Off season fitness

Next spring my son and I will be going on a 250plus mile river(not white water) kayak trip. We are not able to kayak in the winter, what are the best work outs to keep us in prime condition?

William

choices
I like concept one rowing machine or orbital treadmill. Maybe you should buy gym memberships and do some hiking. Maybe plan on one trip down south with your boat. Moorehead city,NC has the intracoastal waterway. Make it fun and congratulations on having family who share your passion for the great outdoors. Hope your boats have lots of thigh paddling. ADK is a great read for long comfy camp trips.

Do Whatever You will Enjoy Doing
I am a beginner yakker but a road and mountain biker for many years. All winter, I ride a stationary recumbent bike because I enjoy it and it keeps me fit.



Becuase I enjoy it, I do it.



Have a great trip.

Agree
Do something you enjoy and try to keep your weight down. I don’t think your workouts necessarily need to be upper-body.

Don’t ignore the BT.
That is, Butt Training. If your plans have you going 60 miles per day at 5 MPH plus 1 MPH river, that’s 10 hours of sitting. Need to check out what kayak you will be in, work out the leg positioning and padding, and have some spare foam for changing positions and pressure points. Need to do some checkout paddles. Lots of preparation planning to do, that’s half the fun.

Get a good canoe.
Not trying to be tacky. A good double will haul your gear better and you will be much more comfortable and just as fast.

Is there snow in your area?
I found that x-country skiing is a great all around workout.

compliment that with mountain biking if the weather permits it, or a indoor wind trainer when it doesn’t.

Last year trying to prepare for a race in Feb down in Key Largo Florida from our snowy home in the mountains of NC, I used a couple of five pound weights, and sitting on the floor, similated a paddling position. I would do a bunch of reps, and then jump on the wind trainer and pedal for an hour.

It didn’t help me worth a damn, but it sure made me feel good!

Cheers,

JackL

String makes a good point
for 2 people you can change seating position a lot, which is one of the biggest challenges of kayaking compared to canoeing. you can also alternate front to back and side to side which is good for long distance. if the river is notably rough maybe the seaworthiness of a decked craft is better. canoe spray deck?

Oh ! Oh!..Coffee is going to be P.O’d
at us, we all pressed the button under the previous post rather than the original post.

That is what we get for going too fast.

My humble apologies to Coffee for my blunder!

Cheers,

JackL

It would be my experience that
emphasis should be placed on cardio for all of the off-season, with some upper body strength and flexibility work for the last third of the winter.



I assume that your trip is not the first thing out of the gate for you next season, so you should be in mid-season form, so to speak, by the time you embark on your journey.



The points about being able to shift the pressure points is well taken.



Good Luck and enjoy the time spent with your son.



Keep us posted as the trip progresses.

Hey… Don’t you know how to…
HAHAHA! Just kidding… at least the boards are “starting” to livin’ up a bit… I quit coming on to p.net for a long time cause it was all stupid “how do I sit in a kayak” type questions where NOBODY used common sense. Not to mention the facts that there are no good stories or pictures or ANYTHING exciting to read anymore. Even the B&B board is BORING!



Paddle easy,



Coffee

1 p-net
member here figured a simulated paddle routine. May be a good idea to sit similar to how ya would in your boats and use light weights on a bar to simulate paddling stroke. I lift weights and ride bike, but a 60 mile trip will work only certian muscles.