How we came up with Indoor SUP

Introduction

Indoor SUP? Now you're probably wondering what this is. If I didn't know better, I probably would have thought this was just another unnecessary gadget from someone trying to capitalize on the SUP phenomenon.

So what does Indoor SUP actually mean? Isn't the whole idea of ​​SUP to be outdoors and experience water and nature? That the water is what makes SUP such a gentle and beneficial exercise.

Yes, that's absolutely true, but what we discovered after years of development and teaching is that through Indoor SUP we can actually achieve even better results and experiences from SUP. So how can a paddle shaft and some rubber bands achieve this?

Background

Let's start from the beginning. Around 2010, when I began my work trying to understand what happens to our bodies during SUP, we often used rubber bands to simulate resistance during various measurements.

Rubber bands worked to some extent, but eventually the work evolved into trying to find ways to study SUP in laboratory settings, and rubber bands were no longer sufficient.

Ergometers

Now the work shifted towards developing advanced ergometers for SUP. We needed to produce better instruments to study biomechanics and measure the forces and physiological effects generated by SUP.

We wanted to simulate the paddle movement as closely as possible to that on the water, including the balance factor, and after several years of work we succeeded.

These ergometers could measure, among other things, how much power and speed we could create using our legs when paddling on a paddleboard.

Innovation

The problem is that during this type of development, it is easy to make things too complicated, that is, the work becomes too advanced to be useful for most users. It is also quite easy to lose sight of the simple and obvious in what we are studying.

In many ways, we want to measure things that no one else has been able to do, which means that the value of the product only becomes clear to other researchers.

Simplicity

The reason these ergometers are not on the market today is that they are too expensive and bulky for most people to have at home. If you don't have the space or money for a hard SUP board, this type of ergometer is not an option.

During this development work, Kona Sports founder Joachim Larsson often wondered if it wouldn't be possible to develop a simpler training tool that more people could afford...

Paddling technique

In parallel with the development of ergometers, the analysis of functional paddling technique for SUP was underway. One method we used to gain a better understanding of which muscles we should use and in which patterns they should be activated was to dissect the entire paddling cycle.

In this way, we were able to find and isolate specific muscles and also measure the force they could generate.

What we found was that the SUP paddling cycle can be broken down into twenty-two different body parts and muscle groups and eight different sub-movements. We also realized that the paddling cycle doesn't start with the grip...

Strength exercises for SUP

But it wasn't until we started creating exercises for these sub-movements and muscle groups that things started to turn around. In order to increase the maximum strength in these muscle groups, we needed to go to the gym.

Here we tested performing the eight partial movements on different cable machines, using the existing equipment we could find.

New tools

The exercises worked better than expected, but still felt like a compromise. We continued to consider whether it would be possible to do it even better.

One idea that came up was whether it would be possible to attach a paddle shaft instead? So we went back and started designing and building a prototype shaft with various accessories that could be used with cable machines.

Discovered

With a newly designed strength training paddle shaft in hand, it was time for testing again. Suddenly, something happened that none of us had expected. We now discovered how our bodies actually worked, in a way we had never known before.

The reason soon became apparent; it was the leverage from the axle and the solid surface combined that gave us this feeling. We quickly decided that this had to be kept quiet, another competitive advantage that would stay with us and our racing team. Something we later reconsidered...

Our mission is to develop the sport and spread useful information, not to hide it.

Relapse

Just like when we stand on the board on the water, the problem is the same with the advanced ergometers with their moving surface. Due to the unstable surface, we have difficulty feeling how the body is actually working and thus activating the right muscles.

Because we are standing on water, the surface gives way as we shift our body weight onto the board and as we try to propel ourselves forward with the paddle. This is further complicated by the fact that the load in SUP is only on one side of the body, called unilateral resistance.

Unilateral

The combination of dealing with unilateral resistance on a fixed surface instead of a moving one was what made all the difference.

In addition to being able to locate and feel how specific muscles were working, we could now for the first time also feel how our entire muscle chains were activated to stabilize the body on the opposite side of the resistance.

Transmission

With this insight, it was not difficult to understand how complex it is to transfer power on water, where both the timing and direction of force are affected by the unstable surface. Here we see clear examples of how small details in SUP have a big effect on performance.

If we can't feel our muscles and control our movements on land, we will have an extremely difficult time doing so in water, where we are also affected by our so-called protective reflexes. In that case, it doesn't really matter how strong or resilient we are, we will never achieve full effect anyway.