Stand up paddling is no doubt taking the world by storm, and while you don’t need to be in the greatest shape to paddle, you’ll soon discover the benefits. As you begin to improve your technique, experiment with new gear and maybe decide to enter a race or wave competition, it’s a good idea to learn how to train in a balanced way to prevent injury so that you can enjoy paddling even more and stay on the water.
As the sport continues to evolve, and as a trainer who specializes in educating people how to paddle stronger and better improve their performance, I’d like to share with you first an overview of some of the known complaints and injuries that I’m seeing and helping people manage. I’ll also share with you many training strategies designed to help you better approach your SUP training in a balanced manor as a way to avoid injuries.
This article is part one of a two-part series that will illustrate a more in-depth review of the anatomy and how your muscles function while you paddle and how injuries might occur. Part two will be the actual exercises and training approach I recommend to help recover from some of these injuries and/or avoid them.
I’ve also gathered some helpful insight from one of our Naish Team Riders, Karen Wrenn, on how she trains to help her better perform. In addition, I’ll be highlighting another paddler, Kevin Vangritis from North Carolina and new racing competitor and long distance paddler, with his personal story and struggle with a unique injury and how he’s managed to come back on the water.
Common SUP Injuries
Overuse injuries and strains from SUP are common and include mostly the muscles of the shoulder and/or rotator cuff muscles, the knee joint, foot and ankle and low back. It’s good to have a knowledge base of the anatomy and function of each group so you can better adapt your SUP training to avoid these injuries. There may be more to mention, but in my practice and I too have experienced things such as a nagging bicep tendonitis issue in my right arm and on occasion after long distances over 20 miles, my traps (trapezius) have cramped a bit and my feet have fallen asleep.
Injuries that are more common where there are waves are fin lacerations to the extremities and face, paddle handles giving bloody noses (mine), and leash wrap-arounds I call them, that can cause sprains to fingers and other body parts from wrapping around you after a heavy wave wipe out. Also, as these boards are much heavier than surfboards for example, if you get hit in the head you could suffer a good blow or even a concussion. In addition, some super heavy hold downs at some of the bigger breaks can wreck havoc on your back and lower extremities.
Shoulder and Rotator Cuff Injuries:
Stand up paddling works a lot of muscles and is well known for being a great core workout. It also requires a lot of work from the stabilizers of the shoulder girdle. The paddle stroke is a combination of medial rotation and abduction (of the top hand). The deeper rotator cuff muscles included are the supraspinatus, subscapularis, infraspinatus and the teres minor. This requires the work of the subscapularis, latissimus dorsi, pec. minor, pec. major, and teres major along with deltoid and supraspinatus to lift the arm up. The bottom hand is mostly stabilizing to transfer the rotation of the trunk to the paddle the muscles used to stabilize are mainly latissimus dorsi rhomboids, triceps, and middle fibers of the traps.
One client complaint was that of a burning sensation radiating from his elbow up to his shoulder and down to his hand, and another, with numbness radiating down from his shoulder through his pinky finger. These can be common nerve entrapment injuries with chronic tension and overuse of certain muscle groups.
Rhomboid & Trapeziums Strains:
The rhomboid muscles interact with and help support the shoulder blade. Your trapezius (also referred to as your “traps”) are the connective muscles from the neck to the head of the humerus or top of the shoulder, and are responsible for stabilizing your neck and shoulder while you paddle. These muscles require a great deal of endurance. This is also where we tend to hold our stress and the area that can fatigue and cramp up on long distance races. I often hear of muscle fatigue and recently of a tear of the rhomboid as described by Kevin Vangritis. Read more of his experience and how he recovered:
Kevin Vangritis is a friend of mine from North Carolina and is just getting into SUP racing. Over the summer, Kevin was training for a big 50+mile-long distance SUP crossing in Chicago (with Windy City Waterman and Matt Lennert). Prior to the race, he was helping a friend with an exercise and felt a pop near his right scapulae or shoulder blade. At the time, he thought that to simply take an anti-inflammatory and ice should do the trick.
I should note that Kevin is in amazing shape and has a very consistent, well planned and executed training and paddling routine, so this was a bit of a surprise. Kevin is also well versed in the field of sports orthopedics as he assists surgeons and medical teams and knows the anatomy which is also helpful when recovering from an injury.
He writes, “Over the next couple of days, I began to develop a large knot in my trap as well as radicular pain down my right arm into my hand, which was my major concern. This is a classic sign of a herniated cervical disc. The knot began to limit mobility in my neck. Our endurance paddle of crossing Lake Michigan was fast approaching, and I had to come up with a plan to get better. Continue reading Balanced SUP Training to Help Prevent Injury Part One by Suzie Cooney for Naish
TweetTaken from the Maui Breakfast Club August 9th, 2011: Suzie Cooney of Suzie Trains Maui, Health & Fitness Segment every Tuesday morning at 7:38 am on KNUI 900 AM. Listen here: Radio Segment
Throw away the diet books, thigh blaster or ab roller and if you live near any body of water, hop aboard and paddle to shed unwanted pounds now!
It sounds like an infomercial but I’m really serious. I’ve been helping people shed unwanted weight here on Maui and spreading the word for some time now, on how thousands of people are, as I wrote this article for ATHLETA; are literally “Sweeping Their Way to Health”. It’s really true. I’m hearing from so many people, besides seeing my clients and others around the world completely transform their bodies; paddling away the fat.
I wanted to share with you a couple nice entries of the many of received on how SUP has literally shaped their lives and bodies. It’s so inspiring and I hope they inspires you or someone you know who would like to enjoy losing unwanted weight. It is possible and it’s fun!
Here, my dear friend and avid paddler Lucija Kordic, from Alameda, California, braves the chilly waters of the Bay Area and shares, ” My pants fit much differently now and I fit into some of my set-aside size 6 pants. SUP and intervals on the treadmill both make a difference!” Lucija is now training with me with her new SUP Endurance Program designed to help her improve her paddling strength and endurance for long distance racing. Go Lucy go! See you on Maui soon!
If you live in the Bay Area and want to get to know some paddle buddies, Lucija organizes casual paddling groups and is the ultimate host. This I’ve experienced myself. You can hook up with her group at: http://Meet.Up.com/East-Bay-SUP
I’ve received so many emails on how stand up paddling, also known as “SUP” is changing people’s lives and it just so happens that one of the keen health benefits is amazing weight loss. I’m not just talking loss of pounds, but more like shedding their old ways.
I’ve always encouraged my clients and everyone to find a sport, especially SUP, to enhance their current training as a cross training tool. What happens more times than not, is it becomes an obsession! Wow. Besides having to throw away hard earned money on marriage counselors, maybe a new pair of $80 Spanx, the moderate investment of one or two boards, paddles, leashes and some sunscreen can also result in relationship bonding. SUP is so easy, couples are losing weight together AND getting quality time paddling off into the sunset.
I’ve always found that most of my clients and people who write me, have had the light turn on in their lives with SUP. They have found their calling and are so taken with the sport, it consumes every waking hour. Now they have racks on their cars, very cool, hang out at the local SUP shop and talk “board talk” or what event they may register in, or simply enjoy the “healthy” camaraderie that develops along with wonderful new friendships.
This sport is very contagious and what comes along with is the healthy lifestyle. What a great bonus. As one develops their love for SUP, unknowingly, because your total body is getting a continuous workout; one can easily start to notice remarkable changes in their body. What is commonly noticed first, is one’s core strength. I’ve written so many articles about the power of the core for SUP, and how to train your core to get stronger to paddle stronger, it’s truly the first thing that people always say, “Wow it really works my core.”
In Redding, way North of my hometown, Sacramento, California lives Matt Ivey, very new to SUP and boy does he have the stoke and has he
Matt Ivey Looking Great!
gotten in great shape! He says he was his wife’s ginny pig and suggested he do SUP with her while she was pregnant and suggested that he join her too. Read the rest to see how he lost 10 lbs and also learn how SUP helped him manage some pretty serious injuries he had. He’s got big plans to grow SUP in his life and business.
Matt writes:
Suzie,
I just got into SUP about a month ago and I am totally hooked. I have lost about 10 lbs and my core/lower back are feeling the increase in strength. I love is so much my wife and I are adding SUP rentals, ecotours, lessons, and fitness/yoga classes. My wife is 20 weeks pregnant and she is a manager of a gymnastics gym. She has been using the SUP to stay in shape while she is pregnant and has been working on a fitness program. So that means I have been her ginny pig when it comes to testing her exercises on someone. I also like my alone time so every other day I have been paddling upstream on a local river for a hour.
I come from a background of playing sports and lifting heavy weights. Over the past 6 years I have broken and dislocated my left ankle, separated my right shoulder, tore one of the heads of my left bicep, broke my right thumb, and sprained my right mcl. I also have several degenerative disks in my back so needless to say I can no longer play the sports I once loved.
But what that also meant is that I could no longer lift weights in the gym. This lead to me becoming frustrated and out of shape. After relocating to a new town and stumbling on SUP (we had seen it on Maui 3 years ago but were more concerned with surfing) I was instantly hooked.
In fact I even had my wife take a before photo so I have something I can compare it to after I feel like I have reached my goal. I have also been incorporating a slackline into my balance and core training. Between the SUP and Slackline I feel like I have found a great routine that works for me.
I could chat all day about SUP and what it has done for me mentally and physically. Both my wife and I have out degrees in Recreation Administration and Business so we are looking forward to putting our education and experience to use helping others share the passion we have for SUP. We have been following you and all that you have done for the SUP industry. Thanks for all of the inspiration and knowledge you share so well.
Matt Ivey
Adventure Recreation LLC
530-255-4505 Business
707-321-7224 Cell
adventurerecreation.co ( this is not a typo )
Thanks so much Lucija and Matt, and to the many others that wrote me and shared their SUP weight loss stories. As SUP grows so does the opportunity for more people to get fit and healthy. I really encourage those new to the sport to take the opportunity and feel and experience what all the buzz is about. As I always say, SUP will change your life.
To see all of my articles about how to get stronger for the sport of SUP, go to:
I ride Naish boards. The line up for 2012 is unreal! We’ll have up to 31 boards like last year and the lines, designs and graphics are killer. I’m so stoked for the winter, monster swells and for some exciting Maliko runs. Check out the current line up here:
Saturday April 30th, 2011, Maui’s beautiful N. Shore attracted 72 paddlers of all ages and levels of experience for our second three mile Ohana OluKai Practice Fun Paddle! With only two weeks away from the Third Annual OluKai Ho’olaule’a, we welcomed SUP paddlers, prone paddlers and Heather our OC1 paddler; joined us from Paia Bay to the lifeguard tower at Kanaha Beach Park, in preparation for the New Ohana Fun Paddle @ 9AM, May 14th, 2011.
This paddle was our second practice paddle since our first April 2nd, 2011 was such a huge success. Click here to see the video. We wanted to share again and encourage families, new paddlers and those who’ve never done a down winder, to come and build their confidence.
Peter Swanzy and Julianna Prater from Paia Youth and Cultural Center had five youth from 13 to 14 years old join in the practice paddle. The youth have been training with Pete and Julianna over the last month and their training paid off as this was the first time that these youth had paddled this 3 mile distance. A huge sense of accomplishment and pride way to go! We also had paddlers from Sweden, Nevada and England participate.
For some, this was the first or second time ever experiencing a coast run. After everyone signed in, had a little morning coffee and juice, we all gathered as Matthew Murasko, OluKai Hawaii Ambassador, announced our 3 mile course.
Then the ice chest was turned over to me, and I stood up and asked everyone to join me in some warm up exercises and jumping jacks to shake off any pre-paddle jitters or butterflies!
The conditions were perfect and inviting. The trades were light at about 10 knots that provided for some fun glides.
The first group of paddlers arrived to Kanaha in 30 minutes and the last group arrived in 60 minutes. Upon completion paddlers were treated to water, juice, granola bars and Whoopie Pies, a chocolate cake-vanilla ice cream confection handmade by my boyfriend Tommy Callan.
Mahalo to the Maui lifeguards ( Tony Colletta ) from Baldwin Tower and Kanaha Tower for PWC saftey…and special mahalo also to Milton Martinson of Haiku for PWC water safety as well as SUP water safety guards, Chris Pagdilao, John Smalley, Joshua Kjorven, Randy Royse. Also lending a hand and expertise, Deb Driscoll and Blair Thorndike.
We’d also like to thank the crews at the Naish Maui Pro Center and Second Wind for providing a few extra boards for the kids from the youth center.
I know this paddle provided many an amazing, life-changing ocean experience. I was touched to see everyone supporting one another out there and on the beach. For others it was a chance to encourage their loved ones and friends to go to the next level. Well done.
Strong SUP Legs for Flat Water, Waves and Gliding Power Part II: Strength
Suzie Cooney for Naish
Strength Exercises for your Legs
by Suzie Cooney, CPT of Suzie Trains Maui and Naish Team SUP Rider.
Last week we focused on recruiting the finite muscles around your feet, ankles, knees, inner thighs and hips to promote quicker reaction times and improve your stability and balance. This week, I’ll be walking you through exercises to improve your leg strength, endurance and power.Remember when you were first learning to stand up paddle? You may have felt like your legs were like jello and your feet and arches may have burned a little too while you were death-gripping the deck and trying to put it all together. That too shall pass as you develop and strengthen the muscles of your legs and simply spend more time on the water!
Training Note:It’s your choice if you wear shoes or not, or if you train on an unstable surface such as the beach (which is more challenging). I try to train barefoot so that I can mimic the feel of the board. If working with weights, be careful not to drop them on your feet! Everyone’s training needs and experience will vary, so the number of sets/reps you perform is up to you. Typically, if you are just starting out, try 1-3 sets with 10-12 reps each, making sure you are always in perfect form.
This Week: Strength Exercises
Your glutes (larger butt muscles) and quads (front thigh muscles) are the very large muscles of the legs and offer tremendous power as you shift your body and change position on your board. If you want to kick some butt on the water…do lunges! Lots!
Again, I like to challenge myself when I’m at the beach, so I go shoes off. If you do train at the beach and are used to wearing shoes, you will really notice all the muscles in your feet working hard to stabilize you as you enter the exercise and as you push off. You can do these lunges with the same leg or alternate legs.
Exercise: Simple Lunges
Equipment: weights (optional)
Progression Variables: Weights at side or on top of shoulders
Whether you’re new to the sport of stand up paddling or preparing for an exciting Maui Maliko downwinder, having upper body paddling endurance and excellent balance will get you through the deepest troughs, maybe help you pass a competitor or help you enter bigger waves and swells with extra confidence and success!I like to be as efficient as possible when training, so combining the two is perfect.The following exercise is just a sample of what you can do to get stronger, develop faster reflexes, increase the rapid firing of your finite muscles that stabilizes your larger muscles, improve your timed runs and possibly reduce fatigue and/or risk of overuse injuries.It’s well known that SUP requires the entire body to perform and respond in unison. You’re never isolating one muscle group at any given moment.As you paddle, your entire shoulder complex, upper/lower back, feet, ankles, knees, hips and core (everything excluding your extremities) are executing each short or long stroke in a smooth, connected motion. Conditions can and do change, so adding some balance work is also a huge plus. I totally can tell that when I balance train, my reactions are sharp and quick.Based on your current level of fitness, ease into some of these more advanced moves and change the variables accordingly. You can simply start with your own paddle or select one of the suggested weights. I usually start light and advance to heavy, to fatigue.
The Exercise: Balance/Weighted Paddle Stroke Repeats:
Equipment: A weight: 4-10 lb medicine ball, 9-12 lb body bar or regular dumbbell
A balance platform: a small 12” inflatable disc or BOSU, INDO Board 24” Gigante inflatable disc, INDO Board or your own SUP Caution: if using an SUP board on a Gigante, you may want to remove the fins.
March 26th, 2011 MAUI! STAND UP for Health & Fitness with Suzie Cooneyof Suzie Trains Maui. F R E E! Guys and gals, train on the beach with me, then we hit the water for some SUP water training, strength training, relay fun, and fine tune your paddling techniques. CLINIC IS NOW FULL! If you are still interested, we are taking information should there be a cancellation.
All levels of fitness and paddling welcome! Meet new paddling friends.
Learn to paddle efficiently, gain better control of your board and glide more smoothly. Enjoy the healthy benefits SUP has to offer and learn from a professional. Learn a few training tips to help build better body and paddling endurance. Check out this SUP exercise tip written exclusively for Naish International: http://www.naishsurfing.com/sup-fitness/
Space is limited! To reserve your space and inquire: suzie@suzietrainsmaui.com or call 808-283-2121. You must provide your own board or you can rent from the Maui Naish Pro Center 808-871-1500. This class is for beginners and intermediate paddlers and is 1.5 hours.
Suzie Cooney is a world renowned SUP instructor and ambassador of the sport of stand up paddling. Her SUP clinics are a day or a week long adventure. As a sponsored Team SUP Rider for Naish International and elite fitness specialist, Suzie has taught hundreds of men and women this fastest growing sport in the world. Her SUP Health & Fitness clinics welcomes all ages and all levels of fitness; are informative and sure to spread the stoke of SUP!
She is available to conduct private or group clinics, host events or customize a week long adventure at your resort. She is also supported by Olukai Premium Footwear, Kaenon Polarized Eyewear and Elite Athlete for The True-Collection Team, owner of Suzie Trains Maui More info: http://www.standuppaddlingfitness.com OR http://www.suzietrainsmaui.com
Call Coach to reserve your board!
To inquire more about hiring Suzie for your event, resort or private lodge e: info@suzietrainsmaui.com
Come one come all for this fun, casual, social paddle on Maui! Canoe or SUP under the full moon, meet new friends and enjoy a new experience. Very casual and we meet at sunset. Look for the two tiki torches.
It was an amazing day and terrific finish! Before the race however, rain squalls passed through that threatened us, as we stood under the Naish tents. We had a staged start inside the gulch this time and it was a little hectic on the holdling line! Next to me, good friends, and people from around the globe attended including paddle board champion Jamie Mitchell. Our local favorites, Dave Kalama, Scott Trudon, Connor Baxter, Buzzy Kerbox, Andrea Moeller, Karen Wrenn, Julia Schweiger, and many other outstanding athletes and friends, too many to mention, and some novice caught lots of glides and the wind finally came up nicely averaging about 20 mph. (results below, after photos)
Dave Kalama & Scott Trudon
Race Start: Maliko Gulch to Kahului Harbor: 9.54 Miles
From the Maui News: Eight-time defending world paddleboarding champion Jamie Mitchell competes in Sunday’s Naish Maui International. Mitchell was the top paddleboard finisher, covering the 9.54 miles from Maliko Gulch to Kahului Harbor in 1 hour, 17 minutes, 16 seconds. The top female paddleboarder was Becci Gardiner in 1:50:41. SECOND PHOTO: Dave Kalama heads to his third stand-up title in the Maui International – he finished in 1:13:48. Andrea Moeller was the fastest female stand-up competitor, in 1:22:11.
It’s no wonder people love the Naish 14 foot Glide. It’s width of 27 1/4″ and thickest point of 5 3/4″ and the nice hard rails and squared off tail, allows one to glide and connect swell after swell, especially on a good day with 30 mph winds at your back! Or even if your just cruising the lakes for a tour, the board is steady and has the nicest sweet spot. Dropping into Camp One, the swells actually had some size. I loved how the board handled a decent size drop and held good top speed without hesitation or drag.
Here’s a couple shots Maui photographer, Simone Reddingius snapped as we passed Hookipa, on Maui’s N. shore. The conditions were perfect, with a NE direction of winds averaging 20-25, and occasional gusts to 30!
The new bamboo composite carbon paddle was incredibly comfortable and the blade width, perfect. The smaller diameter, matte carbon finished shaft and friendly handle is a good combo. It was stable, allowed for a quick paddle entry and exit.
If you want to test-ride the Naish Glide or any other board, contact the Naish Maui Pro Center in Kahului:
Naish has recently signed team rider Suzie Cooney, Maui’s most recognized personal trainer. Suzie uses SUP as a training tool and a way to inspire people toward a healthy lifestyle. She has sponsors and supporters such as ATHLETA, Kaenon Polarizedand, OluKai Premium Footwear, and the American Heart Association. Check out Suzie’s website and blog and watch for upcoming clinics, coupons and physical fitness tips. Welcome aboard, Suzie!
Stand up paddling is no doubt taking the world by storm, and while you don’t need to be in the greatest shape to paddle, you’ll soon discover the benefits. As you begin to improve your technique, experiment with new gear and maybe decide to enter a race or wave competition, it’s a good idea to learn how to train in a balanced way to prevent injury so that you can enjoy paddling even more and stay on the water.
Stand up paddling works a lot of muscles and is well known for being a great core workout. It also requires a lot of work from the stabilizers of the shoulder girdle. The paddle stroke is a combination of medial rotation and abduction (of the top hand). The deeper rotator cuff muscles included are the supraspinatus, subscapularis, infraspinatus and the teres minor. This requires the work of the subscapularis, latissimus dorsi, pec. minor, pec. major, and teres major along with deltoid and supraspinatus to lift the arm up. The bottom hand is mostly stabilizing to transfer the rotation of the trunk to the paddle the muscles used to stabilize are mainly latissimus dorsi rhomboids, triceps, and middle fibers of the traps.
The rhomboid muscles interact with and help support the shoulder blade. Your trapezius (also referred to as your “traps”) are the connective muscles from the neck to the head of the humerus or top of the shoulder, and are responsible for stabilizing your neck and shoulder while you paddle. These muscles require a great deal of endurance. This is also where we tend to hold our stress and the area that can fatigue and cramp up on long distance races. I often hear of muscle fatigue and recently of a tear of the rhomboid as described by Kevin Vangritis. Read more of his experience and how he recovered:
Join the Discussion: Leave a comment 
Category: Sports Medicine, SUP Enthusiasts | 
Tags: back, Kaenon Polarized, Maui, Maui personal trainer, Naish, Naish International, rotator cuff, shoulder injuries, Stand Up Paddle, Stand Up Paddling, Stand Up Paddling Fitness, SUP, SUP conditioning, SUP Core Training, SUP Fitness Training, SUP instruction, SUP Maui, Suzie Cooney, Suzie Trains Maui
Here, my dear friend and avid paddler Lucija Kordic, from Alameda, California, braves the chilly waters of the Bay Area and shares, ” My pants fit much differently now and I fit into some of my set-aside size 6 pants. SUP and intervals on the treadmill both make a difference!” Lucija is now training with me with her new SUP Endurance Program designed to help her improve her paddling strength and endurance for long distance racing. Go Lucy go! See you on Maui soon!
I could chat all day about SUP and what it has done for me mentally and physically. Both my wife and I have out degrees in Recreation Administration and Business so we are looking forward to putting our education and experience to use helping others share the passion we have for SUP. We have been following you and all that you have done for the SUP industry. Thanks for all of the inspiration and knowledge you share so well.
Suzie Cooney, CPT owner of 
I ride Naish boards. The line up for 2012 is unreal! We’ll have up to 31 boards like last year and the lines, designs and graphics are killer. I’m so stoked for the winter, monster swells and for some exciting Maliko runs. Check out the current line up here:
