Re: [Paddlewise] Between the blades?!

Derek wrote:  I've noticed that I am experiencing the most muscle
fatigue between the shoulder blades.  This seems like an odd place to
experience fatigue.



I've spent decades analyzing forward strokes, especially my own, and
have never identified this area of the body as one that gets much action
in a normal forward stroke (understanding that normal is a pretty
variable concept), but there IS some stuff going on there.

Put your hand in the area between your shoulder blades and move the
other arm around.  Do you notice that the muscles and muscle attachments
between your shoulder blades get some movement when you lift the arm up?
 The muscles involved in lifting the blade out of the water are some of
the smaller ones in our upper body - the deltoids (which are usually
very developed in kayakers who paddle a lot), and the trapezius (which
goes from the back of your neck all the way down to the middle of your
back and is used to lift the paddle and to stabilize the whole shoulder
area).  Look at http://www.innerbody.com/image/musbov.html# for some
good views and descriptions of these muscle groups.

I find, from my own experience, that the area of the back you are
describing gets fatigued from carrying my boat.  Especially after slalom
races, where one often has to lug the kayak from the finish line back to
the starting line, I found the middle of my back between my shoulder
blades was quite tired.  Never happened when I could paddle back up.


Jim Tibensky
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