I decided to post this from our other site - SUPtrainer since it is actually SO relevant to what we do – enjoy!

Last week I received a phone call from Russ who lives about 10 minutes from me on Lake Sherwood.  Russ bought a couple of training sessions at a fundraiser for the Boys and Girls’ Club of Conejo/ Las Virgenes.  We set up an appointment and I quickly learned that he was in to kayaking on the lake.  Since he was eager to strengthen his core to improve his back issues, and lives directly on a beautiful lake, the logical transition was to get him on a stand up paddle board.   So, my paddle bro Chris drove from Malibu out to Lake Sherwood and met us out on the lake for an early morning paddle. 

It was a chilly morning, down in the lower 40’s, and it took some time before we could feel out.  After about 40 minutes it warmed up and was quite enjoyable.   We explored all the little nooks and crannies of the lake, and saw where they were currently developing new lots along the coastline. 

Russ is interested in strengthening his core, and it was AMAZING how doing stand up paddle on a lake was a strong assessment tool for me as a trainer.  He mentioned that the board would paddle straight when he had his paddle on the left side of the board, yet the board really moved left when his paddle was on the right side.  I spent a few moments observing his posture, paddle stroke, and assessed him from a few different angles – side, back, and front.  Long story short, he was so heavily favoring his strong leg (left), which caused his board to naturally lean on the left rail, constantly directing the board to the left even when paddling on the left side which should take him to the right. 

I am going to see Russ tomorrow where I will put him through a training regimen to help his muscle imbalances, improve his posture, strengthen his core, and improve his balance, all of which I presume will help decrease his low back pain.  With consistent work he will be able to drastically improve his situation and have lots of fun at the same time.  My plan is to make him work his legs independently of each other by doing one legged exercises on the Indo Board with the flow cushion, TRX exercises to strengthen his core and improve posture, and hopefully we can get him using the ball as his office chair while at work.  This is just a start, and I know that if Russ does these exercises, paddles on a regular basis, and continues to do his fantastic stretching routine which he has been doing religiously for quite a while, he will feel much better and be doing just about all he can do to keep moving forward in his health and fitness.