 |
Paddle Power
Great Muscular Messiah: It's a little late to be asking this question, but here goes: Paddling season is fast approaching and I'm feeling the urge to whip myself into shape. Could you recommend some exercises to help me tone up a little to make the transition back onto the water that much easier?
—
Philip Kompass, Whistler, British Columbia
It's not too late, seeing as you only want to improve your fitness a little (if you had said a lot, that would have been a tall order). We're blessed with a remarkably adaptive musculoskeletal system: give it some stress, stir, and as soon as four weeks later -- improved fitness. Due to time constraints, you'll have to fast track a bit by doing a little general conditioning combined with some sport-specific training. Given a little more time, you'd start with general strength and aerobic conditioning, then follow that foundation with a sport-specific emphasis. Maybe next season.
The best approach is to do a few (at least two, ideally three to four) "all-in-one" workouts each week. These combine a dose of aerobic, general strength, and paddle -specific training. This has the advantage of giving your body what it needs to adapt, while not overdoing it and causing an injury. Begin the workout with 20 to 30 minutes of aerobic "warm-up", it can be any movement, but the best in this situation would be a rowing machine or swimming. Move into general strength training by doing sit-ups or abdominal crunches, squats or leg presses, back extensions, and bench presses. Do two to three sets of each exercise, 15 to 20 reps (more for the sit-ups, say 50), using a weight so that you can do the movement with proper technique, but the last few reps are tough. Finish the workout with the paddle-specific stuff: lat-pulldowns or pull-ups, seated or bent-over rows, shoulder raises (front or lateral), and triceps presses -- same sets and reps as above. You can do the workout as a circuit, doing one set of each exercise, resting 30 to 60 seconds, and then doing the next exercise, moving through all the exercises before doing the next set. As you become adapted to the routine, increase the weight and speed, adding a little "pop" to the movements, this will carry over to your paddles.
If your sole pieces of equipment are your boat and paddle, you can improvise. Substitute running or hiking for the aerobic element, use your body weight and sandbags for squats, bench presses, push-ups, and pull-ups, and do the shoulder exercises with your paddle.
|
|
