Paddling through the winter? Building fitness and strength for sea kayaking

Paddling through the winter months can be wonderful way of getting some much needed daylight and nature into our lives and keeping the paddling mojo high. However let’s not kid ourselves, it can be miserable too… right? It can also be a great time to focus on building your fitness and strength for sea kayaking; the activity you love.

When the weather is foul and daylight in short supply is a great opportunity to lay the ground work to build fitness and strength for the coming season. Taking some time away from the kayak doesn’t have to mean a step backwards, it can be a time to address niggling injuries, embed a mobility habit, build strength and power, and do shorter paddles with a focus on fitness and speed. Sea kayaking demands a lot from our bodies, mobility, strength and endurance for starters.

What are your paddling goals for 2025 and beyond? 

We all want to enjoy our paddling and to feel we are making progress, whether that is increased pace to paddle in the group with ease, endurance for longer days, strength and power for short burst in the tide-races, coping with high winds, being better at getting in and out of your kayak, avoiding injury, and simply more enjoyment. All these would benefit from attention on how your fitness could help and asking yourself if this could be the missing link with your paddling.  

Walking, running and swimming are well established ways to maintain our cardio fitness. However, it is becoming more widely understood that as we age, it is strength training, and not just cardio that is key to maintaining muscle mass and strength. This is especially so for older female paddlers who may not consider this before, and as we understand more about how the menopause can affect us physically.  

What does this look like? 

So where to begin? 

• Paddle UK have developed a Fitness in Paddlesport eLearning module which covers all you need to know for fitness and strength for sea kayaking so that’s a great place to start
• Find a local class – can help you stick to a routine, often sociable and fun
• Invest in some weights and find a programme to follow
• Work with a Personal trainer to devise a personalised programme
• There is a wealth of information online, and many rabbit holes to explore. One leading voice on female physiology is Stacy Sims

From personal experience, I have found that a strength class once a week, lifting weights heavier than I initially would have thought, is enough to make a real difference,. I’m lucky that my brother runs an outdoor Functional Fitness classes at PedalHouse in Edinburgh and there are lots of others and there will be something local to you. This combined with a short paddling session where I aim to go faster than I normally would can really step up my paddling fitness.

When the lighter days finally reappear on the other side of winter, you will be in a much stronger place for the coming season. Perhaps reward yourself with booking some coached sessions.