

Moreover, strengthen your core and you’ll incorporate more torso rotation into your stroke, if only because the core strengthening drills shown below will raise your awareness of what those dynamic paddling muscles actually feel like when they are subjected to athletic load.

Increased balance, increased boat control, a wider range of muscles with which to absorb the pitch and roll of rough water—what more could you want, other than, say, a faster, lighter boat? Paddle with a strong core and you’ll think you are in a faster, more seaworthy boat. Likewise you’ll find yourself suffering less lower back pain during those long days at the office.

Of all the core strengthening exercises on the following pages, perhaps none is as effective as the simple plank, shown and discussed in a WaveLength article I wrote not too long ago. Also known as the hover, the tabletop, the board or helicopter, some of the planks require nothing more than yourself, a floor and a watch equipped with a second hand. For the more advanced variations, all you need is a medicine ball or balance ball—widely available at sporting goods stores and found in most gyms.

BASIC PLANKS #1 AND #2
To get started, let’s take a look at some plank variations. Each is a little more challenging than it looks, especially when you hold the poses in sets lasting up to a minute or more.

As proof, look carefully at the muscle area behind our model Mike Harb’s left shoulder in photo 1. Look at the flexed ridge running from top of his armpit towards his waist. His lat is tightly flexed, ditto his abs and deltoids. This simple plank places a wide range of isometric demands upon his core.

There are a couple of keys to all plank drills. Most relate to using good form to prevent injury.

First: don’t hunch your shoulders. Rather, keep them parallel with the back of your neck. Second: look forward, but don’t lift your chin and strain your neck. Third, and perhaps most important, don’t allow your pelvis to droop towards the floor. Your butt and shoulders should form a relatively straight line, likewise your heels and the backs of your knees. Finally, hold your torso rigid enough that you hold wide open the hinge where your hamstrings meet your butt.

If you have lower back problems, try the variation, known as the kneeling plank, shown in photo 2. Although the variation puts you into an oddly vulnerable-looking pose on the floor, the modification will reduce any strain on your lower back and shoulders.
To add variety to the kneeling plank, and to focus on strengthening first one side of your core, then the other, try the variation (photo 3), in which Mike straightens one leg (in this case his right), adding a balance demand to the pose.

PLANK VARIATION #3
The variation shown in photo 4 is straightforward: add to the basic horizontal plank an angled element, similar to a pushup’s, that in addition to strengthening your core also works your pectorals, triceps and deltoids.

Imagine yourself in the position in photo 4 and you’ll have little difficulty feeling the isometric demands the pose will place not only on your core (your lats, abs, obliques, hip flexors and so on) but also your chest and shoulders.

Note how Mike doesn’t hunch his shoulders, doesn’t strain his neck by lifting his chin high, and creates a relatively straight line between his heels and shoulders. As in the previous poses, note his wristwatch also. He’ll glance at it as he increases the pose’s hold time from about fifteen seconds to a minute or more.

PLANK VARIATION #4
Now let’s add some challenging elements to the above drill by lifting one foot and the opposite hand, as shown in photos 5 and 6. Like Mike, we’ll strengthen, not only our core, but also our triceps, deltoids and pecs.

This is a tough pose. By lifting one foot, then the opposite hand, Mike shifts the balance load and strength demands to one side of his body. Try this pose and you’ll immediately discover which side of your body is the stronger and more coordinated.

Watch Mike first lift one foot, then the opposite hand. Then try to picture how hard his core is working to hold him in balance. He will replace his hand and foot before repeating the drill with the other foot and hand.

Lifting one foot and hand adds significant balance and stability demands. Consider how that would be useful: we often need to use one side of our bodies to balance, brace and roll. In short, as Mike’s core reacts to being off balance, he taps the perhaps most subtle skill to be gained from paddling with a strong core: that of relying on your core for balance as you encounter changes in the water’s smoothness.

PLANK VARIATION #5
The next variation, shown in photo 7, where we turn the plank on its side so that our chest faces out rather than the floor, strengthens and challenges the core from different angles. The pose’s stability demands are quite dynamic as well.

Should you try the variations shown below, you’ll find that hand-on-the-hip is more challenging than the arm raised position, because the former, surprisingly, will test your balance more thoroughly. Also note that the variations can be done two ways: by using the forearm and elbow or the hand for support.

Here are a couple of caveats for the above poses. One is, don’t let your downward hip droop. Otherwise you won’t require your core to truly stabilize your body. Second, try to create as straight a line as possible between your ankles and armpits. Third, stack one foot on top of the other, as splaying your feet lets you balance with your feet rather than with your core.

Now add dynamic range and motion to the above poses by sweeping your raised hand down and threading it between your supporting arm’s armpit and the floor. Your balance will truly be tested by this mobile variation on the move. The rotation will add coordination and flexibility demands to the move.

Once you’ve threaded the raised arm and hand, open back to the start position. Repeat as many times as comfort allows, then switch sides.

PLANKS AND A MEDICINE BALL
The variations shown in the next three photos, which utilize a medicine ball as much for its instability as its diameter, are just as challenging as they look. The balance demands they place upon the core are considerable, as are their stabilization and strength demands.

In the first, a two-part variation, Mike establishes a relatively straight hover between his heels and shoulders. He does not hunch his shoulders. Nor does he lift his chin and strain his neck. But feel in your own body how much work his core, especially his hips, must do to balance his body from toes forward.

In the variation in photo 11, Mike adds quite a challenge by lifting one foot. Note, again, that he does not hunch his shoulders, does not lift his chin, and does his best to lift the heel of his raised foot near level with his head.

This is a most demanding position not only in terms of strength and stability demands but also in how fully it calls upon Mike’s core muscles to do all the work.

Finally, after switching and raising the opposite hand and foot, Mike goes even further by twisting his body so that his chest faces out rather than the floor. This is a challenging position to both achieve and hold, and Mike does his best, though with limited success, to keep his lower hip from drooping towards the floor. As for requiring that he stack his feet to improve his balance and require his core muscles (his lats, hips and abs) to do all the work, the tiny diameter of the medicine ball really gives Mike no choice.

Keep in mind that after several weeks of plank drills, your core will adapt and the planks will become easier. Once your muscle fibers become accustomed to the drills, you’ll experience diminishing returns. Thus, add variations like those above not only to challenge your muscles but also to keep yourself engaged mentally.

Finally, and most important of all, remember that strengthening your core not only increases your stability, power and balance in the boat, the exercises will also increase your general level of fitness by making any sport’s essential muscle groups stronger and more flexible. Use the plank to get in shape for paddling this year and you’ll find yourself stronger and more fit for sports year round. And as an added bonus, you’ll also enjoy better posture and fewer lower back problems as you slave away at your desk at work.