Many paddle athletes believe that if they could quit their day job and train all day they could go head to head with the pros.  Over the years, we have seen athletes quit their day jobs only to find that they cannot handle the training load, they become over trained, injured, and slower than when they did not have as much time to train. SUP race training is more than going hard all the time.

The ability to recover from a, SUP race training workout is so important that the ability to recover from a workout may be one of the primary factors that separates the pros from the rest of us. In our experience, professional athletes have the ability to recover from a workout faster than the average athlete. For many, it may be their ability to recover that allows them to train longer and harder and the secret to their success is their ability to recover from training and not the fact that they have the will power or time to train longer and harder. If training longer and harder is all it took to be a pro, we would all be professionals.

Even though you might not have the genetic ability to recover from a workout like Danny Ching or Jamie Mitchell, all is not lost. You just need to work harder to make sure you are able to recover and absorb your training so you can reach your goals.  As a general rule, we recommend that stand up paddle athletes limit themselves to two (maybe 3) hard workouts each week and get a full day off from training each week.

Paddle athletes are also encouraged to plan “recovery weeks” during their SUP race training program. “Three-on-one-off”  and “two-on-one-off” regimens are common ways to incorporate rest  and recovery weeks into your training program. In our experience, amateur athletes (with their full plate of family duties, jobs, and the other hassles and stresses of daily life) do better with a “two-on-one-off” schedule. In the Riding Bumps training programs, we utilize a “two-on-one-off” program for beginner and intermediate athletes.

Getting your recovery right is, just like determining your overall training load, an art not a science. If you get too little recovery, you will become over trained. If you try to recover too much, you may lose fitness. It is always better to show up for a race 20% underprepared than 1% over trained.