get fit
[and] fast
TIPS, TRICKS AND GEAR TO SATISFY YOUR NEED FOR SPEED
BY CONOR MIHELL
BOB PUTNAM, the owner and general manager of North Vancouver’s Deep Cove Canoe and Kayak, is his own best customer when it comes to the weekly kayak races he’s been organizing since 1999. “I only miss two or three races per year,” he says. Even though he’s yet to win a race, Putnam is addicted to the fluid motion of working out in a kayak. “You don’t have to be the fastest pad- dler to enjoy it,” he says. “There’s just something about getting into a zone and paddling hard.” Deep Cove’s Tuesday night race se- ries has brought fitness kayaking into
the mainstream and made Vancouver a hotbed of high-performance paddlers; Putnam sells more surf skis and perfor- mance kayaks than any other retailer in Canada. Now, the trend is catching on elsewhere with more paddlers across the country sharing Putnam’s love of long-gliding sea kayaks and surf skis. This summer, Jodi Bigelow, an Ottawa- based paddlesports personal trainer, is organizing six- and 18-kilometre-long races in Lake Ontario’s Thousand Islands region, near Gananoque, and there are dozens of others scheduled from coast to coast.
But it’s not all about racing. Kayak-
ing is just as effective at building core strength and general fitness as a gym membership; and following a training plan like Bigelow’s eight-week program gives you more incentive to get out on the water. For touring kayakers, the benefits go well beyond washboard abs and a slow resting heartbeat. When you’re hooked on speed, “you start pay- ing attention to things like stroke ef- ficiency and balance,” says Putnam. “It ends up making you a better all-around paddler.”
www.adventurekayakmag.com 31
PHOTO: MALTE DANIELSSON/POINT 65 KAYAKS
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