Power Up & Paddle! Get Those Muscles Working on a Dragon Boat Team

As dragon boat race season 2013 takes over rivers and seas across South East Asia, we investigate what benefits paddling has for the body (and soul).

Standing at the finish line of a dragon boat race is quite a chaotic experience; you see a blur of bright coloured jerseys, and you hear a lot of commotion, but more than a well-mastered, physically demanding team sport, it often seems like the people in the boats are just paddling like crazy for 200-500 metres to cross the finishing line. In reality, a lot of training and exertion goes into each race and there is a lot of precision in the length and the rhythm of the strokes too. In fact, many dragon boat teams take their participation very seriously and spend the majority of the year strengthening particular muscles, revising a very specific movement pattern, and fine tuning their stroke strategy. Read on to find how dragon boating engages different muscles and what makes it a good sport for all over body conditioning.

Back Muscles

Observing a dragon boat race might lead you to assume that since paddlers holds their paddles in their hands, the arm muscles do most of the work (as with kayaking or canoeing). Likewise, many new paddlers join dragon boat teams teams because they (men) think they can put their beefed up biceps to work or they (women) think it will do wonders for their triceps. In fact, relying on the arms, which are a relatively small muscle group, is shunned by more experienced paddlers who refer to the practice as ‘arming it.’ Instead, paddlers are encouraged to think about dragon boating as a torso specific sport, with all the real power coming from the bigger muscle groups like the upper back-lats and the shoulders. The back actually does a lot of work before the paddler even pulls water. The lower back needs to be twisted and fully rotated so that the paddler is low down and parallel to the gun rail of the boat. This lower back twist and rotation ensures a longer and more loaded pull stroke, which helps the boat to surge the water. Dragon boating is great for toning up the back muscles and for adding definition to the shoulder area.

Leg Muscles

Whether a paddler has opted for the left or the right side of the boat, they need to focus on using their outside leg (the leg closest to the outside of the boat) to help push off for the first big stroke. This leg continues to push against the bottom of the boat, forcing the whole body up throughout the rest of the race. Different paddlers use different positions, and some even change the leg positions during the race to maximise power, but the most important thing to understand is that using the leg results in the whole body having more power to yank back the paddle and move more water. This technique is known as the leg drive, and if paddlers do it properly, they will feel the effects in their quads and glutes after each session - especially on the outside leg, closest to the gun rail. Other paddlers, feel the burn all the way up both legs because they engage every muscle possible to help them spring up as powerfully as possible by pushing both feet against a bench or footrest. Clearly, dragon boating engages not just the upper body: it is actually an all over body conditioning sport which can improve muscle strength and tone the upper legs too! 

Core Muscles

In addition to using the big back and leg muscle groups, paddling requires a lot of twisting and rotating to get down close to the water and get the most from each pull stroke. To do this effectively, paddlers need to have strong core muscles in the abdominal areas. Not only does this strong mid-section help paddlers reach further, it also protects the muscles from stress that tends to build up in our lower backs. Many teams develop their stroke technique to include a very slight pause; hold the paddle at the front for a second before pressing it into the water. if this pause is done correctly, the motion will be controlled entirely by the abs. Lots of teams do gruellingly slow drills of this movement in order to strengthen the mid-section as much as possible. In addition, it is recommend that serious paddlers do additional abdominal exercises to build up core strength. Holding the plank and the side plank are particularly good exercises because they work the oblique muscles which allow the trunk to twist.

Flexibility

Flexibility is key to safe dragon boat training because it allows paddlers to have a good stretch before paddling and a deep stretch after paddling - especially on race days - to reduce the amount of stiffness and soreness the next day. Dragon boating can help increase flexibility through extensive training sessions with drills involving leaning and stretching. This is important because it makes paddling more comfortable as it reduces the need to over-stretch or bounce the body, and over time paddlers often see a marked improvement in the flexibility of their hip flexors and lower back as regular stretching helps them become more supple and loose over time. Many dragon boat teams incorporate additional stretching exercises into their training programme to encourage flexibility for the hips, torso and the shoulders by holding deep stretches in each area for between five to 10 seconds.

Team Spirit

Of course, as stated at the beginning of this article, dragon boat races tend to be just 200-500 metres long, so it is hard to compare the physical demands of the sport with high intensity cardiovascular activities like long distance running or an extended game of tennis. The fitter and stronger the paddlers are, the better the team will perform, but paddling does not just come down to physical power: it’s about focus and concentration and the efforts of over 20 people working as a group to achieve the powerful rhythm of the boat and surge as the strokes synchronize. And of course there must be a huge sense of satisfaction when those mentally strong, committed team members paddle like fury and manage to cross the finish line first and win the race!

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