Training - How not to get injured

Now lets just preface this blog with the fact that this is general advice only and if you want to really make sure you are training safely you should enlist a coach to personalise what you are doing.

There's a pretty high chance that if you yourself haven't been injured from paddling/training, then you will know someone who has. Unfortunately paddling related injuries are relatively common, especially for what is meant to be a low impact sport.

So why so many injuries.

The easy answer is always "technique" or more specifically "bad technique" but obviously this is a pretty surface level diagnosis and definitely doesn't help the injured paddler make any changes. So what is it about "bad technique" that causes so may injuries, and, given that good technique is so hard, what else can we do to not get injured.

In my opinion there are two major paddling injuries that I see and hear about the most.

1. Sore lower back

2. Sore shoulders/rotator cuff

For both of these the initial diagnosis of "bad technique" is almost always the culprit and I've actually written about the common lower back pain reasons here if you want to read more about it. For the sore shoulders it's often bad technique coupled with a few other factors:

a) Too much volume/intensity

b) Poorly suited equipment.

The quick version of the technique side of things is that your shoulder is meant to move much less than most paddlers move it. The small muscles surrounding your shoulder are in general pretty weak and although they are good at holding your shoulder still by working together they are pretty useless at constantly pulling your should back into it's socket every stroke.

In paddling terms "stop over reaching". If your shoulders are moving independently from your body you are going to be in for a bad time.

On top of this we can add volume - the amount of training eg kms, and intensity - how hard you are doing those kms.

Too many kms at too high an intensity with poor technique is going to get you injured.

The last part I wanted to touch on is equipment and the quickest way to get my point across is to say, if you're not an elite paddler it doesn't make sense to be using the same equipment.

It stands to reason that an elite paddler should be able to "turn a bigger gear" than your intermediate. So if you are using a paddle the same size as a world champion you may be setting yourself up for failure.

Couple this with the fact you are likely paddling a heavier, wider boat (higher resistance).

In short I see too many paddlers using a big paddle with a wide ski and poor technique.

So how not to get injured.

1. Work on your technique. Kind of a no brainer but you should probably see someone who can help you learn. Nobody good got there alone so you will definitely need some coaching too

2. Use equipment relative to your fitness and ability level. If you are only paddling a couple of times a week in a stable ski you shouldn't be using a big,

   long aggressive blade

3. Manage your work load. Volume, intensity, recovery. They're all important and have to be relative to you and your fitness and ability. I would strongly recommend getting someone to program your sessions but if in doubt start lower and build slower than you think.

Again this is just speaking in general terms and a good coach should be able to help you with all of the above but remember it's not an all inclusive list and you probably are only paddling for a few hours a week and living your life for the other 160ish. What you do in your day to day life has an impact and you may need to look outside the actual training hours to fix what is causing your troubles.

Nobody likes getting injured but we tend not to think about it until we are, so make the changes before you get there and don't wait until you are made to