Getting Fit for Sea Kayaking

Contrary to all the myths, the most important part of your body to strengthen for sea kayaking is your core. 

In the modern world many of us spend more time than we care to admit sitting down, often with appalling posture.

For stability and control in a sea kayak, good posture is vital, and to achieve that a strong core is key.  A simple exercise to try is the Plank, working from perhaps a ten-second hold to begin with and adding a few seconds each day.  To try this, rest face down on toes and elbows, holding your body in a straight line- the plank- using your abdominal muscles.  The ’30 day fitness challenge’ smartphone apps are great for suggesting this and other exercises, and helping to build time or repetitions over a 30-day period.

Team work

‘So if it’s all about core strength, I don’t need to work on my arms then?’. 

Not so fast…  Those new to sea kayaking are often surprised at how much effort is involved in carrying boats and kit to and from the trailer or shore.  We have to do this every day, so it’s worth working on strength not just for kayaking, but to be able to lift and carry your boat!  Again, check out the ’30 day fitness challenge’ app or something similar for plenty of suggestions; tricep dips combined with bicep curls can be very helpful. You can achieve a useful result by carrying heavy shopping bags home from the supermarket (and fit in a few of those 10,000 steps as well!).

Sunset yoga on our Summer Isles expedition

And last but definitely not least, the more flexible you are, the more able you will be to control that kayak. 

Try a local yoga or pilates class for the best results.  Kayaking really is an all-over-body sport, so don’t skip the exercises for stretching hamstrings or core rotation: these are both vital.

People are also struggling being confined to the same position for extended periods of time. Wilderness Scotland guide and sea kayaking legend Howard Jeffs suggests, “If anyone coming on a sea kayaking holiday spent every evening for a couple of weeks before their trip, sat upright on the floor with their feet out in front of them, their lives would be made way easier when they come to sit in a kayak for a week. Hell, they could even watch TV at the same time.”

So for the best results, book that yoga class, take a brisk walk to the venue, work on your plank before you leave, and carry your shopping home!

Then have a look at our range of sea kayaking tours around the Scottish coastline, and let our expert guides show you the ropes. Our guided tours take sea kayaking holidays to another level with and to prove we do the best tours you can checkout reviews here.

We run sea kayaking holidays at different difficulty levels for varied fitness levels. Here is a taster of some of the trips we run at different levels. Whichever kayaking holiday you are interested in it is advised that you have a good fitness for any of our levels:

• Our Sea Kayaking Introduction Course is aimed at beginners and so is classed on the ‘easy’ difficulty with a 1 out of 10 (green grade).
• Ranging on the medium level  (4 out of 10 blue grade) is our sea kayaking holiday of the Gaelic Coast perfect for those looking for a tougher challenge than easy, but not too intense at the same time.
• Verging on our most difficult levels (7 – 10 red grade) is the Summer Isles sea kayaking holiday (scoring a 6 out of 10).

For more information on our grading levels please visit our grading page which explains our grades for all the activities we run and includes a few helpful videos.