Long sunny days of kayaking on the water are the best part of summer. Especially when summer comes early- in May and sets temperatures soaring. The unfortunate downside of long paddling days in the heat is that we become more prone to injury. Its not related to the heat necessarily but we naturally do more when its warm and overuse the muscles that have been hibernating over the long winter season.
Its very important to be aware of your limitations and to avoid injury. Paddlers often injure their shoulders or wrists, partly due to overuse and partly due to lack of good technique. I ended up straining my wrists and shoulders after a long paddling trip this year-when they were most vulnerable-by overusing my mobile phone. The excessive typing on my phone at a work event ended up causing me a lot of discomfort and this meant taking a mini break from kayaking.
This break was planned to last a week and actually carried on for five. The only spanner in the works was (is?) the amazing weather. Blue skies, sunny days and warm evenings were meant for long days on the water. Sitting at my desk at work wasn't going to make things better so I decided to work on my strength so that I was less prone to injury in the future.
There is a lot of advice out there for conditioning your body and preparing for the kayaking season. There is some great advice from Adventure Kayak Magazine that provides detailed exercises and yoga poses to help kayakers avoid injury (https://www.rapidmedia.com/adventurekayak/categories/skills/7831-strength-training-for-kayakers; https://www.rapidmedia.com/adventurekayak/categories/skills/8459-yoga-poses-for-kayakers-in-the-off-season.html).
Those working in offices and sitting on their desks most of the day will find yoga provides people with agility and flexibility which is valuable while kayaking. In particular, some wrist and back strengthening exercises as well as chest/shoulder openers can change your life! If you haven't gotten into yoga yet and would like to try, have a look at Yoga with Adriene on YouTube for helpful videos to get you started (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFKE7WVJfvaHW5q283SxchA).
My other options for building strength have included sprinting and swimming. I am not yet running for the joy but purely to improve stamina and strength for kayaking. However, hot days have meant this is restricted to late evenings or cloudy mornings only. Swimming in my local lido on the other hand has been my dream come true and has helped me work on core strength as well as build stamina while cooling off in the city heat. Varying the strokes you do in the pool can be beneficial for the whole body toning and improve cardiovascular fitness. I tend to focus on breaststroke (tone hamstrings and strengthen chest muscles) and the backstroke (to tone the back and stomach) which should help me during paddling.
I finally got on the water on 4th July and enjoyed a brief thunderstorm on the River Thames as I paddled with my club on a balmy evening. Hoping to get out more and enjoy the heat, while it lasts! ;-)
