Exponential Growth of Paddle Boarding Means Growth of Paddling-Related Injuries

June 29, 2009 - PRLog -- Orange County, CA--Summer is just over a week old, the days are longer and the ocean temperature is warmer. The past two years have seen an explosion in the growing sport of paddleboarding.

Just recently, the world's leading stand up paddle professionals formed the A.S.U.P.P (the Association of Stand Up Paddle Professionals), an association that will govern all athlete related matters of the Stand Up World Tour, from judging and event format, to the qualification processes. The events are expected to be announced by early July.

With the growth of the sport comes growing pains. In this case, literally pains. We spoke to Dr. Scott Neubauer—a chiropractor who specializes in soft tissue injuries, as well as a long-time triathlete and paddleboarder—about the common pitfalls of paddleboarding.

“Whether prone or stand up paddling, the motion of the shoulder is fairly similar” states Dr. Neubauer. “There is a pull phase, like with freestyle and butterfly swim strokes, and there’s a recovery phase.” Dr. Neubauer explained that the “pull” phase is strengthened with the resistance of each stroke. The recovery phase receives little to no resistance and, he continued, gains little to no strength.

“The fastest and smartest paddlers that I know stretch the pull muscles—the lats, pecs, subscapularis, teres major, rhomboids, rear delts—but few people spend any time strengthening the recovery muscles.” When asked why this would be important, Dr. Neubauer replied that the muscles that move the “glenohumeral joint—the shoulder—through recovery are also the antagonist muscles of the pull.” He further explained that those recovery muscles serve not just to move the arm through recovery, but they also help to stabilize the shoulder girdle.

For healthy, non-injured paddlers, Dr. Neubauer recommends what he calls “large and global strength exercises” to strengthen the recovery muscles—the teres minor, infraspinatus, mid and upper trapezius. Dr. Neubauer told us that he tries to convince all of his paddling patients to perform these sort of exercises 2-3 times per week.

For injured paddlers, Dr. Neubauer suggests they seek an Active Release Technique® provider. “Active Release is a fantastic method to treat overuse, sprain/strain and scar tissue type problems.” Dr. Neubauer reported that about 1 in 100 chiropractors is trained in Active Release Technique®, and even fewer physical therapists. “ART is a great way to treat patients’ problems” he said. “As an ART provider, I try to get my patients healthy and back on the water as quickly as possible. When I help to take someone’s pain away after just 2 visits in my clinic, that patient becomes the best spokesman for myself and ART that I could hope for.”

About Active Release Technique®

ART® is a patented, state of the art soft tissue system/movement based manual therapy technique that treats problems with muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia and nerves. Headaches, back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, shin splints, shoulder pain, sciatica, plantar fasciitis, knee problems, and tennis elbow are just a few of the many conditions that can be resolved quickly and permanently with ART®. ART® has been developed, refined, and patented by P. Michael Leahy, DC, CCSP. The treatment protocols - over 500 specific moves - are unique to ART®. They allow providers to identify and correct the specific problems that are affecting each individual patient.

About Dr. Scott Neubauer

Dr. Scott Neubauer is a graduate of UC Irvine and received his doctorate from Southern California University of Health Sciences. Dr. Neubauer has competed in 7 Ironman triathlons, 20+ half Ironman triathlons, 12+ marathons and numerous paddleboard races. Dr. Neubauer is full-body certified in Active Release Technique®, a Certified KinesioTaping® Practitioner, a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and a Level 1 Coach for USA Track and Field. Dr. Neubauer practices full-time in Laguna Hills, California at Coastal Health and Fitness. He can be reached at 24551 Raymond Way, Suite 265, Lake Forest, CA 92630 or at (949) 933-7789. For more information, visit http://www.coastalhealthandfitness.com.