On Mon, 30 Mar 1998, Geo. Bergeron wrote: >> >> Hutchinson, Washburne or someone like that suggested a corollary >>between paddle choice and gears on a bicycle. Now, I'm fairly new to >>kayaking, but I raced bicycles for years and know a thing or two about gear >>choice: >> >> Higher gears and a lower cadence (turnover) put strains on muscles >>and joints. In bicycling, the knees go first with high gear pedaling, but >>they're followed by hips, ankles, sciatica. . . >> >> Washburne I think suggests that shorter paddles with less "purchase" >>are like lower gears on a bicycle. Higher turnover results in less stress on >>elbows, shoulders, wrists. . . >> >> While it's difficult to reach the same maximum speed with lower >>gears on a bicycle, it's more efficient to sustain a moderately fast pace >>over a long distance by using lower gears. Discussions on this server about >>the difference in racing paddles/style and touring paddles/style suggests >>parallels between gear choice and paddle choice. In essence, one has the >>option of distributing effort between resistance and tempo. Extending this >>concept to weight training. . . low resistance (weight) and high repetition >>trains for endurance, while high resistance and low repetition builds muscle >>mass --and also leads to muscle tears and joint injuries. In this >>application, repetition would relate to paddling or pedaling cadence. >>Weight/resistance correlates to gear size or paddle length/purchase area. >> >> While it's entirely possible to choose too low a gear in cycling, >>most riders choose gears that are too high. The risk of riding in high gears >>is injury. This rule seems also to apply to paddling choices. I use a >>Eddyline Windswift paddle in 230 cm. and and adopt a low profile paddling >>style which seems to put less strain on shoulders. I still have an elbow >>problem, but it might be aggravated from typing on the keyboard most of the >>day. . . this make a lot of sense. my expertise in bicycling led me to a similar conclusion, except i didn't know quite how to achieve it [that i needed a higher cadence, with less pressure]... thanks george, mark #------canoeist[at]netbox[dot]com-------------------------------------- mark zen o, o__ o_/| o_. po box 474 </ [\/ [\_| [\_\ ft. lupton, co 80621-0474 (`-/-------/----') (`----|-------\-') #~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_at_~~~~~~~_at_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_at_~~~~~~~~_at_~~~~~ http://www.diac.com/~zen/cpr [Colorado Paddlers' Resource] http://www.diac.com/~zen/rmskc [Rocky Mtn Sea Kayak Club] http://www.diac.com/~zen/rmcc [Rocky Mtn Canoe Club Trip Page] http://www.diac.com/~zen/mark [personal] -- Fortune: The goal of science is to build better mousetraps. The goal of nature is to build better mice. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Mon Mar 30 1998 - 12:33:32 PST
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