resistance training | OCPaddler.com

If anything I prefer bungee torture at the end of a workout when you are really warmed up and you have to focus on technique because you are tired, but your muscle memory is refreshed. If you do bungee at the end of practice you also get a pretty good picture of your fitness as well as the fitness of your buddies.
You always need that in the end of a race.

#1 Thu, 02/14/2008 - 7:39pm

As Oscar Chalupski say's ...... "you are only training your muscles and memory to go slow".

#2 Thu, 02/14/2008 - 8:41pm

Back in the day, we used to pull tire. We'd paddle the six w/ a tire on the front. I always felt like it was a good workout. I've been doing some training with a rope w/ tennis balls tied around the front of the oc1. It feels like a good workout. I never really thought about the slow muscle memory thing. I think my strokes per minute is about the same, I'm just going way slower and pulling really hard. I feel like it actually helps my technique, though. I feel like I'm really concentrating on hitting each stroke perfectly. My strokes per minute are pretty damn low anyway, so it might not work so good for the 70 strokes per minute crowd. I've only done it a few times, so I can't really say if there's been improvement, but you definately feel like all your muscles are really working hard.

#3 Fri, 02/15/2008 - 5:05am

Yes, I am resistant to training.

#4 Fri, 02/15/2008 - 6:06am

The elliptical trainer is a great arm workout. Switch from legs to arms at various intervals and you will feel the burn. Also adjust the resistance levels for added strengthening. I hit the ET at least 4 times a week, hopefully I will see results on the course soon.

#5 Fri, 02/15/2008 - 6:09am

When you google this topic it is obvious that you gain some strength with resistance training.

However, this gain did not increase specific rowing/cycling performance in most observations.

Resistance training helps people that are new to a sport.

Paddling is all about technique/efficiency.

Tommy Connors was 4th in an 8 mile race last week end - congratulations, btw, great job, I am sure he may even be able to win on a given day.
If strength were to be the number one thing, people in the 20ies should always win.

With a bungee cord you will use more power later in your stroke - my guess; you may also start to 'compress' your boat on every stroke.

My point: in stead of hoping for more muscle to go faster, train your technique and actually go faster.

The exception may be explosiveness. But this, I think, should be trained very specifically, after a good warm up and with appropriate rest periods.

#6 Fri, 02/15/2008 - 10:35am

I think RT serves a specific purpose. It shouldn't be a part of a normal training regime. Its good for a crew that has a poor feel for the water and is rushing their stroke. Put a lot of resistance (dragging buckets) and it slows them down, forces them to feel the water and understand not to rush the stroke. Werks pretty good for that.

poops

#7 Fri, 02/15/2008 - 11:22am

How do you "feel" after training in a 6 man canoe with only 5 or less paddlers in it ?? .... usually you go home whinging how slow it was and feeling like you got nothing out of the training session.

How do you "feel" after doing the same but with a full crew of good paddlers?? ... On Top of the World ... Pumped and wanting more. ... felt you achieved something.

Which type of training would you rather do??
Stimulating or non stimulating

Cheers Rambo

#8 Sat, 02/16/2008 - 12:49pm

Does anybody do the reverse, 'facilitated' training in OC 1 ?

Downwind runs are 'facilitated' in a way; anybody towing OC 1 ?

#9 Sat, 02/16/2008 - 12:59pm

Rambo said "As Oscar Chalupski sayâ€™s â€¦â€¦ â€œyou are only training your muscles and memory to go slowâ€.

Rambo, I thought not so long back you were a dedicated bungee and tennis ball man..What has happened to change your mind?

Greg

#10 Sun, 02/17/2008 - 5:04pm

I got slower ...

#11 Sun, 02/17/2008 - 7:05pm

Strictly my opinion and not based upon any scientific data and analysis. For those paddlers who have developed the skills necessary to go fast, resistance training can add some additional strength and endurance. For those paddlers who have not yet developed the skills to go fast, those paddlers would be better served by developing the necessary skills needed to increase their speed in the event they are competing. The object is to get faster over the length of the course. Nobody uses a stopwatch when they are doing resistance training.

#12 Sun, 02/17/2008 - 7:26pm

Pulling from more well researched areas like sprinting and boxing it would seem that weighting down a technical movement (like a sprinter dragging a sled, or a parachute) messes up the movement pattern and is a no no. Yet Ben Johnson was a 585lb squatter.

I have read that Oscar C pulls 100kg in his one arm cable rows for reps. That is strong.

On the outrigger chicks blog we have the (per video) top female oc-1's and they describe a pretty intense workout pattern (push/pull/legs) similar to a bodybuilding routine and the gals are not lacking muscle, esp Julie Wolfe.

Sounds like a lot of the top guys mostly paddle and run...I am not sure.

I have olympian and internation champion rowers in my family (wifes side) and all they do it spend a lot of time rowing and the resistance training is to balance out the imbalances created by rowing so they can row more and avoid injury, so they work the anagonists...they dont row with weights or try to crank the resistance on the concept II. My father in law says it is "low tech, high concept" meaning no facy gadgets but the thought and technology goes into the peaking and periodization of the training.

From powerlifting In the bench press, if you do not work your rear delts, row on the bench press trajectory and work your external rotators you are going to eventually get imbalanced and injured. If you take care of these drills you will have a much better chance of staying healthy.

What movments in resistance training keep you healty to paddle?

#13 Mon, 02/18/2008 - 7:56pm

Hey guys
Iâ€™m back from the Hawaii. I like to train on a canoe we call Yogi is a heavy beast. for six weeks and work up to a hour and half or so . we go out every night. but when we get close to race time I switch to a race canoe/ dugout stile race single, surf ski or oc1. and try to add moor sprints to the workout. I feel the Yogi builds up the muscle then once Iâ€™m in shape I fine tune them with a race canoe. also I try not to use my race canoes if I donâ€™t have to like to keep them nice. by summer Iâ€™m using a race canoe every night. Its a really good idea to run or bike for the cardio.

#14 Tue, 02/19/2008 - 6:16am

I like to train in OC-1 and OC-6 with my wood Gillespie, a nice but heavy paddle. For races I switch to my carbon Quickblade. It is a beautiful paddle, and a shame to only use it for races, but I really notice a difference. I feel that I can go farther and faster with the carbon blade, at about 12 oz. less. When you figure that is 12 oz. less per stroke, with several thousand strokes per race, it makes sense that a lighter blade will yet you excel after training on a heavier blade. Make sure both paddles are the same length with the same general blade size. I do like the wood paddle for windy conditions, the carbon paddle tends to want to take flight in wind gusts.

#15 Tue, 02/19/2008 - 6:43am

Resistance training will provide a solid base for many speed-distance sports. The key is proactive planning of that training and the volume and loads of resistance workouts with your paddling training and racing season. In your off-season you can focus on building strength if needed, if not work on maintenance workouts. As your paddling season starts cut back on the volume and intensity of resistance workouts to maintain your strength gains and then focus on paddling specific workouts on water for speed & endurance. If you properly plan this you should not go slower.

Now the question of how much strength to weight do you need to go fast is a whole other ballgame. Some people need to gain some muscle (and therefore some weight) while others can greatly benefit from getting lighter and working on speed. It all depends on the individual. For myself who has a twenty year+ history of strength training I find losing weight and getting lighter and working on paddling specific training sessions make me go faster, but I still maintain resistance workouts all year as they are also important for maintaining joint health and strength. I just scale them back as my paddling volume and intensity increases. The key thing is finding the right balance and periodizing the training based on your own body's tolerances.

There is a lot of exercise research in this area, swimming, rowing and sprint running are good examples here.

#16 Tue, 02/19/2008 - 7:44am

I have received injuries in my paddling, and one I do remember is in late season. I used a heavy canoe and tried to force my body to do what it does in a race canoe, and did damage to my for arm. I think they call it tennis elbow so you have to ease into such practice.

#17 Tue, 02/19/2008 - 5:39pm

Eckhart's comments !!!!!!!!!

When you google this topic it is obvious that you gain some strength with resistance training.

However, this gain did not increase specific rowing/cycling performance in most observations.

Resistance training helps people that are new to a sport.

Paddling is all about technique/efficiency.

Some people will never get it !!!!
So is the sport of swimming a skill based and we strength and power train those athletes.
Like RAMBO states if you train slow then you will go slow, doesn't matter if you add drag to the canoe or not. Just like uphill or downhill running they have limited use when they don't support the sports biomechanics. They do have a lot of benefit in there range though. Overspeed Running helps stride rate.
The whole push pull continuum needs to be addressed for all athletes. Why does every professional athlete do resistance training, because it works if it is done properly, Most acedototal comments made above, just reinforce some backyard mentalities.
Rob Stanton from OZ did a lot of research into Outrigging over ten years ago. It is obvious that towing a truck behind your canoe doesn't make you go faster, doesn't train acceleration, just trains low speed strength and probably means that you can drag that wt during a whole training session.
pls do yourselves a favour get a good str coach (ie CSCS trained) they would be able to improve your paddling out of sight.

#18 Fri, 05/23/2008 - 1:32am

Clancy1 - 'some people don't get it' is not an argument in favor of using a bungee chord, is it ?

Your post pretty much reinforces what my post suggests. Maybe I wasn't precise in my wording.
You may understand better if I add why I am asking: some people use bungee chords a lot. Maybe too much ?

The initial question is specific - bungee chord for paddling. Good or not good ?

Most exercises have an element of resistance, of course you train strength and power. A strength coach would definitely help.

It comes down to what you and I both ask - if it is done correctly !

Is a bungee cord the correct way /good way/ effective way to improve your paddling skills ?

And if so, what percentage should be dedicated, and by whom, how often ?

#19 Fri, 05/23/2008 - 12:50pm

Interesting artical exerpt:

4: Strength is the single greatest equalizer in sport; therefore strength training is the most important physical preparation quality

While in college we were in the midst of the aerobic training and endurance activity focused period. Strength training studies were few and far between, to be honest. And any strength training studies were rarely performed on the more advanced programs we have available today. It was as if strength development was ignored completely, as all "training programs" for sport were based around various cardiovascular improvement programs.

While competing in various martial arts systems it struck me that all combat sports exist in a weight category system. The idea was not to prevent a fighter from facing a heavier fighter; it was based on the idea that the heavier fighter was stronger and therefore more dangerous.

Also, men and women (even of the same weight) didn't face each other in fighting sports. Incidentally, Lucia Rijker, the female boxer and kickboxer, lost only one kickboxing match ever.

By knockout.

In the second round.

In a match against the male world champion at the same weight.
Fight like a girl

She fights like a girl. A really strong girl.

So matching athletes up had nothing to do with weight or sex; it had to do with the idea that males were stronger than females, and heavier athletes were stronger than lighter athletes.

And when I thought about it more, even looking at activities such as marathon running, long distance cycling or figure skating, activities where excess weight may be a disadvantage, males still tended to perform better than females.

Conclusion: Being stronger is the single biggest advantage in most sports. Obviously not the only advantage, but definitely a serious difference maker. It was at this point (when I was still in college) that I started to realize that improving strength had to be a primary objective in any sports training program, despite what my professors were saying.
Boxing

"...and may the strongest man win."

Just some food for thought. It does appear from my reading that some of the elite rowers and kayakers are EXCEPTIONALLY strong, especially in relation to bodyweight in pulling drills such as chins and rows. I understand this from weightlifting how to do something as simple as a bench press you have to connect every muscle in your body to that push...no power leaks anywhere, no weak link. When you take the bar you try to "pull it apart" and bend it into a "U" shape (to activate the lats which drive the bar off your chest) while trying to pull the bar down against the resistance of your lats which you drive the bar off in the bottom position with the lats and by pushing yourself into the bench rather than pushing the bar...and "leg drive" is very important...so it is like thinking of planting the paddle and drawing the boat to the paddle v.s. moving the paddle throught the water and how the two concepts change the muscle recruitment....it is all very crucial...I am just scratching the surface with paddling.

#20 Fri, 05/23/2008 - 11:23pm

Not to bust on ya, Shawn, but the male/female boxer thing is a poor example; female KB, while seriously competitive, is still less than male KB, based on populations in each category, even in identical weight classes.

Athletically, I've been into many things where efficient "micromovements" outweigh sheer strength everytime. Interestingly, good technique in anything is essentially just more efficient and complete recruitment of neuromusclular fibers for one particlular activity. In the case where you have two with identical technique, the one with greater strength-to-weight may likely succeed, unless there's a stronge mental/intelligence component, then it throws everything measurable off.

In my teens I was all about strength first, in my twenties it was strength/technique, in my thirties it was all about technique first and strength will come. Lately it's been about periodization with emphasis on antagonists. What you do on workouts is critical, but what you do off workout is perhaps as important and often even more, especially for repetitive-movement sports such as paddling. Improvement comes from perfect practice, practice, practice. Gains come from appropriate rest.

Paddling's 95% mental anyway, the other half is in your head! (YB)

#21 Sat, 05/24/2008 - 3:58am

ChineBoy,
Well put. At an elite level (or even at a serious athletic level) rest and recuperation are totally vital. Constant hammering just leads to a downward spiral of fatigue and staleness.
In bike racing we always said that most people don't know how to truely go hard (to stress themselves), and similarly don't know how to truely go easy ( to recuperate).
I also like your breakdown by decades. Does it follow that by the fifties or sixties the most important thing is watching someone else do it on TV?
Didn't know that Yogi paddled.

#22 Sat, 05/24/2008 - 6:39am

Though strength may be a more enduring physical quality that cardio respiratory output. Weightlifter usually do their best lifting in mid to late thirties.

For me the hardest part of sport has always been recuperation and not having the discipline to go easy. I am addicted to the stimulus of training and want to do everything, hike, paddle, lift, bike....doing an "easy" workout it just not a big enough "hit", but I am not 20 anymore so I am being forced to get it. As they say it is better to back off than to fall off!

#23 Sat, 05/24/2008 - 11:35am

Most Modern Strength Endurance Sports align with Arthur Lydiards theories.

Arthur's Theory is here
http://www.box.net/shared/wgdr3x4kcs

And this info is excellent also http://www.box.net/shared/kkt17tq0w8

Cheers Rambo

#24 Sat, 05/24/2008 - 3:16pm

In the OC1 sprints had trouble keeping up the pace at the end of the 500metre (non ruddered) race. I would go out hard and then die. To counter this,I tried training, using the bungy, and even though the stroke rate was slower, I was able to add more power to each stroke and suck in the air I so needed.
This was transfered into my new race plan. Go out hard then slow thee rate and power up each individaul stroke, all the way to the end.
(These slow effecient strokes to power up at the end of the race).
I had stuggled to make the semi's prior to bungy, but I got a silver medal post bungy. I got a personal best time in every race.

And... I too added a tennis ball. My goal was to keep the spash/wash from the ball in the same spot on the side of my hull. This way I could gauge the power, and increased the endurance on the, all out power strokes. I believe this training gave me that strong finish. It also hepled me with long distance upwind races.

#25 Sun, 05/25/2008 - 12:23am

More great articals rambo. Thanks. Much to juggle with limited time.

#26 Sun, 05/25/2008 - 1:44am