Strength training for canoeing

[Alan Gage]

I haven't really been canoeing much in the last few years but I have, for the first time in my life (47), gotten serious about weight lifting. I'm no gym bro and you wouldn't know it to look at me but I've put on a fair bit of muscle in the last 2 years.

I don't take it too seriously but I try to lift 3-4 times per week. I don't really enjoy it all that much so I keep the sessions short (30 minutes) which is easy since I work out at home. My main movements are pull ups, bench press, overhead press, pull overs, lat raises, a few varieties of rows, belt squat, leg press, and romanian deadlifts. I'll usually pick 3 exercises per session and do 3 sets of each in a circuit.

What prompted this post tonight was I picked up one of my canoes to load it on top of my car and my immediate thought when I picked it up was, "Wow, this canoe is a lot lighter than I remember."

So other than lifting canoes and portaging does anyone else have a weightlifting routine that improves their canoeing experience? I would guess rowing movements that work the upper back and lateral raises for the shoulders would help with paddling. At least for injury prevention if nothing else.

Alan

 

[MichaelMerry]

I also lift and row quite a bit. The lifting is something I’ve done for 25 years. I just added the rowing a couple years ago when I had some running injuries as a way to maintain my cardio. I really like the full body workout it gives me in addition to getting the heart rate up.

I also backpack a lot. Backpacking is incredible strength and overall fitness training.

While I don’t have much before and after comparison to work with, I find that, now at age 52, I have as much as strength and endurance as anyone I travel with, including people less than half my age. I work at this and I think it matters. I’m certain that I enjoy my trips more because I’m fit. I’m rarely worn out and (knock on something) have not sustained an injury on a trip. I love long, hard days. The travel is my favorite part. I don’t think this would be the case without the fitness I work to maintain.

One other positive is that I can support less capable companions more effectively as a fit person. In the few years, I’ve been traveling more frequently with much older folks. While they are capable of carrying their own gear once over the portage, I’m the guy that goes back two or three times for the boats and food. And I like it! I enjoy traveling with these folks and appreciate that I’m able to make it happen for them.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

does anyone else have a weightlifting routine that improves their canoeing experience?

I used to work out on weight machines in gyms from my mid-30s to early 70s, but haven't been in a gym since Covid. My, how fast the sarcopenia and muscle-wasting sets in! I am literally a strength shell of my former self.

In addition to all-around cardio and weight lifting fitness, I liked two specific machines that approximated paddling motions. One is a torso twist weight machine, which can sort of be mimicked by a cable pull machine. The other is an arm bike or arm crank machine. I would set the seat to get almost full arm extension because that seemed to be most similar to the push-pull extension on a single blade paddle forward stroke.

But you may not have such machines in your house.

 

[VA paddler]

Yoga and firewood.
I used to be the guy that guffawed at yoga. Got into it during the pandemic. Started using my old ridge-rest as a mat. Made me feel great. Was easy to keep up with on a work from home schedule. Harder now we are back in the office. Great to do when there's 16" of snow on the ground for 2 months straight and you can't back the trailer down to the woodpile, anyway. So, yoga - not just the chill stretchy kind - but the kick-your-arse cardio kind. Yoga With Adrienne - on YouTube - all free. Start slow, build up. No fancy accoutrements needed - just a $20 mat and your boxers.
And, other than 4 years in college, I've been splitting the household wood since I was 12. Try to put up 4 cords+ a year now that we're in Maine, and still working on getting enough stockpiled ahead. My oldest is a freshman in high school and this spring we are working on stockpiling the heat for her senior year. Cut the log, load the trailer, unload the trailer, split, stack, haul to the porch, fill the woodbox, burn. Its a lot of handling, and buying oil would probably be cheaper, but I don't know what I'd do with all that extra time except try to plan canoe trips I can't afford the money or time to take.
Always turn up the dial on the frequency of the yoga workouts prior to a trip. Helps all the muscle groups.
And, like MichaelMerry, at 50 (almost), I'm the young'un in the group, and since I also am the one to insist on steaks and cold cocktails, I try to take many of the heaviest loads for my wretched and decrepit troop of voyageurs.

 

[gumpus]

I lift weights 3x/week. Honestly I think I should do more stretching and cardio but I'm always hesitant to change my routine. It all helps with paddling...swimming may help the most. You're lucky if you are young enough to think of lifting weights as adding strength; it's also about offsetting something called deterioration.

 

[eckilson]

Honestly I think I should do more stretching and cardio

I'm the opposite - focus on cardio and stretching, but probably should do more weight training. I do try to do a couple of machines each day. Focus on knees, shoulders and back. Off to the gym now.

 

[memaquay]

I have been pretty dedicated to strength training for a long time. For the last seven years, I have rarely missed a workout. However, in November of this year, old injuries in my shoulders flared up. I haven't had problems with them in almost 20 years. I have continued with some leg work, but have had to stop all upper body stuff. The doc gave me a cortisone shot two weeks ago, first time I have had that, and seems to think I will be able to return to working out. If I can't get them better by June, I probably won't be paddling.

Anyway, I work out at home too, have a bow flex and free weights. I usually do bench press, bicep curls in a few different ways, triceps, seated row, lat pull downs, overhead press and then the leg stuff. I only do two sets of each, and get everything done in one workout, three times a week.

I'm going to try to start back up this week with just a bunch of low weight rotator cuff type exercises recommended by the physio. There are lots of studies out there that claim that as we age, resistance training is more important than cardio. Since I have returned to work full time, it's difficult to do both, so I usually will do a weight workout if I have to make a choice. It'd good to feel strong. Right now, I'm weak as a kitten though, it is frustrating, lol.

 

[Bob B.]

My dogs and I walk 3 plus miles in the hilly timber every day ... unless it raining. Hot summer or 20 below matters not. I have found an over all level of fitness from just walking up and down the hills of the driftless area where we live. For the last few years I have also elipticaled 5 miles 3 days a week and lifted weights at my home 5 days a week. This has improved the way I feel when paddling, logging firewood, trail work ... anything physical really. At 60 years old I can tire from heavy labor int he timber much quicker than when I was in my 40's. I put up about 16 cord of firewood a year and care take for a couple properties near me. Like Mem, I am experiencing a shoulder injury that may have me paddling very little this year.. I have a couple tears - rotator and labrum with some damage to my AC joint ( injuries from the past that are haunting me today ). Picking up even a kevlar canoe is a difficult and painful process. As I work on my stabilizer muscles I can do much more with out pain - or less pain. The recovery from shoulder surgery is so long, I am doing all I can to avoid it. Lifting weights and staying fit seem to aid in keeping me pain free and able to complete physical tasks ... not just canoeing.

 

[snapper]

Most of my strength training comes at the hands of a routine I do in my basement 3x's each week. Nothing fancy. I use a knock-off TRX strap system and do strength, stretching and balance exercises. I'll do 3 circuits and it takes all of about 45 minutes each time. I also still cut, split and stack all our firewood for home use. Typically I'll cut about 8-10 face cord of wood each year. After a shoulder injury 3 years ago I finally broke down and purchased a hydraulic splitter but still do 90% of it by hand with a go-devil. During the winter months I'll get out on my xc skis or snowshoes a few times a week (weather permitting) and then head back to a local pool once the snow is gone. I only swim a half mile each time but it still helps; and it's a great place to visit with others.

I realize none of what I've mentioned is paddling specific but it all seems to help so I'll keep at it until I can't. My docs are pleased with this and it keeps me active so I figure that's a "win."

That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.

snapper

 

[yknpdlr]

All during the summer, if I am not paddling, I am cutting trees for firewood, splitting (with a machine), moving and stacking as much as 12 face cords each both for home and for my lake cabin. Where much of it is stacked reequires hauling wood chunks on a sled to the door and temmporarily stacking in the garage as needed to carry inside in a canvas sling. No lack of snow here in north-central NY lake effect country, so XC skiing is on my workout routine. But I admit to a lesser degree in recent years. I'll pick up and swing a kettle bell for my other attempt atweight training. But my primary mode is on a paddlesports atachment on a Concept II machine. I'll beging with 30 minutes in January and gradually work up to an hour at a session several times a week. But n the end, nothing beats actdually getting on the water soon after ice-out in April when the real training season brgins. Miles on the water in actual conditions is what counts most.

Not me in these videos

https://vimeo.com/127567842?fl=pl&fe=vl

 

[stripperguy]

I'm 2 weeks shy of 70...I've been a free weight fan since my teens.
Currently, I have to limit the weights so not to wear out a reverse shoulder replacement from a couple years ago (nothing short of a miracle, BTW).
Nothing fancy, squats, curls, rows, presses. Consistency counts.
Also, regular stretching is a must.
Depending on the season, I'm either on skis or on my road bike. Or on the trail or in my canoe.

I've said this before,
Most folks spend the 1st half of their life ignoring their health, and the 2nd half reminded of it.
As I age, I do find it more difficult to maintain muscle mass, but I can still carry all my gear. The weight training is the key.

My unsolicited advice to those younger than me...there's no better time to attend to your health and fitness than today.

Lastly, great to see Alan doing so well, I remember when you had back surgery, what a comeback!!

 

[Neophyte]

I’m approaching 46, and I am fortunate in that I have been actively working to improve my diet and exercise over the past decade. My weight/health have always been good, but I had concerns about cardio strength. Regular daily walks around flat suburbia are certainly not as beneficial as the more hilly walks I grew up with.

So I got a row machine. I use it several times a week, though my sessions are not super long. It’s boring and there are days I hate doing it, but I know it’s important in maintaining my long-term health. And I’ve noticed a difference when hiking and paddling.

I am concerned that I don’t have strength training in my routine yet. As was mentioned earlier it’s very important in the long term so I need to figure that out.

 

[yknpdlr]

So I got a row machine. I use it several times a week, though my sessions are not super long. It’s boring and there are days I hate doing it, but I know it’s important in maintaining my long-term health. And I’ve noticed a difference when hiking and paddling.

Working out on a stationary paddling machine with no scenery passing by can be incredibly boring. My first paddle simulation machine was a waterrower, which I used with the handle held vertriically off to one side so it roughly simulated a short canoe paddle. I liked the realistic feel of the catch and the sound of the water in the tank when I paddled. It worked ok for a couple of years during the winter months. Then I saw and demonstrated on a paddlesports Concept2 trainer system at the canoe race nationals in Syracuse. More overall reaslistic than the waterrower, it felt great and I took one home.

When I was invited to paddle the Yukon River races (440 mile and 10000 mile) a few years ago, I created a route map in Google Earth with hundreds of criticalwaypoints at islands passages and river bends for precise and efficient route navigation, to be loaded ln my GPS. Paddling in my living room in front of a large screen monitor, I would play the route video on GE in flight mode while paddling on the trainer, as if I was flying while watching the GE video at low altitude over the river on my route. Add some loud dramatic "epic" or trailer music and I spent many hours during the weeks and months of training as I memorized the active flowing route presented before me. During the Yukon actual races, I recognized each detail and was well prepared on the route. At age 74, I still train during winter workouts for about an hour at a time before my more general closer to home familiar route paddling while watching online streaming movies or TV shows to keep the boringness at bay.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

I hate gyms, and I'm not especially excited about working out indoors. I gave up free weights a couple of years ago at 67, and switched to bands. Safer for me at home. When winter gets too wet or windy, I do regular sessions on the Nordic Track ski machine and the rower. Weight training for me is all about maintaining my ability to lift a canoe and keeping my shoulders safe. Lunges help my skiing and summer mountain hiking. Balance board fills in for when I can't get out poling.

My preferred workout though is a few hours of poling or paddling. I'm fifteen minutes from the local river and fifteen minutes from the local lake, so it's pretty easy for me to get on the water regularly.

Like @VA paddler , I was splitting 3 cords of firewood every year until this winter. I always enjoyed that, as it approximates the spike driving of my early railroad days. I'm gonna miss that. Switched to a pellet stove this winter because getting firewood has become too problematic. I'll just have to go poling more to make up for it.

 

[memaquay]

I split quite a bit of wood two days ago, and it certainly did not help my shoulders. Think I will have to avoid that for a while as well. However, they powers that be are cutting a fire break around the town at the moment, rumour has it that the wood is free for the taking, piled in 16 foot lengths, so gonna hop on the skidoo today and check it out. If it's easy to get to, I know what I will be doing for the next week.

 

[dramey]

I just bought a Total Gym. This is the routine I plan on using.