Training?

I guess my first question is, do you do any paddling specific training?
Do you make an effort to keep your paddling muscles strong through the winter and, in better weather, do you go out paddling with the main purpose being to get stronger?

If you do train, what do you do?

At 71, I don't feel like I can take my fitness for granted. It's a losing battle to stay strong.
I have a Total Gym and some barbells and dumbbells and I hit them hard through the winter months, concentrating on muscles I use for paddling and for loading my boats onto my truck and, even getting in and out of my boat. I use my indoor bike to keep my cardio in good shape.
When the ice melts and the water warms up a bit, I try to make it to a local lake about three times a week and I'm not just there to gawk.
I have paddles with different blade sizes and one thing I want to try, when spring gets here, is to do some paddling with a larger than normal blade and some paddling with a smaller than normal blade. I might even combine them in the same workout, maybe doing a lap around the lake with the large blade then a lap with a small blade. I wonder if racers ever use this training technique.

I'm just a few months behind you. I got very lucky in the gene pool.

I do some "training", mostly just some light free weight stuff to strengthen my upper body with a bit for my somewhat feeble abdominal section.

The rest of is to just get in the habit (longstanding for me) of not taking the easy way all the time. I walk (fast) instead of driving short distances, at the grocery store etc park in the furthest corner not the spot closest to the door. If I go to Home Depot for a specific item I will also do a complete circuit, up and down every aisle before heading to checkout. There is an Asian grocery store I go to regularly, big place but on a second floor, 3 options. elevator, escalator or stairs (40 steps), about 33% take the elevator, 66% take the escalator and 1% (me) take the stairs.

I'll be turning 72 in April and am retired from leading an outdoor program. I learned a long time ago that if I was going to keep up with college students, I needed to do some sort of "training" all year. For me it would change as the seasons did but I was always adding extra walking to my daily routine (park on the other side of campus and then walk to the office) of swimming. I would also start carrying a pack with 2/3 of the load I'd have for our overnights about 8 weeks prior to a trip so I could get some strength training in while adapting my body to the extra weight. All of it worked for me then so I continue with a version of it now.

The big change I made was two years ago when I developed an issue with cramps while on trips; especially hiking related ones. Now I head down to my basement 3xs a week for stretching and strength training. I don't do anything fancy but I do have a 45 minute routine that alternates between the two. For "equipment" all I use is a knock-off TRX set of straps. Along with this I adjust my activities based on the season; cutting/splitting/stacking firewood each fall, swimming a few times per week, xc skiing & snowshoeing (thank goodness winter has returned) and biking when I can. All of this seems to have made it easier on my body when I get out for a trip of any kind. While there are days I'm not inclined to keep this up, I do know the long term benefits so I continue on. Besides, my wife says she wants to keep me around for as long as possible so that's an added incentive as well!

That's all for now. Take care, good luck in keeping fit and until next time...be well.

snapper

This has been an unusually cold and snowy winter so far here in north central NY State, on the western edge of the Adirondacks. I have a simple one room hunting camp that I inherited from my dad. It is in the highest snowfall area east of the Rock Mountains, directly in the path of the highest lake effect snowfall east of Lake Ontario of the Tug Hill Plateau. I usually judge winters by how many times I need to XC ski over two miles into it to shovel as much as four feet of snow off the roof in an attempt to prevent collapse from the weight. Some years just once is sufficient. Three times so far this season. I also XC ski close to home whenever I can.

I also have a much more modern Adirondack style lake side camp in the opposite direction. It has a long driveway and parking area. By GPS with my relatively small snowblower, it is a two mile back and forth walk to clear it all. it has needed that much more than usual so far this season, and I will be there again later today. When conditions permit, I power walk about 3 miles on a nearby dirt road up and down 3 moderate hills. I will also XC ski or snowshoe in the back woods there whenever I can.

Before my first Yukon Rive race in 2008, I bought a Waterrower for use at home during the outdoor icy months. (not my photo)


At camp I havily rely on a Paddlespsorts canoe rower attachment on a Concept2 machine to keep muscle tone. (also not my own photo)


As soon as ice out in late March or early April I will be out on the lake with one of my canoes as much as possible before the first Adirondack canoe race in early May.

General fitness. Lots of walking, some sit ups, some weight, yard work.
I have found that using a large landscape rake to move dirt uses a lot of the same muscles as paddling. I had a landscape company of native plants for my last gig. Using the rake at different angles like overhead, side pulling, simulating a Dufek, etc made for some great paddling muscles. I still have large Lats to this day as a result.

I'm only 61 so my winter canoeing workout is to sit on the couch, look at maps and drink (in moderation as I get older).

In the interest of full disclosure though I've been a farrier for the past 28 years so strength training isn't a thing in my world; the horses take care of that for me.

I recently quit drinking. Now I drink non-alcoholic cocktails. Better for the heart. No hangovers. After a lifetime of drinking it feels pretty good. The ritual is the same, but no impairment. Very little coffee. Now I sleep better and have gotten smarter. Memory is better.

Being a farrier is hard on the back. I teach kids to clean horses' feet. Mostly I don't get under them much. I used to clean all of my mules' feet from the same side, an old race track trick. They did not need shoes. I just hit them with a rasp once in awhile.

My routine year round is swimming laps about 3 x wkly for 1/2 mile, walking 1-2 miles 3-4 x wkly, and a 1 x wkly older person yoga class that is mostly easy stretching. Starting March every year I go to the local nature center and start carrying a 60# royalex canoe. I work up to a 1/3 mile continuous carry with no rest stops. This routine has worked well for me since 2017, when I was preparing for a 3 wk Canadian trip. I am 77 now and hope to be able to continue the Canadian trips I like until I am 80. One issue I have noticed starting last year was that my agility is not so good, especially on rough surfaces. On the two trips I took last year, I relied on younger more agile trip mates to handle the rough parts of portages with the canoe.

I did strength training and cardio regularly until about 50 but hated every minute of it. I can't stand being in a room doing one thing like a treadmill or exercise bike - it bores me to tears even with a TV on. I've since just focused on the "keep moving" strategy. I walk the dog at least 4 miles a day. I bicycle 20+ miles several times a week. I paddle a couple times a week. I park well away from the store and walk. I try to do an aggressive hike once a week. I'm not as fit as I was when younger and working out but it's good enough for me. That's part of the reason that we winter somewhere warm in the RV now that we're retired. We took the dog for a long walk this morning and will paddle the river that runs through our campground this afternoon. For dinner we'll ride our bikes to a taco stand we saw on our drive in.

I don't do any training specific to paddling except paddling (about 200x/year). I have a general fitness routine that includes some resistance training and cardio at the YMCA plus a little core stuff at home. I try to paddle year round; so far this winter my local river was only unavailable for 2 weeks. I enjoy round trip paddles on rivers going upstream first and the St Joseph will give you as much challenge as you wish going upstream (and with wind and other variables it's often surprisingly challenging going downstream too). I find that when I do get on a lake it feels kind of easy and I end up wanting to paddle harder and cover some miles.

I'm pretty sure I need to put more (any) priority on stretching and after hurting my shoulder doing something extra stupid at the gym last week I have to remember that there is no point to heavy weights when repetitions with lighter weights work fine and minimize self-inflicted injuries.

snapper said:

I'll be turning 72 in April and am retired from leading an outdoor program. I learned a long time ago that if I was going to keep up with college students, I needed to do some sort of "training" all year. For me it would change as the seasons did but I was always adding extra walking to my daily routine (park on the other side of campus and then walk to the office) of swimming. I would also start carrying a pack with 2/3 of the load I'd have for our overnights about 8 weeks prior to a trip so I could get some strength training in while adapting my body to the extra weight. All of it worked for me then so I continue with a version of it now.

The big change I made was two years ago when I developed an issue with cramps while on trips; especially hiking related ones. Now I head down to my basement 3xs a week for stretching and strength training. I don't do anything fancy but I do have a 45 minute routine that alternates between the two. For "equipment" all I use is a knock-off TRX set of straps. Along with this I adjust my activities based on the season; cutting/splitting/stacking firewood each fall, swimming a few times per week, xc skiing & snowshoeing (thank goodness winter has returned) and biking when I can. All of this seems to have made it easier on my body when I get out for a trip of any kind. While there are days I'm not inclined to keep this up, I do know the long term benefits so I continue on. Besides, my wife says she wants to keep me around for as long as possible so that's an added incentive as well!

That's all for now. Take care, good luck in keeping fit and until next time...be well.

snapper

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You might try taking Magnesium for the cramps. I used to be bothered by cramps a lot and the magnesium pretty much cured it. The glycinate form is supposed to cause less diarrhea.

I try to paddle regularly, year round. Rough weather interrupts that some. Same went for poling until the winter of '23 when I went through a lot of health problems. Haven't gotten back into that seriously yet, but I'm ready to do that now as soon as it warms up a little.
Other than that, I do some weight training, ski machine, and balance board when I can't go outside. BC skiing and MTB in the mix, depending on season.

At 68 now, I'm in better shape than I was ten years ago when I was still employed. I get a lot more consistent physical activity. Doc says "keep moving". Trying my best to comply.

Steve in Idaho said:

I try to paddle regularly, year round. Rough weather interrupts that some. Same went for poling until the winter of '23 when I went through a lot of health problems. Haven't gotten back into that seriously yet, but I'm ready to do that now as soon as it warms up a little. v
Other than that, I do some weight training, ski machine, and balance board when I can't go outside. BC skiing and MTB in the mix, depending on season.

At 68 now, I'm in better shape than I was ten years ago when I was still employed. I get a lot more consistent physical activity. Doc says "keep moving". Trying my best to comply.

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Not sure about BC skiing, but XC skiing is very good cross training.
I alternate upper body days with lower body/cardio days.
In warm weather that means paddling for upper and cycling for lower.
I had open heart surgery in 2018 to get a valve replaced. That was a setback.
Then in, I think, in Feb. 2021 I had emergency abdominal surgery and spent three weeks in bed and lost over 30 lbs. That was a huge set-back.
The worst part of that was I caught pneumonia in the hospital and now have reduced lung function.
Considering all that, I'm doing pretty good now. I can keep up with all but the young bucks.

This morning at 4:00am I was outside for 75 minutes shovelling snow. It was fabulous fluffy stuff rather than the usual soggy and super heavy we usually get. That said, as I was finishing up the plows started clearing my street, filling in the end of my driveway THREE TIMES.

Thankfully this was not the amount of snow that has been hitting the Northeast US recently. I seem to be in some sort of microclimate in my area, getting a lot less snow than the people just a couple of miles north or west this year (and last year). Even though I am only a short distance from Lake Ontario we do not really get any of the lake effect snowfall.

In any event....I think my "training" is done for the next couple of days, even my fitbit is telling me to slow down!

ppine said:

I recently quit drinking. Now I drink non-alcoholic cocktails. Better for the heart. No hangovers. After a lifetime of drinking it feels pretty good. The ritual is the same, but no impairment. Very little coffee. Now I sleep better and have gotten smarter. Memory is better.

Being a farrier is hard on the back. I teach kids to clean horses' feet. Mostly I don't get under them much. I used to clean all of my mules' feet from the same side, an old race track trick. They did not need shoes. I just hit them with a rasp once in awhile.

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I watch those farrier video's that show up online all the time. Like guys that finish drywall, its art form.

Being a farrier is 40x harder than hanging drywall. Sheet rockers are at the bottom of the construction totem pole.
Farriers work with large live animals that can kill them. Every horse, mule and donkey is different. They have to learn cold shoeing, hot shoeing and corrective shoeing. Horses are large animals with relatively weak feet and suspensory ligaments and cartilage. They have all kinds of problems. Breeders need to focus more on good feet, and much less on things like color.

I row now, so using a rowing machine before a trip is a great idea. Good technique allows older guys to stay in the game. I have traditionally done a lot of paddling even on fast moving rivers. Now I am much more content to just float along in the current than before.

Normally my summer work is A Lot of hiking with a pack on filled with my daily gear kit, a large chainsaw, gas/oil and a first aid kit. Or if I’m in wild wilderness it’s the same thing but swap the chainsaw for a crosscut and handsaws and swap gas/oil out for a peavy and axe. The combination of hiking, carrying equipment and the work involved tends to keep my strength and endurance in check. We go especially hard in the early spring for trail clearing and hazardous tree removal along all the trails, and camps. When we’re on both North and South Manitou Islands, it’s a bust your butt for a week or two per island before the park staff and summer tourists get over there. Every employee does a lot more than the public sees or is ever written up in articles.. all season long. We’ll see if that’s the case for the next few years as Nat Park employees are drastically reduced.

In the winter months I switch roles and usually work at a gear store, giving me the fortunate ability to try/buy gear at a lower cost. It also gives me the flexibility to get out and skin and snowboard. I combine two, skin up with my Hok 125cm skis and snowboard down. I’ll wake up before sunrise and go to the municipal ski hill, skin and snowboard for a while, and head to work. This helps keep my endurance going and my legs decent. I’ve always lacked working on my legs, on hard impacts from snowboarding (jumping stairs or cliff drops) or mountain biking, my legs would usually buckle sometimes causing me to crash. I’ve incorporated leg strengthening and hip openers to the regime. When I’m climbing out on a tree limb making a reducing or removal cut, I’d get a bad cramp in my hip and have to scramble to reposition, it was the worst! Or carrying heavy packs for a few miles, I’d get the same cramp and it’d really make moving hard. Found out adding those hip openers to my workout it really helped those cramps go away. I also found if I squat down and push my knees open with my elbows on a daily basis for a few minutes, usually while I have a morning tea or coffee. Mellowing out while I do it, no serious pushing.

I do yoga a couple of times a month, I want to do more though. Like @snapper i have a knockoff trx strap setup. I use some retired camp straps and sometimes will use an old section of paddle shaft or a stout wooden rod. My wife and I also add daily herbs and mushrooms into our diet. She’s a certified herbalist so half of her office looks like an Apothecary shop. We get some “Wow” faces when new people come over, especially when my parents, in their 70’s, see things like “mango kush, wormwood, devils club, pheasant back”. I think foraged herbs, mushrooms, and mixed remedies has really helped me keep going in conjunction with easy workouts. They’ve also help me recover from injuries or sicknesses to get back to the things I enjoy.

I use a water rowing machine too.

For what it’s worth, a 5/8” sheet of drywall weighs 70 lbs and hanging board all day would make you dang strong. There’s also a huge difference between slapping mud on taped Sheetrock seams in tract homes and those folks who skim coat continuous imperial plaster on blue board. Some of those guys are magicians.

Not to add to thread drift but (yeah, I know, "everything that precedes the word 'but' is clearly BS")...

Farriers work with large live animals that can kill them.

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Nope. Typically, only young farriers without established clientele do that. At this point, I only work with animals that have been trained to stand or ones that are drugged into a stupor (I'm not particular which method the owner chooses but will quickly cull unruly animals).

I've done my share of drywall too (last weekend, in fact) and can't say which is easier. Seeing the difference before and after though, farrier work is often more rewarding. Pretty cool to watch an animal hobble in & walk out.

Certainly didn't want to stir up any controversy.

I worked construction before - I was unaware I was at the bottom of the construction totem pole. In my experience there were people doing tasks on job sites where I was happy to be "at the bottom of the construction totem pole". All a matter of perspective I guess.

As Pseudonym states above - "some of those guys are magicians" and while I didn't use that exact term I feel that is correct. After all, it is ones opinion.

Gamma states seeing that farrier work can be rewarding. I agree. I hate seeing those animals, sometimes in horrible pain and unable to walk be almost transformed once detailed. Certainly watching this transformation is rewarding, much more then finishing drywall.

Are we to now force-rank life's activities to determine who is at the bottom of the barrel and who is not? I don't care to live in that world. Instead, I prefer to think that a persons perspective is a persons perspective. I feel good watching farriers, drywall guys, musicians, artists, et al doing their thing. Never thought one was more important than the other. I just appreciate it for what it is.