How to Train for Flatwater Kayak Racing
Adrenaline pumps through your body as you paddle down the lake striving to come in first place. Your shoulders become tired and your muscles ache but you love the feeling of winning. This rush heightens your excitement for the sport of flat water kayaking. Although it's a recreational sport that's conducive to a relaxing nature, it requires a good amount of endurance and strength. Training for a race takes time and preparation. Whether it's your first race or your 100th, laying the groundwork for a successful run requires planning.
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Instructions
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Prioritize your time. Full-time jobs and families make it difficult to get a lot of scheduled training done. However, by prioritizing your training sessions you make it possible to construct a well-developed plan of attack using your time efficiently. Focus on developing and maintaining strength, conditioning and technique.
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Develop a strategy. Considering when to sprint or cruise can give you an advantage throughout the race and when approaching the finish line. A pacing plan becomes an important part of your strategy. You want to be able to have enough energy to finish strong.
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Hire a professional strength and conditioning coach. If you have the financial means, this is the best option for optimal results. Coaches help assess your strengths and development areas and provide a customized plan to maximize your paddling performance.
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Strengthen your muscles. If you can't afford a personal coach develop a strength training program on your own. Begin with exercises that develop and maintain the strength in your biceps, triceps, deltoids, back and stomach muscles. Exercises such as the seated row, hammer curl, wrist curl, upper body pull, paddle drive and torso rotation provide a good starting point. However, do not forget the lower body exercises, such as squats, leg curls, leg extensions and hamstring stretches. Do not overlook your core stomach muscles, which play a pivotal role preparing a strong paddle technique throughout the race. Strength training builds the necessary endurance needed to maintain powerful strokes. The best type of strength or resistance training provides muscle memory and that can be found in your kayak. So try to get as much practice in the water as possible.
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Condition your body. Aerobic workouts present some of the best endurance training for kayak racing. Interval training provides options that help maximize intensity and keep the workout interesting. However, long distance training, speed play or repetition training provide other alternatives
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Remember technique. Use the proper grip to hold the paddle and then pull it through the water. Holding the paddle incorrectly produces poor stroke and increases the risk of injury to the shoulder or arms.
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Get to know the course. Take a few the practice rounds on the lake and familiarize yourself with the turns and marker buoys. By taking a few runs on the course, your decisions as to what lines you'll be taking during the race become a lot easier.
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