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HARD BODIES, BEER and SUSPICIOUS FRIENDS
What’s your recommended off-river
training program? Rosie Duncan, Edmonton, Alberta
It’s a tough question you ask, but as a former personal trainer I’ll try to enlighten you. Your ideal training program depends on what type of paddler you want to be. If you want to be a typical paddler, then you need to drink a lot of beer during the week. Because on the weekends when you’re sitting around the fire drunk and lying to people you barely know about the gnar that you run, you don’t want to get so hungover that you don’t paddle the next day. The more beer you drink regularly the easier your hangovers will be to handle. If, however, you’re after improved athletic performance you’ll want to substitute exercise for alcohol. Crazy, I know, but it works. Deciding what regimen to follow depends on what type of pad- dling you plan to do. For racers and freestyle competitors what is important is the abil-
ity to explode for short periods of time. Fitness freaks call this an- aerobic activity, which means your muscles are working so hard they are using oxygen faster than your body can supply it. As with most things, the more you do anaerobic activity, the bet-
In aerobics classes the women to men ratio is the opposite of kayaking… so it’s worth thinking about
ter you get at it, so if you need to call on anaerobic performance in competition you’ll want to mimic that type of behavior when you do your off-river training program by emphasiz- ing short but intense bursts of activity. Whether you are work-
ing on anaerobic con- ditioning in the gym or on the river you need to REST in between these bursts—long enough so
your heart returns to near its normal resting rate. Most competitors I see on the river just go and go until they are dead tired. Rest is just as important as exertion if you are going to get maximum benefits from training. Unless all you do is rest. That’s called laziness and is counterproductive to training. So the point is, if you’re competing in rodeo and your competition rides are 45 seconds long don’t train for fitness by doing three-minute rides. Fitness nuts also go on about specificity. This means you want
your training to mimic your actual sport. When boating you are us- ing back, torso and core movements to achieve quick changes in direction and momentum. So in the gym you’ll want to work the same forceful, full-body activities into your training by doing exer- cises like seated one-arm rows, hanging leg raises and dumbbell chest presses. Of course you’ll also want to train aerobically, which means stay-
ing within the body’s ability to provide oxygen to working muscles. Things like jogging or cycling are examples of aerobic exercise; so is aerobics, believe it or not. And in aerobics classes the women to men ratio is the opposite of kayaking…so it’s worth thinking about. We should organize dances between the two groups. After all we both wear tights, and Riot paddling rep Brent Cooper wears a thong, I know because I gave him mine; he’s probably wearing it right now.
My friend says I have to learn to kayak in a Dancer or a similarly long kayak. Is he
right? Mark Maiese, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Your “friend” is not your friend. If he’s telling you to learn in a Dancer he hates you and is probably laughing at you right now. In fact I bet he’s doing his best to sleep with your girlfriend too. Drop him—and keep an eye on your girlfriend.
Send Ben Aylsworth your questions at
ben@rapidmedia.com 24
BEN AYLSWORTH
RAPID
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