I found raising my seat helped and widening it to at least 15". Most seats come 14". Also stopping once and a while , undoing the front of the skirt and raising a knee to relieve some pressure. Unbalanced…warning. Back pain…sit up and paddle. Keeping the paddle moving instead of drifting helps keep proper seat position.
You can outfit the boat differently if it does not fit you. Changing seats and adding foam is easy.
I built a beautiful Pygmy Coho that was fast and beautiful. It was seaworthy, but I could never get comfortable in kayaks sitting on the floor. I sold it and went back to canoes. I can spend all day in a canoe without much trouble.
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Something that I have found to be useful at times is to exaggerate the torso rotation and leg drive - on the stroke drive with your leg all the way back to your butt. Basically, your butt is sliding/rotating on the seat. May keep things from locking up but it will tire you at first.
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Absolutely not all seats are equal and everyone’s style is not the same. Someone mentioned your legs might be straight out in front of you. My suggestion is that you might want to have your legs bent somewhat at the knee and maybe even splayed out a bit.
I was both a long distance runner and a long distance bike rider; neither of those activities seems to have the least bit of negativity on my paddling.
The boat I use for long distances has a rock hard fiberglass seat, but I never get tired of it, because the seat’s ergonometric design fits me perfectly. It also has a short back to the seat that gives support just where it is needed up to a few inches above your bottom. It requires no back band.
I will join the chorus with those who say that maybe more than anything else it is time in the saddle, but I would add that proper posture and paddling technique is also huge. As I said, the boat I use for long distance is the most comfortable to me, but I can tolerate my other boats for long periods also–I credit lots of seat time.
The only thing I recall having to do for a period of time was use a rolled up towel beneath my thighs just in front of the seat. Reliance on that faded fairly quickly. I used to do a lot of exercising, but I have gotten way too lax about that these days for reasons that are not entirely legitimate, but at least my intentions are good–just don’t seem to find the time for it.
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I did the support for the legs thing for a while with an inflatable pad designed specifically for that. Gotta say, it was nice. Until I got sick about 10 years ago, and couldn’t paddle for the better part of a year.
One of my first times back out, I almost drowned because of it. I had gained 60 Lbs because I was not allowed to exercise for quite a while, and was too stupid to either adjust or remove the pad when I could paddle again – I capsized teaching my nephew assisted rescues, was trapped in the boat by the pad, and tried 4 or 5 times to recover with a handroll (dropped my paddle, making the handroll necessary), which got me high enough to take a breath. I got out of the cockpit just in time.
Point is – be careful to make sure you’re comfy, but not too tight. Like I said, they can be really comfy.
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Good to know! I appreciate your insights.
Wow, well that is definitely good to know. I’m glad to know you’re okay!
Strong glutes maybe. Not much in running to build your core muscles…that’s why we cross train (in our kayaks) to build core.
Go slow…you don’t progress from couch to 5K to ultra in a day…or a week…or even a year…
And enjoy. It’s all good…
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Good points, very true…
Torso rotation. Drive the rotation with your legs. Your core muscles will strengthen and the need for a back band goes away.
I’m not convinced you should have to suffer yoga, stretching, jogging, exercise ball, or long periods of seat time just to feel comfortable in your kayak. I agree more PPine and Magooch that some seats just don’t work for some people and need to be replaced.
My first boat was a Folbot Yukon (folding kayak) that came with a horrible little cheap foam seat. Driving home after two- or three-day trips, my back would be in so much pain I could hardly even sit in my car. Then I swapped out the stock seat for an inflatable seat and never had back problems again, even after week-long trips.
Swapping out a seat can be a big hassle, but don’t be afraid to try it. Your boat should change to suit you, not the other way around.
Alex
I have a relatively inflexible lower back (and a bit crooked), so I am sensitive to seat backs. Most don’t work well for me. So as Alex suggests, I modify them. I am still able to keep the top of the seat back below the coaming. This has worked well for me.
Hey everyone! I’ve been meaning to chime back in with an update.
First off, I want to thank everyone for their feedback as all of it was super helpful to finally figure out what was going on with me.
My situation is unique but I’ll share some relevant background, what I did to fix my issue, and where I am now.
I’m a new kayaker and my main sport is running which I have been doing for a very long time (distances the past decade have ranged in the Marathon - 100 Mile events. I found that I was having left low-back, hip pain, also some nerve issues. I would begin getting issues at about 1/2 mile in on any given paddle. Super frustrating as I kept stretching and trying to figure out what was causing this constant pain.
Fast forward and I started taking suggestion for all of you in this post. I found a mixture of things that seemed to work. All of these things are basic and I’ve done in the past, but I did find a true source of my issues. A daily practice of yoga/stretching and deep rolling with a ball (mine is The Orb, Extreme Mini). With this I found the source of my pain but even better I have a new love for yoga and stretching. It just feels amazing and that’s enough to love it (in my opinion). Also, finding a sport (kayaking) that forces me to become a better athlete in running and overall, is worth it’s weight in gold.
My issues ended up having a tight ass (literally), hips and quads. By rolling the glutes, hips, and quads I have been able to release a lot of bad muscle fascia and then stretching these muscles to help align them heal properly. For some reason over all the years I apparently truly didn’t work on these areas or just plain ignored it and such became the norm.
I practice daily but now am at the point many of these areas no longer painful. I can kayak miles and miles without pain cause by these issues. My lower back will get sore but due to muscle weakness which is good thing. The right kind of sore.
Sorry, long and drawn out. If that helps someone, great but I thought I’d at least share what worked for me.
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Thanks for your update. Good to hear that some of our ideas are helping you as you are putting in the effort and work. 100 mile runner - that’s fantastic planning, training, and endurance. It will serve you well as a paddler also.
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Great to hear you found ways to loosen up old tensions. Gets harder to do the longer you wait.
Congrats!
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That’s awesome. Amazing what a good foam rolling discipline will do for you. I’ll bet your ultra-running has improved as well!