The autumn issue of Paddling magazine just came out.
It has a perennially useful article about how paddlers can stay fit in the winter.
Yeah, you know where I’m going with this. …And where the article does NOT go.
It could’ve been worse.
They list Nordic Skiing second after Swimming.
Of course, swimming as an outdoor sport is TERRIBLE in winter. It forces you indoors, duh. Also, it has little do with paddle fitness. How many swimmers out there are paddlers? Uh, hardly any? (OK, probably more in warm places, especially since Standup came around. I do know a Standup paddler who likes to swim.)
Their description of XC is, once again damning in its vague praise. Did you know that XC works the major muscle groups? And that skiers have a high VO2Max? Ooh, that’s interesting! Sure. Nice. Why not instead say that XC uses THE SAME FRICKIN MUSCLES THAT PADDLING DOES. Better than any other sport! Especially for canoeing. I’m sure that mostly *ALL* northcountry paddlers do XC in winter. Guess what else? You can do it in the SAME PLACES outside. If the water freezes, you can ski on the water. If it doesn’t you ski alongside it. You get a whole new view of your SAME WONDERFUL WATER WORLD! …Ummm… Snow is water. Snow is water’s best friend. XC COMES FIRST!
…If you live where there’s snow, that is. If there’s no snow, hell, keep paddling! Well, most of us are never just one kinda person though. Very few “paddlers” out there. Mostly just folks who love doing things outside. Maybe that includes a buncha paddling. Probably includes other stuff. Like biking, hiking, etc.
Another somewhat fun thing you could do in an off-season from paddling, or as a break from it, if you don’t have snow: rollerskiing. Or inline skating with ski poles. Basically, if you want to boost your paddle muscles or keep ’em, anything that is like paddling is good. XC ski poling is HUGELY like paddling. Rollerskiing can be fun with good equipment. It’s its own sport now. …It’s like skiing — or paddling — on dryland. You can even buy skis that work great on dirt roads and trails. …And that work your nearly-exact same paddling muscles.
I’m guessing that rock climbing can be good as well. One thing I notice that I need more of in both my paddle and ski training is: full range of motion exercise. Both skiing and paddling are planar 80-90% of the time — and then they’re not. When you REACH OUT TO THE SIDE to do moves in paddling or skiing your arms, shoulders, back suddenly become vulnerable. Climbing probably helps with such “outboard” action and other motion outside the “paddler’s box.”
In the end, though, we all probably can stand to do simple Circuit Training with weights and bodyweight. Climbing probably doesn’t help us lift our boats. Moving boats around, especially when they’re loaded, in portaging or even on and off of racks, hurts a LOT of backs and shoulders, I’d wager! Pay attention to do fitness work to reduce this risk. After that, just plain refuse to work outside the “paddler’s box” and keep all weight bearing CLOSE to your body. Heck, just moving luggage around can easily getcha!
Here’s a link to the online article/issue:
content.yudu.com/A3wcba/PaddlingOctober2015/resources/22.htm
