Kayaking is an exciting sport that offers many fitness benefits including muscular endurance and cardiovascular fitness. However, kayaking requires time to build up the fitness necessary to stay on the water for long periods. Many beginning kayakers will find themselves dead in the water after the first few minutes not because the cardiovascular demand is too great, but because their upper body will quickly become fatigued. Without a doubt, the biggest limitation for beginning kayakers is developing the proper kayaking technique and adequate upper body and core endurance to be able to kayak without early fatigue.
Kayaking requires great levels of endurance of the pulling muscles primarily the upper and middle back, rear shoulder, biceps, forearms, and abdominals.
The best way to develop functional strength to improve kayaking performance is to kayak. However, just 1 hour of additional targeted strength training each week can hasten your strength gains and improve your kayaking ability quickly.
The primary components of the strength training program to focus on are the types of exercises, number of repetitions, and rest periods between sets.
First, the exercises should be chosen to target the upper body pulling muscles and the core muscles. The best exercises to perform are listed below:
Seated row

• Hammer curl

• Wrist curls

• Twisting crunches

The seated row simulates the kayaking position very well. In a seated position, you will grab the handle of a weight stack with both hands and pull the hands to your chest. Then slowly lower the weight back to the starting position. This exercise is great for all of the pulling muscles needed to kayak well, especially the back and shoulders.
Hammer curls are a variation of biceps curls except that the palms are facing each other. With a dumbbell in each hand and the arms hanging to the side, curl the weight by bending the elbow until the dumbbell almost touches your shoulder. Then slowly lower and repeat. When you take a stroke in the kayak, the hand of your pulling arm is in the palms-in position. Therefore, this exercise mimics the kayaking motion well.
Wrist curls will strengthen the grip, which is often the weak link for many kayakers. Obviously, if your grip fails, your day on the water is done. Because the forearm and hand muscles that help with gripping are so small, they often fatigue first. Holding a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing away from you, curl your wrist upwards and then slowly lower back to the starting position.
Your abdominals the front and side are always under stress during kayaking. These core muscles are critical for maintaining proper form and helping to generate sufficient torque for each stroke. Twisting crunches are an ideal exercise because they strengthen both the front and side of the abdomen in a single movement. Lay on the ground with your knees bent and your arms crossed over the chest. Lift the shoulder blades off of the ground and rotate your torso touching your right elbow to your left knee. Slowly lower to starting position and then crunch again, this time touching left elbow to right knee.
For each exercise, perform 3 sets of 15 to 20 repetitions. Although many weight lifters do sets of 6 to 10 repetitions, they are training for strength. You as a kayaker are training for kayaking, a sport that requires high levels of muscular endurance. Therefore, you need to train with lighter weights and more repetitions. Additionally, to maximize your muscular endurance gains, keep your recovery time between sets to 1 minute or less. Resting for longer than this will limit any endurance gains by allowing the muscle to recover completely between sets.
This workout consists of a total of 12 sets with a 1-minute rest between sets. You should be in and out of the weight room in less than 30 minutes. Performed twice a week, this strength training regimen is a very effective and efficient way to increase your kayaking performance.
Finally, pay attention to your nutritional intake. Kayaking is a grueling sport and musculature requires proper nutrition in the form of natural vitamins derived from whole foods. It is true that many athletes depend on vitamin supplements to augment their daily nutritional intake. However, nutritional needs are best met via the diet or through natural whole food supplements such as aloe vera juice.

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