Advice About Canoeing

[[old] abbass31]

I'm a rower in a small Town in Labrador. I do not have a crew in town to row with though so I just train indoors on the erg. However we have a local canoe regatta every year with big traditional labrador canoes. They are real slow and the race is about about 20 mins. It's not a very cardiovascular workout at all, more a muscle endurance I guess. <br /><br />Can anybody give me some suggestions on piece work to do to prepare for a 20 min race in these boats. Normally we just go out every other day and do the full course as hard as we can. I'm not sure if this is the most effective way to train. Should we do intervals or steady state or anything like that.<br /><br />Any help would be great.

[[old] Xeno]

<!--QuoteBegin-abbass31+Jul 4 2005, 11:26 AM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(abbass31 @ Jul 4 2005, 11:26 AM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->I'm a rower in a small Town in Labrador.  I do not have a crew in town to row with though so I just train indoors on the erg.  However we have a local canoe regatta every year with big traditional labrador canoes.  They are real slow and the race is about about 20 mins.  It's not a very cardiovascular workout at all,  more a muscle endurance I guess.  <br /><br />Can anybody give me some suggestions on piece work to do to prepare for a 20 min race in these boats.  Normally we just go out every other day and do the full course as hard as we can.  I'm not sure if this is the most effective way to train.  Should we do intervals or steady state or anything like that.<br /><br />Any help would be great. <br /> </td></tr></table><br />Hi<br />A twenty minute race to be performed as a maximum effort requires a solid aerobic capacity. No matter what sport we do, if the effort is longer than a minute, the athletes needs to train at or below the aerobic threshold. Here is what I would do to train for this twenty minute race which extremely similar to head racing in rowing. How often do you train your cardio? If you train often than I would make sure that at least three quarters of the time you do aerobic steady state. The less you train the more frequent you may have to push harder in levels of intensity that are between the aerobic threshold and the anaerobic threshold. In order to know these thresholds you need to know what the heart rate is at those intensity levels. There is the use of a LACTATE PRO, or a formula which was created by a Finish Doctor Karvonen. Your areobic Heart Rate is:<br />[(Max heart rate minus rest heart rate)X80%]+rest heart rate.<br />Ihope this is clear.<br />Feel free to email me if you need further assistance.<br />XENO

[[old] Canoeist]

In canoe racing, many people can train and race for a 20 minute race at very close to a sprint pace. This is because fewer muscles are involved in canoe racing than in rowing. Your cardio system usually is not the limiting factor.<br /><br />For canoe racing, the focus is using the big muscles of the back for power rather than the smaller muscles in the arms. If you use mostly your lats, then your cardio system could be pressed to the limit.<br /><br />Canoe racers do intervals and distance work similar to how the rowers train. They also do strength workouts with weights and run on foot for cardio work. There is also a lot of technique work getting the blade in and out smoothly. It is a different sport, but has many similarities.<br /><br />Regards,<br /><br />Paul Flack

[[old] highkneeler]

Good advice from the strength and fitness, and canoe!, experts. Less scientifically, get as much time in the boat as you can, so your paddling muscles will be ready for the event.<br /><br />Are you racing singles or team boats? In singles racing, good conditioning can compensate a lot for bad technique (to a point, anyway). In team boats, however, everyone must keep in stroke, so the best thing to do, if you have only a relatively short time to prepare, is to maximize practice time with your crew and get used to being in the boat together - in many races, it's the team that's not fighting itself that finishes first. Also, make sure the guy in the stern knows how to steer!<br /><br />Good luck,<br />Will Rhodes

[[old] Alissa]

I don't have any advice for your race, but remembered seeing a reference to a <a href='http://www.paddlemachine.com/' target='_blank'><i><b>Canoe Paddling Adapter</b></i></a> for the Concept2 Ergs when I was looking around the C2 site. I did a quick search and found an article in their <a href='http://www.concept2.com/05/rower/servic ... 11SP03.pdf' target='_blank'><i><b>Spring 2003 Newsletter</b></i></a>. (A subsequent google search led to the link above.) Perhaps someone else could tell you how useful this would be for your purposes?<br /><br />HTH<br /><br />Alissa <br /><br />