Workouts for Paddling
Paddling relies heavily on strength, endurance and the muscles around the shoulder joint. Sometimes, paddling can go on for hours and this entails paddling upstream, moving against the tide, and sprinting out of a power boat’s way.
Before you go on a White Water Rafting Trip, you will need to train the muscles used in pulling like the lats, rhomboids, and biceps, as well as the abdominals, obliques and forearms.
Upper Body Pull
To improve your upper body pull, you can try the two dumbbell standing rows or prone barbell bench pulls. A rowing or paddling club that has a land-based training area may already have prone barbell bench pulls. But if you can’t avail of the barbell bench pull, the 2-dumbbell standing row is an alternative you can do at home.
Start off by standing with your feet shoulder distance apart. Then lean forward with your knees slightly bent. Put your weight on your heels and hold two dumbbells with your palms facing your thighs and pull the weight toward your belly button as you exhale.
To improve strength and endurance, you should use a lighter weight and do more repetitions. If you want to improve your strength and power, do more sets using heavier weights but with fewer repetitions.
Paddle Drive
For a more powerful paddle drive, you can do the straight arm standing lat pull downs. Stand with your feet hip distance apart facing a cable stack with weights. Exhale as you bring the bar down in an arc toward your thighs. Inhale as you return the bar to its starting position.
Keep a light, open grip on the bar to prevent pulling. You should concentrate on pushing instead. Keep the abdominals tight with your arms nearly straight but not locked in place. Your body should be erect from shoulders to feet.
Torso Rotation
If you want to strengthen the rotational muscles in the lower back and the obliques, seated ball oblique twists and twisting back raises should do the job for you.
First, make sure that you position yourself on a nice bench so that you can have as much range of motion through the hips as you can comfortably get. The torso should hang down toward the floor and you should exhale as you lift your torso upward. It is a good idea to start with straight back raises first to be sure you have an appropriate level of lower back strength and endurance.
When you work out the muscles you need for paddling, you will develop power, coordination, agility, and flexibility. However, as you spend more time on the boat, you may reduce the number of sets and repetitions you do each workout during your strength training. You should also supplement it with pushing exercises like triceps dips and pushups to prevent muscle overuse.
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