Fitness tips to start the season

Reposted from the Dagger community site, written by Brad Ludden

The best way to start your season is by being physically prepared. There are a few key things that you can do to make your transition off the couch and onto the water as smooth as possible.

First things first. CLEAN UP YOUR DIET! This is the easiest thing you can do to make the biggest difference in your fitness is eat better. This is simple. Keep fat, meat and veggies in your diet. Cut out simple carbohydrates (anything white- white bread, white rice etc) and most importantly CUT OUT SUGARS!

Second, paddling is the best training for paddling. Get on the water. Take advantage of low flows and get your long boat out. Do sprints in your kayak. Make these short and intense. We aren't doing long pieces. Focus on going 100% for short periods of time. Here's what you do. 20 seconds on (this is about 20 strokes per side) and then a 10 second rest. Do this 8 times which should total about 4 minutes of training.

When you're not in your boat you should be working on putting weight over your head. Shoulder presses, hand stand push ups and over head squats. Pull ups and dips are a great thing to mix in. One example of a work out would be 5 hand stand push ups, 10 pull ups and 15 push ups as many times as you can in 20 minutes.

The final piece of preseason advice. I want you to spend as much time on this site as possible. It will provide great information and workouts: www.crossfit.com

For supplements to help you in your fitness journey, check out Training Day's stuff (www.trainingday.com) They specialize in strength, explosiveness and recovery. All good things for kayakers!