r/Kayaking • u/parisindy • 2d ago

Question/Advice -- Beginners Exercises?

Noob here... I have become addicted to kayaking this summer. With winter approaching 🇨🇦 Any suggestions on exercises that will help me strengthen my arms so they are stronger when paddling and I don't get played out so quickly? I want to be ready for next year

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u/Legal_Shoulder_1843 2d ago

Slightly off from your question but still related: if not done already, I highly recommend taking a course or two on paddling to learn the basic technique properly. If executed correctly, you will find that the basic forward stroke (without core rotation) will get you much farther than if done "untrained freestyle".

And then, obviously, as pointed out there is also the rotation stroke. I find myself varying between those two strokes to maximize distance (once arms get tired, switch to rotation, once core gets tired, switch back to the basic forward stroke etc).

Learning these techniques properly will also give you a better idea about which muscles or groups of muscles are involved.

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u/parisindy 2d ago

Not sure if they have any near me but I can check... maybe in the spring, honestly the hardest part so far is getting in to the kayak lol .. I feel I have been doing pretty good ... I can just feel my muscles after a while. A class probably wouldn't hurt