Wanna know which muscles you should be using when you paddle? Check out the results from Travis Grant’s electromyography (EMG) test, which was conducted in New York a few months back.

At the end of June, Trav headed to the Big Apple for a full day of testing with the crew from SUP Logix, who are aiming to build the most accurate picture of muscle performance in stand up paddling.

Watch the clip above and then check out a detailed analysis of the results over on the SUP Logix site.

Some of it reinforces existing beliefs (treat your arms as simple extensions of the paddle that connect to your power-producing core and hips) but still there’s plenty of interesting reading in there.

A paddler’s technique is like a zebra’s stripes: No two SUP’ers will look the same. However some of the elite guys and girls do it better than others and the general consensus is: Few paddlers have a better or more efficient technique than Travis Grant.

That makes the reigning Battle of the Paddle Distance Race champion’s test results particularly interesting, as we can safely assume Travis is using the correct muscles when he paddles.

I was there in New York with Trav so it’s particularly exciting for me to see the results. It’s also great to see more and more scientific testing happening in the SUP world in general. We’re kinda starting to look like a real sport…

On a side note: The entire exercise was worth it just to see Trav reduced to a pair of dick togs (speedos, for the non Australians out there) in order to have the electrodes attached to his thighs.

Sorry buddy, couldn’t resist:

Click here to see the full breakdown of Travis’ results.