Don’t Forget to Train your Legs

Last weekend I went for a fun SUP paddle with a couple of C1 buddies of mine.  Conditions on Lake Ontario were pretty good, with a moderate northeast wind kicking up nice, fast, two-foot plus wind waves and a small ground swell.  We did the usual upwind/downwind paddle you’re stuck doing when you can’t arrange the logistics to go downwind, and we still got a nice 6 km downwind leg in with speeds averaging 5:30/km.

One of my buddies was a three-time Olympian in canoe and is a pretty experienced SUP paddler so he loved it.  The other is an experienced C1 paddler but new to SUP this year.  He’s already awesome on the flats but a little tentative still in waves.  As the three of us joined up to turn at the 6 km mark to begin the downwind portion of our paddle, he commented that his legs were spent.  It reminded me of my own early experiences in waves and how quickly my legs got fatigued, and more significantly, how important your legs are to effective paddling in big water.

When we’ve been paddling for a while, are in shape, and have a little experience in big water I think we take for granted how important our legs are and how much work we require from them for effective paddling.  So with last weekend’s reminder still fresh in my mind, I thought that it would be appropriate this week to share a few simple leg exercises you can do throughout the SUP season to increase power endurance and enhance proprioception (and thus balance).

A lot of people think you have to be at the gym to train legs.  While that may be true if you’re doing squats with heavy weight, for the type of leg strength you need for SUP it’s possible to do a few simple exercises wherever you may be, requiring minimal equipment, space and time.  Here are a few I do regularly that have helped my paddling, and in particular my paddling in the ocean, dramatically.

Split Squat Jumps

A great plyometric exercise that involves all the large muscle groups of your lower body.  Make sure you extend your front foot far enough forward that you have an angle of 90 degrees or greater at your knee to prevent injury.  The more explosively you jump the higher you’ll go and the more you’ll be developing power.  Focus on landing quietly and with control.  Landing this way will require heightened use of proprioceptors in your feet and lower legs, which will help you with balance when you are on your board (see Tip of the Week from February 26, 2015 “A Simple but Effective Way to Train Your Balance and Footwork”).

I usually do 30 reps per side so I am effectively training power endurance.

Frog Jumps

Another great plyometric exercise working your lower body.  It’s also a real lung burner if you do enough reps. Like with split squat jumps you’ll want to jump as explosively as you can, this time for distance instead of height, and land as quietly and controlled as possible.  Again, you are developing heightened proprioceptive ability in your feet and lower legs that will help with your balance while you are working on power endurance in your legs.

I usually do a minimum of 30 reps in each set.

Bulgarian Split Lunges

This is a great lower body exercise that can be done without the jump as you see in the video, although I prefer doing it with the jump to increase power development and add in the enhanced proprioceptive demands associated with a controlled, quiet landing.

You’ll need a bench, chair or step to place your back foot on and you’ll find it a bit more difficult to balance if the top of your foot lies on the bench in a plantar flexed position rather than just your toes contacting the bench in a dorsi flexed position.  If you choose to do these with the jump, you’ll again want to make sure your landing is as quiet as possible.  Make sure your front foot is far enough forward to give you an angle at your front knee of approximately 90 degrees.

This is a great exercise for developing power endurance as well as your balance.  You may want to start holding onto something with one hand for stability before progressing to doing the exercise with hands on hips.

I generally do 30 reps each side per set.

Lateral Bench Jumps

You’ll need a stable bench that can take your body weight for this exercise.  Be sure that it is stable enough that it won’t topple if you misstep.

Jump explosively off one foot in an upward but lateral direction so that your take off foot lands on the bench and your other foot on the ground on the opposite side of the bench.  As usual with plyometric exercises your landings should be controlled and quiet.

It’s pretty difficult to do these without some help from your arms for jumping and for balance.

I do 30 reps each side per set.

Skating Motion

Though I am using a medicine ball in the video, alternatively you can do this exercise with a dumbbell held in front of you or with nothing in your hands held in the same position.

You are trying to jump laterally as far as possible and stick your landing on your opposite foot.  Land quietly with controlled deceleration before accelerating and jumping explosively in the opposite direction.  This is a great exercise for power endurance and proprioception with your muscles working in a different direction than in split squat jumps or Bulgarian lunges.

I do 30 reps per side each set.

Low Walking

Although this exercise is not plyometric, for me it is a great exercise that is very simple to do.  With your hands on your hips step forward with one foot like you are going to do a step lunge.  Be sure to take a large enough step that the angle at your front knee is 90 degrees.  Come up only enough to allow your back foot to pass under your body and step forward.   You’ll need sustained contractions in your hamstrings, glutes and quads to complete each set with is excellent for developing strength endurance in these muscles.

I generally do 30 to 60 reps each side in each set.

I’ve used each of these exercises at various times as part of other workouts, doing 3 to 5 sets per exercise.  I’ve also done them together in a leg circuit, completing a set of one exercise before quickly moving to the next exercise.  After completing all 6 exercises I start the next round.  This is a real killer and I usually only get to 3 or 4 sets.

I am convinced if you incorporate exercises such as these into your program on a regular basis (I’d suggest at least once/week) you’ll feel a whole lot stronger on your board as well as more stable.  I guarantee you’ll feel better at the end of races, and the extra life you have in your legs in late stages of races as a result of this training will allow you to paddle a whole lot more effectively where your technique usually breaks down.