“Repetitive work, like paddling forward, is performed at a cadence that the individual feels is the most comfortable or efficient. He chooses the cadence probably because of muscle elasticity. If he moves too slowly, certain muscles must contract isometrically to prevent this elastic force from acting. As a result, a slow paddle may become more fatiguing to him than a faster one, even though the total work is reduced. Effective use of muscle elasticity requires that he moves at some minimum speed.”
From “The Barton Mold”, now (half anyway) available as a PDF ebook on the Epic website.
That does not apply to me
thank goodness!
I can and do paddle both canoes and kayaks at a high cadence and can hold the pace for long periods, but I also enjoy an all day paddle in and out of creeks, marshes, and thruough lilly pads exploring and just poking around.
At the end of the day I am more fatigued after the hard work out than the “lilly dipping paddle”
Cheers,
JackL
1 Like
yeah
I just paddle with a Broom stick to keep from Lilly dipping…
Getting in a groove
– Last Updated: Nov-22-05 4:03 PM EST –
All it's really saying is that below a certain point you can't get into a decent grove (fluid and efficient motions) over time /distance - not that you can't enjoy poking around too!
You can't tell me you haven't felt this. Don't you have a natural cadence somewhere above poking that feels better and lets you sort of forget yourself and your equipment?
I'm not talking hammering away (since I'm obviously not that fast or fit) but I do like going at a steady rate about 4.5 kts/ 5MPH. Not a race pace for serious paddlers, but above any group pace I've been with. Not particular reason beyond that's what feels good.
I find myself more likely to be a bit stiff after a 2-3 hour group paddle, while I'm rarely stiff at all after a 2-3 hour workout paddle (and usually more flexible than when I began). Yes, the workout pace leaves me more tired - but it's a good tired, with everything feeling worked pretty equally.
Really more about individual stroke cadence/mechanics than speed anyway. Leave the power out of the equation and you still have a natural rhythm. Below it you have to sort overreach to brake yourself - or completely drop any rhythm and dabble. Above that you just add power to your natural form and or pick it up a bit. Still smooth.
Nope, not me!
but I do agree that after a hard work out that pleasantely sore tired feeling is great just like it is after a hard 40 miles on the bike or a all day x-country ski sojurn.
I just hope I can keep it up another ten or fifteen years.
Cheers,
Jackl
Makes sense
Especially with an efficient hull, like…ummm…a CD EXTREME! The body seems to operate more efficiently at rhythm. Maybe that’s why all those arobic workouts with pounding music seem easier.
Now I know why my wife always
says I look so tired when we are shopping.
shopping can bore one to tired
Unless it shopping in shops of your choice.
What kind of shopping is wearing you out?
I can wander about Lowes without getting too bored and when I’m in Kalamazoo I love going to Lee’s.
Grocery shopping, clothing shopping, and just general going to the mall shopping - wear me out.
Shopping can be dangerous as well - like my trip to the fat ladies store on Thursday night of last week. I saw the guy with the cell phone but never saw him go up to the clerk and put his gun in her face.
It’s the same in cycling
Muscle Elasticity?
– Last Updated: Nov-24-05 3:16 PM EST –
Never heard that one before. I've heard of folks having different percentages of fast-twitch and slow-twitch muscle. You s'pose that affects elasticity?
It is true that there are fast twitch,
slow twitch, and intermediate twitch muscle fibers, but much of what has been said about this issue has been horse puckey. Much like all the talk about left brain and right brain.
Interesting
I’ve noticed that I seem to get just as tired when I go at a slower pace as I do at a quicker one. Now, at the two extremes, this doesn’t hold true. If I’m doing a seriously lazy day, its seriously easy! At the opposite end, yeah, I wear myself out. It has always seemed funny that when I’m out with a slightly slower group I do seem to get just as tired. For whatever reason.
The distant shore beckons me
It calls to me in a still quiet voice…or maybe that’s God’s voice, I don’t know? If God didn’t want us to go fast he would not have made QCC’s, Epic’s, surfski’s and wing paddles. See what I mean?! See you on the water. Franklin
I’ve caught turtles by hand lily dipping. I can’t figure it out going faster. They’re largely oblivious when they’re swimming, so you can sidle right up to them… but if you need to suddenly stop it spooks them and they dive for the bottom. Lily dip along and you can just scoop them up with one hand and plop them on your spray skirt. It’s fun to observe them for a few minutes and then gently set them back in the water. I’ve caught Eastern painted turtles, red-eared sliders, and musk turtles that way. (I won’t touch a snapping turtle when it’s in the water, though.)
That’s an extreme niche use, but it is something of value that lily dipping brings to the table.
A thread of old but not forgotten paddlers and friends.