Training and fitness
From KayakWiki
[edit] Who trains and why
In any sport with broad appeal there are many levels of participants.
| Recreational | These paddlers enjoy the sport but only participate at the lowest level. They do not aspire to learn sophisticated techniques and only take part on an occasional basis. |
| Advanced recreational | At this level, participants enjoy learning the basics and may go a bit further. They participate on a fairly frequent basis. |
| Sportif | These are the keen participants who enjoy advancing their techniques and take part quite frequently. They may take part in some competition, but kayaking is their focus. |
| Competitor | This is the person who aspires to perfect certain skill sets and compete on a regular basis. They may be former advanced athletes or those that never made the cut to the advanced levels. Some are those who advanced from the sportif level. |
| Elite Competitor | If anyone desires the most out of themselves, these are the ones. Expertise in many skills as well as supreme fitness let them pursue and possibly attain the highest levels of competitive success. For these paddlers, kayaking is as much a job as a sport. |
Clearly, each of these persons requires a different schedule of training and fitness activities. The recreational paddler may not want any specific training at all. For advanced recreational and some sportif kayakers, a basic set of training and fitness activities may suffice. Beyond this level, highly focussed activities are called for.
- For some basic guidelines on fitness and training, see Training for the advanced recreational kayaker.
- For training common to most types of kayaking, see Common training methods.
- For more sophisticated training and fitness guidelines, look at the pages for specific types of kayaking.
