[Paddlewise] RE Kayaking and bone strength developmen

From: PeterO <rebyl_kayak_at_iprimus.com.au>
Date: Fri, 19 Jul 2002 18:24:59 +1000
Peter Chopelas wrote
>Last year George Dyson wrote and article for
>Scientific American about native Aleut adaptation
>to specialized kayaking skills.  In it there was a
>picture of an upper arm bone from a ancient
>archeological site showing the mass and thickness
>compared to a modern Aleut upper arm bone.  The
>implication was that repeated daily padding developed
>bone mass in the arms.

G'day Peter,
		Thanks very much for that reference I'll definitely be looking it up and
my training regime now includes half an hours jogging 3 times a week -
something I used to do fanatically. I already use the rowing machine - we
did have a kayaking machine but it was nothing like paddling a kayak and you
couldn't roll it:~)!

I wonder whether it was paddling or the hunters lifting their quarry, (or
both) which caused the arm strengthening? IE do I have to start hunting
walrus to get a benefit? The effect is piezoelectric ie flexion in the bone
produces a tiny electrical current, which alters calcium movement into bone
cells.

If you're right about the leg stiffness then stretches before and after
should help, though I must confess to being a bit disappointed as I hoped it
might have been the leg pumping action and indicate better paddling style.

Thanks to everyone who provided feedback!

All the best, PeterO


***************************************************************************
PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed
here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire
responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author.
Submissions:     PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net
Subscriptions:   PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net
Website:         http://www.paddlewise.net/
***************************************************************************
Received on Fri Jul 19 2002 - 01:32:18 PDT

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:30:55 PDT