According to personal trainer and stand up paddle fitness instructor, Nikki Gregg, "There's nothing worse than a boring workout!" Stand up paddling has quick become the perfect sport for many of her clients.
Nikki is currently on tour giving stand up paddle boot camps around the country sharing the incredible health benefits of the sport. Whether it's on the lake, ocean, or in river rapids, Nikki is constantly breaking new ground for the sport.
From a very young age, Nikki's parents instilled in her the desire and knowledge to pursue a life of healthy living. Always a gym rat, her first job at the age of 14 was working the front desk at a local gym, which led to managing, personal, and group training.
Nikki Gregg has been certified to be a personal trainer through ACE and NSCA. She has her EMT-B certification training, and Swift Water Rescue.
Check back often for the latest articles by Nikki Gregg!
It may be a small joint, but it can cause some serious discomfort and fatigue after a long paddle if you’re not aware of proper wrist angles. In this article, I will briefly discuss the structure and function of the wrist, proper paddling technique, and how to strengthen your wrists to protect them from injury.
Structure and Function:
The wrist joint is extremely complex, but is basically the joint where the ulnar and radius bones of the forearm meet up with the carpal bones of the hand. The wrist is designed to be very mobile to give our hands a full range of motion with fifteen bones that connect the hand to the forearm. Take into account that there are also many ligaments, tendons, muscles, nerves, and blood vessels that make up the structure of the wrist. All these components work together to allow us to flex and extend the hand, straighten our fingers, and make a fist.
Unfortunately, the wrist is not meant to support bodyweight. Too much weight coupled with too many repetitions (such as high repetition push ups with your palms on the ground) is tough on your wrist joints and can cause tendonitis. That’s why paying attention to your wrist angles while stand up paddling is so important.
Are you looking for different ways to spice up your stand up paddle workout? In my SUP fitness boot camps I frequently utilize various forms of cross-training. By transforming your SUP session into a multi-sport workout you will condition different muscle groups, reduce any boredom that may set in, and reduce the risk of overuse injury. My clients enjoy the added variety to their SUP sessions so read on and find out how you, too, can incorporate cross-training into your stand up paddle workouts.
Swimming
Bring your goggles or snorkel mask and wear a surf leash for your next stand up paddle workout. When you're about halfway through your session put on your goggles, place your paddle lengthwise onto your board, jump in and start swimming. Make sure your leash is attached to your ankle and let your board drag behind you as you swim. Change up a freestyle stroke with the breast stroke every five minutes for an amount of time that you set. There will be a slight pull on your leg from the surf leash, but so far nobody seems to mind. If fortunate enough to be in beautiful Hawaii you will be able to take in all the sea critters, turtles and maybe even some spinner dolphins as you swim.
Nikki Gregg: Certified Personal Trainer/Stand Up Paddler
Now that you have a better understanding about how your shoulders are put together and have hopefully been doing the shoulder stretches from the previous article, it’s time to look into paddling technique and equipment choices that can decrease the potential for shoulder injury, while improving performance. Also included in this article are a handful of strengthening exercises for the vulnerable rotator cuff and shoulder muscles geared toward optimizing balance, stability, mobility, and joint function.
Equipment
From experience and also from speaking with fellow sup’ers, paddle choice has a large impact on how your shoulders are going to feel. If you have suffered any shoulder pain from paddling or have had a previous shoulder injury that is causing you grief, consider changing your paddle. Look for a paddle that is a little bit shorter, has a more flexible shaft, and a smaller blade size. Why will all this help?
Research studies have shown that people with the lowest flexibility have the greatest chance for injury. Unfortunately, increased shoulder flexibility will not come with doing a few stretches right before an activity, but rather from weeks of engaging in a regular stretching program. Being on a continuous stretching program (not just for shoulders, but the entire body) will help prevent injury and promote efficiency during stand up paddling, improve elasticity of muscles, increase range of motion in joints, and minimize muscle soreness.
The following four stretches are to be done after a five to ten
minute warm up or after a session of stand up paddling. These are not
meant to be done with ‘cold’ muscles prior to paddling. It’s common for
many surfers to walk down to the beach before entering the water, put
down their boards, and begin manipulating their bodies into
‘Gumby-like’ poses without first warming up. This can be dangerous and
is not recommended. If anything, going for a ten minute jog on the
beach before paddling out may be more beneficial than stretching.
If you’ve been stand up paddling long enough, I’m willing to bet that your shoulders have felt sore at least once or twice and maybe even kept you out of the water for a few days to recover. Whether it’s a past injury that nags you, the wrong size paddle, bad technique, or a combination of each, it eventually sends you to the medicine cabinet (or the liquor cabinet) for some pain relief after a long session. The next few articles are designed to equip you with knowledge about your shoulders to help you keep them healthy, injury free, and out on the water paddling!
The shoulder contains three bones and three separate joints. Many
muscles act at the shoulder as movers and/or stabilizers. The muscles
have several functions depending on the shoulder’s angle during
movement. Of special importance is the rotator cuff, which is made up
of four muscles and their tendons originating from the scapula. These
tendons help hold the “ball in the socket”, are important stabilizers,
and help rotate the shoulder (glenohumeral joint).
PERFORMANCE 
It may be a small joint, but it can cause some serious discomfort and fatigue after a long paddle if you’re not aware of proper wrist angles. In this article, I will briefly discuss the structure and function of the wrist, proper paddling technique, and how to strengthen your wrists to protect them from injury.
