Is Paddle Boarding Actually Good For You?

1
IS PADDLE BOARDING ACTUALLY GOOD FOR YOU?
http//pumppaddleboards.com
2

Isnt it obvious?

• Everyone keeps saying Stand Up Paddle Boarding
  (SUP) is great for the body. But is it?

3
Commonly held truths about SUP benefits

• Improves balance
• The continuous need to rebalance whilst
  motionless and paddling, combined with the
  neutral power stance, forces the SUP paddler to
  utilise muscles for posture.
• Builds core strength
• Core trunk muscles are required to be used when
  paddling in the standing position.

4

• Upper body strength
• Propulsion of the SUP relies on using muscles of
  the upper body and paddling on alternate sides of
  the SUP prevents any muscle imbalances from
  unilateral paddling. The standing position
  decreases pressure on the spine that can be
  associated with rotational movements.
• Back pain
• Multi-muscle exercises have been proven to be
  more effective than isolated muscle training for
  strengthening back (paraspinal) muscles. And
  exercises performed in a neutral spine position
  lead to better outcomes. Both these points
  potentially indicate that SUP can be an effective
  rehabilitation exercise for certain types of back
  pain.

5

• Low impact
• No repetitive impact on the joints makes it low
  impact and SUP may actually be significantly less
  dangerous than surfing.Whilst similar to
  surfing, SUP is unique in that the paddler is
  already standing, thereby avoiding the pop-up
  stage that can induce stress on the back. The
  lower back and neck are the most common reported
  injuries from surfing.
• Rehabilitation
• Unstable surface training program might be an
  ideal initial exercise to prevent the loss and
  force often associated with injury.

6
BUT, these are just assumptions that should be
tested

• Bare foot benefits
• SUP activity requires foot muscles to be highly
  active, thereby increasing foot musculature and
  providing a stable base for the activity. Various
  inputs on the sole of the feet are also thought
  to affect postural awareness.

7
After searching far and wide, we found
?

• Little scientific research on SUP health benefits
• Available research is thin
• No scientific basis to conclude paddle boarding
  is actually good for you.

8
UNTIL

• We came across a doctoral thesis from PHD
  student, Ben Schram

9
Study methodology

• The thesis ran controlled tests across the
  following 3 groups
• Elite competitive SUP racers
• Currently participating in competitions
• Recreational SUP
• Minimum 1 year experience in SUP and no
  competitive experience
• Sedentary
• No SUP experience and no exercise for past 6
  months

10
Weve summarized what we think are the most
interesting findings to finally answer
11

RESULTS

• The results in table form. An explanation on key
  components is found later.

12
Aerobic Performance
13
Anaerobic Performance
14
Question 1.
Does SUP improve fitness?
15
Answer
Does SUP improve fitness?

• SUP participants have a high level of aerobic and
  anaerobic fitness.

16
SUP Maximum Aerobic Power

• One of the most fundamental ways to measure
  exercise physiology is through maximal oxygen
  uptake (VO2max).
• Notice the increase in VO2max from the sedentary
  group compared to the recreational group, and the
  increase again to the elite group. This suggests
  that VO2max increases with SUP activity. So, the
  more you SUP, the higher your aerobic capacity
  becomes.

17
How does SUP compare with other water sports

• The VO2max results obtained from the elite group
  can be used as both an aspirational qualities for
  those of us considering SUP competition, and to
  compare against the performance of other similar
  water sports. The results were comparable with
  other water sports that are also upper limb
  dominant.

18
Stroke Length

• The relationship between stroke length, distance
  covered and peak speed was interesting as the
  sedentary group had the longest stroke (2.34m),
  but covered the least distance and had the
  slowest peak speed. The elite group had the
  shortest stroke length (2.19m), covered the most
  distance and obtained the highest peak speed. The
  take away, dont look to increase your stroke
  length if you are looking for speed gains.

19
Question 2.
Does SUP improve balance?
20
Answer

• The more you SUP, the greater your balance
  appears to improve.

21
Balance tests

• The 3 groups also participated in tests designed
  to measure stability through a series of 6
  postures by placing 3 sensors on the foot and
  measuring movement.
• The tests were conducted with both eyes closed
  (EC) eyes open (EO).
• The results of these tests follow (the less
  movement, the more stable).

22
Balance test 1 - Square
23
Balance test 2 - Velocity of Sway
24
Balance tests - Conclusion

• In both of these tests, the elite group had
  significantly better balance than the sedentary
  group.

25
Question 3.
Does SUP improve core strength?
26
Answer
ss?

• There is a high level of core muscle endurance
  amongst those who participate in SUP.

27
Core strength tests

• Core strength was measured through endurance
  tests where the participants of each group were
  timed how long they could hold the four positions.

28
Core strength results
29
Core strength tests - conclusion

• The relationship of increased SUP activity and on
  core strength can quite easily be seen across all
  four tests.
• The message here is clear more SUP activity
  results in better core strength.

30
Question 4.
Does SUP make you happier?
31
Answer
ss?

• Quality of life measures improved significantly
  across physical and psychological health.

32
Quality of life tests

• This section proved to be a very interesting part
  of the thesis.
• A series of different tests were performed on one
  group of participants that had not participated
  in physical activity for the past 6 months.
• The group trained on SUPs for three, one-hour
  sessions each week for 6 weeks, with a range of
  measurements taken before and after the
  intervention or testing period.
• The following graph shows self reported data
  across a range of quality of life measures.

33
Qualify of life results
34
Qualify of life - conclusion

• Yes, physical health increased by 19, but
  psychological health also increased by 17.5. So
  it appears as though paddle boarding does
  actually make you happier.The factors the
  participants included in the psychological
  evaluation were

• Bodily image and appearance
• Negative feelings
• Positive feelings
• Self-esteem
• Spirituality/Religion/Personal beliefs
• Thinking, learning, memory and concentration

35
Question 5.
Can SUP beginners reap benefits?
36
Answer
ss?

• SUP can increase the fitness and strength of
  previously untrained individuals.

37
Beginner friendly tests

• The intervention tests after the 6 weeks showed
  improvement across all areas, including aerobic,
  anaerobic and core strength.
• These tests are shown on following slides.

38
Beginner test 1 - VO2 Max
39
Beginner test 2 - Anaerobic fitness
40
Beginner test 3 - Core strength
41
Beginner friendly tests - conclusions

• VO2 Max
• Significant increase in aerobic capacity after
  the 6 week training intervention. Sure, there is
  still a gap until the capacity of the
  recreational SUP participants is reached, but the
  improvements after just 6 weeks are still
  impressive.
• Anaerobic fitness
• The increase in anaerobic fitness after the
  intervention is very impressive, reaching levels
  similar to that of the recreational SUP
  participant.

42

• Core strength
• This graph shows results from one of four
  different endurance tests to measure core
  strength. The intervention group showed
  significant improvement, but it does appear as
  though more than 6 weeks training will be
  required to obtain similar core strength to
  recreational paddlers. The substantial gains
  across fitness and core strength after just 6
  weeks is great news for SUP beginners that are
  looking at getting into a sport that can show
  results quickly. If this is you, you might also
  want to check out our SUP Beginners Guide.

43
The end

• This is the first study of its kind that we can
  point to and clearly answer some of the unknowns
  around a sport that, to many of us, make
  intuitive sense.
• I hope this study paves the way for some larger
  studies to be completed, particularly around the
  long-term effects of SUP on fitness and mental
  wellbeing.
• For more paddle boarding information, check us
  out at http//pumppaddleboards.com