When your (my) abs go.

This may only be a problem for old dogs like me but I had a serious wake-up call paddling on Maui the day before yesterday getting way over my head in 3 1/2 foot violent washing machine chop with a strong off-shore wind, no leash and no PFD. I hope I'm never that stupid again. The wind was so strong that I could not, no matter how hard I tried, point my ski into the wind to head back to shore. I had to paddle out to sea with the wind at my rear quarter and slowly move the bow in the direction of land as the wind subsided. The nearly life threatening issue was, however, that due to the battle I was having with the wind and the violent chop my rectus abdominus muscle got TOTALLY wasted and became useless. I couldn't sit up in the ski. My upper body would just flop back against the back of the cockpit(V10 New Gen). That spells disaster because your stability and forward stroke go to hell when you lose control of your abs. It reminded me of how you feel when your quads go South on you when you've made a few too many snow skiing runs in powder if you haven't yet gotten your ski legs back for that season. I'm in pretty darn good shape for an old guy and have strengthened my core muscles a lot since I started paddling but now I must start an abs strengthening program.
I need to protect my injury prone lower back so sit-ups are out.
What do you recommend?

Oh 1xsculler, please don't go out in those conditions without safety gear.....where were you on Maui, guess Kihei/Makena if it was offshore. Had a bit of a scare a couple of years ago on a Maliko run in quite big conditions and I've treated it with much more respect ever since. Found that Maui can lull you into this false sense of security then bite hard! Doesn't help that so many of the locals paddle OC1's and Sup's and ski's without pfd's so it all seems quite reasonable.

I've been doing yoga for a few years and find that with the right teacher there are excellent "back safe" abs exercises incorporated in the practice, if you have lower back issues probably best to have some one on one lessons to make sure you really get techniques sorted to protect your back. I did Pilates for a number of years but actually found that ultimately it wasn't helping my lower back issues, quite the opposite with yoga. There is an excellent school in Paia, on Hana Hwy, Ocean side on the corner of Homelani Place. For me yoga has been a life changer in terms of flexibility and strength.

1xsculler wrote: a strong off-shore wind, no leash and no PFD.

First, let me say I also occasionally do "less than wise" things, so, no bad-mouthing intended. Certainly my "best lessons" have been learned the hard way through mistakes.

But heading out into the ocean with a strong offshore wind and no support team nearby is starting the game with mother-nature about 30 points ahead. You are looking for trouble. Don't taunt her, she gets ornery when challenged.

Before I go into the ocean, which is almost every day I paddle, I carefully look at the forecast tools available, that, while not perfect, often will give a a close indication of the time the wind will "flip" direction, so as not to get get caught as you did. If the wind will only be in the "wrong" direction all day, then I paddle the more protected bay, or, in your case, maybe you should head to another side of the island to go out.

Regardless of your physical condition, as we have all read in many other posts in this forum, equipment can and does fail. While I and likely most others agree to some increase risk with this sport, try to give yourself the edge at the start. Good luck.

Bill

You could try a Swiss (or Yoga) exercise ball. Get a 75cm diameter one. Pump it hard and sit on it while you watch TV or read a book, trying to keep your feet off the floor. I'm also getting on (not as old as you yet), but after 15 min I'm sweating and after 45 min my abs start to ache. Its good for your balance and strengthens your core and is a fairly gentle form of training.

Firstly, your abs appear much stronger than your head! Nuff of that.

Secondly, ability to turn upwind is the major absolute limiter to what conditions I will go out in. That's why I now have boats with less bow windage. And I nearly never start an out and back with the downwind leg.

Thirdly, Pilates has an exercise called the Hundred, in which you lift just your head and shoulders off the ground, then hold your straight legs off the ground for a count of one hundred. Before doing this you try to fix the small of your back so it is not quite flat to the floor but less arched than normal. That's just the basic exercise. You need to do the variations, because you don't just use your abs in paddling, you need the lateral abdominals too. The variations involve twisting your torso and/or your legs. Look it up on youtube.

JonathanC I had increasing back issues for a decade which I pretty much fixed with Pilates. But I did do it 3 times a week and always as hard as I could manage.

A lot of times when someones core muscles become completely fatigued the cause is not inadequate strength but inadequate balance. Fighting for balance makes the core work overtime. I suspect the violent chop was challenging your balance and thus your core cramped. The solution is to improve balance rather than just doing more sit ups.

Hi Marieski, I think Pilates seems to suit some people more than other, not sure why. I swapped to a thing called Gyrotonics which was largely developed for rehab of ballet dancers, most ballet schools in the world have the equipment. The more dynamic flowing movements of Gyrotonics re Pilates seems to suit my body and the very dynamic nature of the sports I love. Been doing it consistently for almost 10 years.
Hundreds are a great exercise but I think rather than learn them from YouTube it makes sense to have someone experienced run you through them to start, that deep abdominal muscle engagement to protect your lower back isn't always intuitive. That's one of the great things about Pilates, exercise allowing the isolation of muscle groups to really teach you how to engage them, that sense of lifting your shoulders by actually engaging your core and dropping your ribs rather than holding up your shoulders is the key to the benefit of hundreds IMO. Until you really get that sense of deep engagement and stability, the variations may be too much. Agree totally that they are a fantastic paddling exercise though.

Thank you to all who replied.
No question about it balance and core, especially Ab, strength go hand in hand.
I'm going to try my own approach to address the problem very specifically, i.e. I'm tying a line to the stern of my ski and to that line I'll attach fairly stout elastic exercise tubing which I will place across my forehead or upper chest. I will adjust it so it will put tension on my upper body when I sit in my ski in my boathouse, which will be well supported on slings. I will then do 100, or so, repetitions starting with my back against the cockpit and then lean forward to just past straight upright position. I believe I will be able to turn my abs to toast and will strenghten them and provide the endurance I now lack.

Hi guys I am new here, and now I want to be part of your discussion. Shall I?