OBLIQUE STRETCHES
This series of stretches will help relax your muscle tone after working your internal and external obliques. They will also prevent tension caused by poor posture and help rebalance your body position if it’s been altered by poor posture. In paddling, you are using your obliques with every stroke when you rotate your torso and when you lean over the side of the boat to get your paddle over the water.
Oblique Stretch 1. Rotation Stretch.
Lie down on a mat with one leg straight and the other leg bent with the sole of the foot on the mat.
To start, place your arms to the sides of your body touching the floor with your arms at a 90 degree angle to the torso.
Slowly start to move the hip of your bent leg towards the side of the straight leg. Cross your bent knee over the straight knee and press the inside of the bent knee towards the ground. (It will not touch the ground, though.)
Keep your upper body in contact with the mat the entire time.
Do both sides. Begin with 3 reps holding for 20 seconds each, but you can work up to 5 reps at 45 seconds each.
Oblique Stretch 2. Upper Body Lateral Lean and Bend.
To start, place your feet hip distance apart, keep your back straight, and your arms hanging at your sides.
Try not to lean forward or rotate at all. Imagine that you have a pane of glass in front of your body and another behind your body, and you can only move straight to the side.
Then, keeping your body flat between the “2 panes of glass,” bend sideways from the waist as you drop one shoulder and arm toward the floor. Think about placing the palm of the hand on the outside of the knee. You don’t need to actually touch it.
You should feel the stretch on the side that is lengthened, not the shortened side.
Do both sides. Begin with 3 reps holding for 20 seconds each, but you can work up to 5 reps holding for 45 seconds each.