14 year old kayaker

[s.oliver]

Hi Rip,

Have started training a nearly 15 year old female kayaker competing at national level. Paddles 4-5x/week, plus frequent races at the weekend.

5ft4. More muscular than the average 15 year old female.
First session DL 2x5 155lbs, SQ 3x5 99lbs

Has benched with another coach before. 1x5 99lbs.

Training her 2x/week.

Have watched the SS videos on training teenagers, which I've found helpful.

What are your thoughts on her benching?

In a way it would be useful for upper body strength for her sport - though her sport is naturally very dominant in anterior/internal shoulder rotation movement.

For AC joint health, do you suggest just doing the press, or fine to combine bench and press?

[Mark Rippetoe]

Just like every athlete in every sport, she needs to be stronger. GENERALLY stronger. So she needs to do the NLP as written.

[s.oliver]

Just like every athlete in every sport, she needs to be stronger. GENERALLY stronger. So she needs to do the NLP as written.

Thanks

[TommyGun]

Just like every athlete in every sport, she needs to be stronger. GENERALLY stronger. So she needs to do the NLP as written.

When I take new kayakers out on the water, they have an incorrect mental model of how the kayak is propelled forward in the water, much like a rank novice has an erroneous conception of how a squat should look. The kayak does not move because of the stroke, it is not an “arm workout”.

It is the transmission of the force from the hands through the skeleton to the feet which are locked in and pushing against the pedals.
The body is tight and the pedals are merely the ground reaction; the tighter the the body the more efficient the transmission of force, and the more stronger she is the more force will be applied to both the hands driving the paddles and the feet locked in against the pedals.
Clearly the Novice Linear Progression will improve both. As always, make sure she eats and rests.

Love the question about kayaking and it is amazing how the answer is universal to all sports.
No one else may care but keep us updated on her progress in the gym and on the water. It is such an perfect illustration of Rip’s two factor model: The Two-Factor Model of Sports Performance | Mark Rippetoe

[Jdcuth]

When I take new kayakers out on the water, they have an incorrect mental model of how the kayak is propelled forward in the water, much like a rank novice has an erroneous conception of how a squat should look. The kayak does not move because of the stroke, it is not an “arm workout”.

It is the transmission of the force from the hands through the skeleton to the feet which are locked in and pushing against the pedals.
The body is tight and the pedals are merely the ground reaction; the tighter the the body the more efficient the transmission of force, and the more stronger she is the more force will be applied to both the hands driving the paddles and the feet locked in against the pedals.
Clearly the Novice Linear Progression will improve both. As always, make sure she eats and rests.

Love the question about kayaking and it is amazing how the answer is universal to all sports.
No one else may care but keep us updated on her progress in the gym and on the water. It is such an perfect illustration of Rip’s two factor model: The Two-Factor Model of Sports Performance | Mark Rippetoe

I think this article summons up completely how to approach strength for sports in a single paragraph “ And they are best developed using the movement patterns that most effectively apply the stress – not the ones that look the most like the sport in which the adaptation will be used. In other words, you don’t squat in your lineman stance; you squat in your squat stance, because it’s better for squatting heavier weights, and then you play lineman in your lineman stance because it’s better for lineman-ing. All you have to do is remember where you are”

It’s a shame virtually the entire fitness industry wants to contradict this