Suffering from an injury at the beginning of the season would really put a damper on the enjoyment you’ll have during the year and since the peak season does only last for a few months, it’s critical you’re doing whatever you can off-season to prepare yourself.

By following a well-planned fitness workout program, you’ll be all ready to go by the time late spring rolls around and you’re prepared to get back into your kayak.

Here are the main fitness components you should be thinking about.

Muscular Endurance

Having muscular endurance is going to help you when you’re on a longer run on the river by preventing lactic acid from accumulating in the muscle cell and causing fatigue.  When your body isn’t trained for muscular endurance, you may find that after a few short minutes on the water you’re feeling very tired and even have to stop and rest.

By training for this aspect, the muscle fibers will become better accustomed to removing the lactic acid, decreasing fatigue.

To train for muscular endurance, perform your weight lifting exercises into the higher rep ranges of 8-12 or even 15 reps per set. Note that you’re not going to get extremely strong by using this technique, but that’s not the primary focus at this time.

Muscular Strength

Second we come to muscular strength.  This is where you will place the focus on getting a great deal stronger, which will help you generate more force and power when you’re out in your kayak. This can come in handy as you battle the higher class rivers where you’ll experience greater tension forces from the water acting upon you.

To promote this aspect of fitness development, shift your rep range with your weight lifting exercises downwards, moving them to the five to eight rep range. This allows you to lift a much heavier weight, generating peak strength in the process.

Don’t be surprised if you do see yourself growing in this portion of your workout program provided you are taking in enough calories since this variation of training is more geared towards muscular hypertrophy (size growth) as well.

Cardiovascular Endurance

As much as you may hate sessions on the bike or treadmill, bringing up your cardiovascular endurance will also be important.  Much of kayaking is a strength based activity, but having good cardio conditioning behind you will be nothing but beneficial.

This also helps out with reducing the amount of fatigue you’ll experience and you’ll find that when you’re well conditioned, you’re able to go kayaking for hours at a stretch without needing extended rest periods.

The best way to increase your cardiovascular conditioning for kayking is to perform longer duration, moderate paced workouts (20-40 minutes) or you can also lean towards working your sprint ability by shifting the sessions towards one minute hard intervals supplemented with two minute ‘easy’ paced intervals (do 5-10 of these intervals each workout).

A mixture of both types of sessions will give you the best of both worlds.

Shoulder and Torso Flexibility

Finally, the last aspect of fitness for kayaking that must be in place is a good stretching program for the shoulders and torso.  If you watch a kayaker in the water, you can clearly see how much twisting movement can go on and having a longer range of motion will be helpful as you attempt different paddling strokes.

Good flexibility in this area also helps to prevent injury as well, since inflexibility is one of the primary causes of a pulled muscle.

Spend at least 10 minutes after each workout session going through flexibility movements (such as side bends, torso twists, shoulder stretches against a wall, etc) to improve your abilities.

Getting on well-rounded fitness program during the months you take off of kayaking will not only maintain your fitness level over the winter, but will make sure that the season ahead of you will be your best one yet.

Return back to Kayak Alberta.

As you prepare for your kayak trip, don’t forget to pack plenty of high energy snacks that will help fuel you through your time on the water.  Ideally these snacks should be light and easy to transport, high in both carbohydrates and protein, and moderate in fat content to prevent you from feeling too sluggish while you’re exercising.

Those of you who are going on weekend trips will likely be packing coolers so your range of snack options will increase, but even if you’re just going for a day trip, there are still plenty of calorie dense kayaking snacks to power you through the day.

Here are some that you’ll want to consider.

Home Made Trail Mix

Trail mix is a really nice snack since you can create it any way you like with the foods you enjoy.  Smart snacking options include pretzles, mixed nuts, cereals such as Shreddies or Chex, corn nuts, sunflower seeds, popcorn, and raisins.

Dried Fruit

While fresh fruit is always a healthy choice for a quick snack, it gets harder to transport, especially if you’re looking for something to pack in the kayak with you.  Dried fruit then is the next best option and will really pack in the calories, making it perfect for those longer trips when you’ll need more energy.

With all the different varieties of dried fruit available – papaya, pineapple, mango, cranberries, and so on, there’s sure to be one or two that you enjoy.

One note to be aware of is that while banana chips are also a good quick snack, watch how many you eat because typically they are also much higher in fat than their other dried fruit counterparts.  Some fat is definitely okay since it will provide 9 calories per gram as opposed to the four that come with carbohydrates, but too much fat will just leave you wanting to take a nap.

Peanut Butter-Oatmeal Balls

Making your own peanut butter-oatmeal balls is another quick and simple snack to take on the go.  These can be easily made by combining your favorite variety of peanut butter (approximately 1/2 cup) with 1 to 1 1/2 cups of dry rolled outs, and for added protein, one scoop of protein powder (vanilla or chocolate typically will work best).  Once this is all mixed together, add enough honey to make it sticky so you can form small balls.  Place these in the fridge to harden and then pack in a tupperware container to take with you.

Tuna Roll-Ups

If you’re fortunate to have a cooler as mentioned above, tuna on whole wheat soft tortilla’s with some low-fat cheese is another good snack to bring with you.  Tuna is a very high quality source of protein that will supply your muscles with the amino acids they need to recover from the exercise you’re doing.

Protein Bars

Finally, for those who are looking for maximum convenience, you might want to consider some of the commercial protein bars available.  Be careful with these that you are reading the ingredient and nutritional info however as many are no more than a glorified chocolate bar.

Ideally you should look for one that contains between 200 and 300 calories, has at least 15 grams of protein, no more than 10 grams of sugar, and has a fat content of between 5-10 grams.  This will provide a well balanced energy source for your body that won’t produce a rapid blood sugar spike followed by the dreaded crash – which, while on the water would be really unpleasant.

By keeping these snacks in mind and coming up with your own creative varieties, you will ensure that you aren’t left without energy on your next kayak trip.

SECTION: Below Mistaya River Canyon to HWY 93 bridge

Mistaya Canyon Start

HOW TO GET THERE:

Your take out is right before the HWY 93 bridge which offers a beautiful view of the North Saskatchewan River. Just after the bridge on your right hand side is a small path leading to your take out. For your put in travel 2.0km until you see a roadside turn out. Hike down this narrow bedrock until you reach the river (about a 5 min hike). You can either choose to: a) walk along the Mistaya Canyon walls and find a spot to seal dive off of (There is an area that is about a 2 meter dive just down the Canyon) or b) you can choose to start your run right where the canyon ends.

WHAT TO EXPECT:

The steep walled canyon of the Mistaya offers a tight grade III paddle until it leaves the canyon. After it does leave there is a series of grade III rapids that are integrated with good obstacles to work around. Practice picking your lines and running them. This is a short run that takes about an hour to do. The many bends in the river provide some good waves and rapids. Eventually the Mistaya joins with the North Saskatchewan and calms down drastically. Once the 2 rivers join, your take out is just a few minutes down on your river left side. Pay attention to sweepers that can become dangerous on the first few sections of the river.

Mistaya After Canyon

Kayaking Mistaya After Canyon

Lake Before Mistaya

SECTION: 6km south of Mistaya Canyon to Mistaya Canyon

HOW TO GET THERE:

The Mistaya River Joins with the North Saskatchewan right before Abraham Lake. The River is located along HWY 93. Traveling from Nordegg, drive south on the David Thompson HWY (11) until HWY 93. Head eastbound on 93 until you come to Mistaya River Canyon. This is your take out. Do not forget this; the Mistaya Canyon should not be attempted. For your put in continue on HWY 93 for about 6km and look for any one of the dried up creeks to carry your kayak down to the river.

WHAT TO EXPECT:

Beginning of Mistaya

This section of the Mistaya is rated class II/IIII. There are a series of continuous rapids from the start to the finish. Most of the rapids are class II with the odd class III feature. There are many large boulders that add obstacles to this run creating many nice holes and waves. Expect about 2 hours to run this section. Last time I checked, there was an orange ribbon tied up to a tree on river left that warns of the Canyon coming up. This ribbon gives about 400 meters between you and the Canyon drop.

Kayaking Mistaya Before Canyon

Get out before this as it goes straight into the canyon

DOnt go into this

WHERE TO STAY:

Preachers Point campground is a free site that doesn’t include any amenities but, it does offer a spectacular view of Abraham Lake and its surrounding mountains. It is about a 30 minute drive along hwy 11 from Mistaya Canyon. This campground is also about 40 km south of the Cline River which offers spectacular fishing and a grade IV/V canyon run.