Kayakers Workout: What Professional Paddlers Do!

A kayaker’s workout, is it necessary? 

You may believe that kayaking is already a form of exercise. That is something I believe most of us consider! But lately, there has been some controversy about whether a kayaker workout is better to do before and after the paddling itself.

A lot of people start there to exercise by jogging. What about trying something first that would make you less strenuous? You might want to start by stretching your glutes, hamstrings, calf muscles, and other muscles. Kayaking requires not only arm strength but also the use of your entire body when paddling. However, I believe that the best kayakers workout, to begin with, is stretching.

Why Is a Kayakers Workout Necessary?

Kayakers workout
Kayakers workout
  • Kayakers workout builds endurance. Paddling demands a lot of endurance since it involves a constant motion for any stroke sequence.
  • Kayakers workout Increases Your Strength. To gain more power, you must strengthen your core muscles.
  • Kayakers workout Improves Balance. With a lot of paddling motion, you must balance your body from the kayak and all of your body motions. This would allow you to paddle in motion efficiently and smoothly.

Read More: Kayak Types: How to Choose the Right Kayak For You?

What Are The Best Kayakers Workout Programs?

 Kayakers Workout: What Professional Paddlers Do! 1
Kayakers workout
  • Cable Wood Chopper. The cable wood chop focuses on the transverse abdomen and oblique muscles. They are the muscles that enable you to rotate at the waist. It also gets involved in the muscles of your back, shoulders, and legs.
  • Bicycles. Including bicycle crunches in your training program strengthens your core, slims your waist, and enhances your flexibility and strength. This approach works your abs and obliques while also maintaining your body’s progress constantly, helps boost your pulse rate, and burns even more calories.
  • Skater With Uppercut. This stretching exercise uses your glutes, quadriceps, and core muscles to increase your rotational motion and balance. The uppercut action helps build shoulder endurance and muscle strength. The fast side-to-side skater action also helps circulate your blood.
  • Kneeling Chop Exercise. This is one of the most effective kayaking workouts which is frequently termed the “reverse chop”. This is a lifting exercise that incorporates your body motion into a background stroke. It will develop your core by strengthening its upper and lower abdominals and obliques. The same is true for your gluteus and upper leg muscles.
  • Single Leg Squat and Row Exercise. A squat workout would increase your core strength and stability. It engages your core muscles and balances your body weight over your knee. A row movement will develop your endurance in both biceps and muscles.
  • Crunch and Twist. You don’t require a six-pack ab to paddle nevertheless, this exercise will rotate your core. It improves core strength and endurance by engaging your obliques and abdominal muscles. When you practice this one of the greatest kayakers workouts, you can paddle efficiently.

Warm-Up Stretching Kayakers Workout Programs

 Kayakers Workout: What Professional Paddlers Do! 2
Kayakers workout

Head and Neck

Paddling requires you to pay attention to what’s going on around you, such as changes in wave patterns, weather, and obstacles ahead, such as rocks, a half-sunken tree, or a change in river grade, which causes the water’s velocity to increase into rapids. To see these changes, you must be able to swivel your head. This necessitates a flexible neck. 

  • Press your ear toward your shoulder. Apply additional pressure with your hand and repeat on the opposite side. Increase the tension on both sides as you do so. 

Shoulders

You can injure your shoulders if you rely too much on your arms for the paddle stroke. This is usually the result of forcing your shoulders to operate in ways they are not used to. So, slowly extend your arms horizontally, keeping them loose and rotating in small circles in both directions. Start with small circles and gradually increase the diameter of the circles. 

Chest

Paddling increases the strain on the pectoral muscles in your core. Join your hands behind your back, hold your wrist, and raise your arms over your head. This can be accomplished in a variety of ways. You can use a stationary object like a pole, a tree, or an unsuspecting bystander.

Back

Squeeze your arm above your chest by bringing one arm across your chest, hooking it with the other arm. You should feel the muscles between your shoulder and spine stretch. 

Biceps

Hold one arm out horizontally with the palm facing up. Grab the outstretched hand with your other hand, hold on to your fingers, and pull back.

Triceps

Raise one arm above your head, then bending the elbow, lower your forearm behind your head. Grab your elbow with your other hand and slowly pull your fingers down your spine. 

Core

Because abdominal muscles are important in kayak stroking, they should be exercised and strengthened. Place your hands on your head and slowly bend to one side with your feet shoulder-width apart. You should start to feel the muscles on that side of your body stretch. Repeat on the other side. Next, place your hands on your hips and slowly bend backward so your chest faces the sky. Remember to take deep breaths.

Groin

Stand with your feet slightly wider than your shoulders apart. Lunge to one side with one leg straight, keeping your back perpendicular to the ground. The stretch should be felt on the inside of your straight leg. 

Quadriceps

Stand upright leaning against something like a tree or building, bring your heel up to your butt and grab the ankle and pull. While holding this stretch, point your knee straight down on the ground. 

Hamstrings

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart without locking your knees. Bend forward at the waist, hold your ankles and draw your body core toward your legs. Stand up tall and take a deep breath. No, continue to bend down and press your body toward your legs while holding on to one of your ankles. 

Calves

Begin on your hands and knees, place the balls of your feet on the ground, and gently straighten your legs to form an inverted V.

Read More: Kayaking near me: Where, When, and How to Kayak like a Pro

Kayakers Workout: Advantage Of Stretching

Kayaking in Hilton Head Islands
Kayakers workout
  • Even if you are just focused on one region that day, it is important to stretch your entire body. 30 seconds is not counted.  
  • It is essential to your body that you retain the same core stretch program. If you are going to do a more intense workout, you should also do some more intense stretching. 
  • If you discover you are cramping in your workout, you are probably dehydrated. Water will help you rehydrate while also alleviating cramp discomfort. Stretching correctly before and after your workout is one approach to avoid this. 
  • When you begin stretching, begin slowly and gradually work your way into a deeper stretch. Stretching can be a workout in and of itself if done correctly. 
  • It is critical to stretch your entire body, including your core, lower body, and upper body. Try starting with your legs, feet, and ankles. 
  • The next thing you should do is progress to extending your belly, lower back, and hips. These stretches can be important if you’ve not been paddling for some days. 
  • Stretch your chest, neck, arms, and shoulders. It is also important to stretch after your workout. Post-workout stretches are something that far too many of us overlook, but there are compelling reasons to consider doing so regularly. After working out your muscles, you should stretch them out to avoid injury. 

Conclusion

With all of these Kayakers workout stated, you know they are essential before getting out on the water. You should first build the strength required for paddling. Kayaking is a great sport that anyone can learn at any time of their lives. It gives a good muscle-building workout, it can be done alone for relaxation or with a group of people for sheer fun, and it can be done in almost any body of water.

In the meantime, I’d love to connect with you on my Facebook, and Instagram accounts for more cool tips and recommendations on paddle boards and kayaks.

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Review written by: Tom

Hi! My name is Tom. During the year I try to be on a paddle board as much as possible. By reading this blog you'll stay updated on everything I test on the water :)