Re: [Paddlewise] Hearts and health

alex said:

Given all the preparation and requirements that come with paddling -
getting to the water, coming back, rinsing/cleaning the boat, 3-hours
(at least) time window, reduced paddling possibilities in winter (short
daylight, colder temps - whatever).... I don't think most of those who
are still working can paddle more than 2 or 3 times a week in summer. 
Gym or cycling is definitely the way to go - I think for those over 50
non-impact
activities are better (so jogging woudln't be the best thing to do).



I respectfully would like to present an alternate view.  

I am 58 and was in my first kayak race in 1967.  I quit racing in 1994
and still paddle at least 150 days a year. So kayaking is not
particularly damaging to the body.  I still train as if I were racing
and, importantly I think, I am still very serious about maintaining
flexibility.  I stretch a lot and do balance and flexibililty exercises
in the boat. [most of the balance and flexibility exercises came from
Paddlewise people a few years ago when I was putting together my
symposium class called, not too obviously, "Balance and Felxibility in
your Boat.")

I have a job that requires 3 hours of commuting a day.

I am fortunate enough to have chosen where I live according to access to
water.  When I lived in Chicago I was a mile from Lake Michigan.  In the
suburbs I used to live four miles from the DesPlaines River and now four
miles from the Fox.  So I don't have the issues about long travel or
rinsing the boat.  In an hour and a half I can be dressed, to the river,
do my workout and back in my house.  Workdays are shorter,
high-intensity paddles; weekends and vacations are longer and less
intense.

I paddle as long as the temperature/wind chill is above ten below zero
Farenheit.  Below the dams the water is always open, although this year
I was reduced to going in circles on a quarter mile stretch of open
water.  And the boat and paddle get pretty heavy with ice in cold
weather.

But being a fanatic has its benefits.  I weigh the same as I did at age
12, although, darn it, the weight is in different places now.  All my
fitness indicators are good and I never get sick.  Although that is
probably more due to the fact that I paddle in rivers with a bit of raw
sewage in them.  (Illinois allows municipalities to dump more raw sewage
into rivers in the Winter.)

Twenty minutes at a high heart rate is a decent workout for those days
when time is short.

All a matter of priorities, and a bit of palnning and a bit of luck.

Jim Tibensky
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