>Joy wrote; > >>But I find myself wondering whether simply some >>people's bodies are more comfortable going along in a higher gear to >accomplish the >>same speed or distance that others would comfortably do in lower gear. I >have >>always biked in high gears (not up mountains, I should say, mostly just >around town) >>and find that downshifting is a more strenuous way to cover distance. >(Also much >>less fun.) > > >Many years ago I looked into this and it does seem that every person has a >"natural cadence" that is most comfortable. Possibly due to body mass etc.. >No doubt you can train to change it but I wonder if it is not simpler just >to fit the paddle to your natural cadence rather than trying to change your >cadence to fit your paddle. > >Cheers, >John Winters I think John is absolutely right on this, but I think if you were trying to become a stronger paddler, and really wanted to train hard to get their, you may want to add specific energy system training to your paddling workouts, ala Greg LeMond......One day a week use a larger bladed paddle for doing sprints---this training your ATP system and anaerobic power.One to three days a week do aerobic paddling, using a small paddle with very high turnover. One day per week do a race simulation ( anaerobic hreshold ---maximum speed you can sustain for close to an hour without your torso tuning to jello and nausea levels shutting you down) on a real course, probably with the smaller paddle, unless you want to spring for a medium blade. In this manner you could train all three energy systems, and be better able to handle all the conditions in a race or weather induced risky environment ( I'm sure many have experienced storm situations where you have to paddle fairly hard to maintain course and stable speed, with occasional bouts of "panic speed", when monster rogue waves head toward you, or some other temporary threat---this is the reason for the ATP system, and anaerobic system training---which, if you were really serious, would be broken down still further into one day with 10 second sprints, and another day with 60 second sprints, with 4 minute rests with continued moderate speed paddling during the recovery time of 4 minutes. ). Of course, with all these different paddles, this could get even more expensive than cycling :-)......John, this could be a marketing opportunity :-) Regards, Dan Volker WPB,Fl *************************************************************************** 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 Tue Mar 31 1998 - 08:07:48 PST
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