@Overstreet said:
Then you’ll likely do better if you back off a little to insure proper technique. Same as sail boat racing. Smooth moves and good looks wins the race. Errors and wasted movements loose the race and lowers endurance.
Agree 100%. Just like the fastest swimmers don’t seem to be working hard at all. Age and arthritis seem to be helping me slow down too; top speed runs are not a big priority for me.
And we get that “help” for free.
While paddling, my focus on moderation has more to do with muscle exertion. I am pretty sure when you paddle a lot your muscle strength reaches a point where it is possible to strain things that probably weren’t made to handle the available force. Anyway, that’s how it works on me, so I have to constantly remind myself to back off a little.
Sometimes just changing to a different boat apparently can put things in a little bit different alignment and I have to be careful about how hard I push it. I’ve also found that I do better if I don’t allow more than a couple of days between paddling outings. By about the third day some feedback (oweies) starts showing up.
I appreciate your comments magooch. I have only recently started trying
The pic shows the 3 paddles that I use the most, all 56" straight shaft. The Black Bart Troublemaker in the middle is my favorite by far, but it’s also a very powerful paddle along with the Bending Branches, so sometimes I force myself to use the smaller bladed Zav just for self preservation.
Beginners go to fast… 
I was young and had great upper body strength when I started. Went from a rec kayak to a Necky Zoar quickly. With a horrible paddle. After a sprint around Jocassee which made me wonder why my arms felt like they we’re out of joint, I slowed down and started doing my homework.
Thanks to great advice on p.net, I was able to stop trying to destroy my shoulders.
Almost 30 years later, my shoulders still appreciate it.
@Rookie said:
The 220 number to calculate MHR is aimed at men.
It is unusable for men too.
I am supposed to have an MHR of 170 according to this formula. And according to the 55-85% recommendation, I should never go beyond 145 during training.
I don’t know my MHR, but I occassionally hit 180 on a run. My normal running HR is 160-165, far beyond the 145. I am actually not able to run slow enough to stay below 145.
I’m no expert, I was just repeating what I heard from a Wellness Coach at the local Y. Interesting that they were showing the cardio room to a newbie and they asked an older woman her age and she was 80 and exercising above the 85% MHR guideline. For me the guideline seems to work pretty well.
@Allan Olesen said:
@Rookie said:
The 220 number to calculate MHR is aimed at men.
It is unusable for men too.
True. Per the link I cited, the 220 number was updated to 206.9 for men and 206 for women, revisions claimed to give estimates closer to reality, But it’s still just a baseline estimate, which is fine for training as you can tweak the numbers based on what your body is telling you.
