Kayaking ain't good cardio.

bjdw_1977

At least not the way I do it :-)

L1zardQueen

Really? I know it kicks my butt!

bjdw_1977

I'll have to make an effort to push harder next time. Try and get in that aerobic zone.

MeanderingMammal

You're using a fairly limited set of muscles; trunk and shoulders, and it's not weight bearing. With much less need to move oxygen around your body it's not going to be particularly taxing on your heart.

sijomial

You need to find an uphill lake....

autumnblade75

sijomial wrote: »

You need to find an uphill lake....

We call them rivers. They've got currents. Some of them, anyway. The one by me is not particularly strong. Upstream is barely more challenging than down.

My brother and I once got swept just a bit further downstream than we meant to go, because of horseplay. SOME rivers are very challenging to paddle back up. My arms felt as though they might fall off after that incident. I do not think the heart rate data was very impressive, or not for nearly as long as it felt. And some of it was panic rather than effort.

Kayaking is fun, even if it doesn't burn many calories.

BrianSharpe

Kayaking may not be great cardio unless you're racing or kayaking in more challenging environments but it's still a great way to get out and enjoy yourself. I think we fixate too much on calorie burns & heart rate zones and lose perspective..... to quote the famous song "feeling good is good enough".

L1zardQueen

Try ocean kayaking with a beach start. That is mostly uphill. Lol

OldAssDude

You can get a full upper body endurance workout (and a fair cardio) kayaking if you go hard and fast non stop for long enough.

Each stroke engages all pulling muscles on one side and all pushing muscles on the other side, and your core to keep it all stable.

I take my kayak to a lake near my apartment. The lake is about a half mile long. I go balls to the wall the whole length, rest for a minute, and go balls to the wall back. Then repeat.

MeanderingMammal

L1zardQueen wrote: »

Try ocean kayaking with a beach start. That is mostly uphill. Lol

Used to be a sea kayak instructor when I was 19/20. Paddling 20-25 miles with a group was hard going.

NorthCascades

I used to have a sea kayak. It was a lot of fun.

icemom011

BrianSharpe wrote: »

Kayaking may not be great cardio unless you're racing or kayaking in more challenging environments but it's still a great way to get out and enjoy yourself. I think we fixate too much on calorie burns & heart rate zones and lose perspective..... to quote the famous song "feeling good is good enough".

I recently went kayaking with my son ( on single ones, so all of it was my effort) and we went hard and far. My Fitbit didn't register a thing, lol, i was disappointed.

CarvedTones

I have a cheap little 10' kayak I mostly use for fishing but sometimes for exercise also. It is not built for speed and doesn't track well unless you have a fair amount of experience (I do) and even then it takes effort to keep it straight. Anyway, all that means is it is hard to go fast and/or to go long distances. I can burn calories faster and maintain a higher heart rate doing other things, but I get a pretty good upper body workout. I prefer my SUP for workout paddles when the weather is right, but the season for kayaking is much longer.

AnnPT77

It matters, too, what kind of kayak you have. A wider, shorter, less efficient boat will skew a little more toward strength/anaerobic, whereas a long, light, skinny racer will give you a more CV experience when you push it.

It's always fun, always good for (some kind of) fitness if you push it, amd it all burns calories. Fun-activity calories definitely taste the best.

AnnPT77

I should've added: It matters what type of water you're on, too. Kayaking is a lot of sports, only superficially similar, using anything from short, maneuverable whitewater playboats; to wide tubs that make a good fishing platform and usually have drink holders; to sea kayaks intended to take waves and be roll-able; to long, skinny flatwater racers (K1/K2); and more.

Anything where you're mostly directing the boat with a current is unlikely to be a big workout (unless/until there's so much water you're wrasslin' it, or you're going upstream against current, or something like that). Pushing your weight and the boat's weight/friction through water without much help from the current creates more workout, and the dynamics of the situation (boat style, water conditions) determine what kind of CV workout it can (or can't ) be.

OP, flat water + sleek/skinny/long kayak (like the K1/K2 boats, or close) is your best bet of getting your heart rate up. Gotta have good balance, though - they're tippy li'l buzzards! (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3763332/ , just for entertainment value).

If you're renting a kayak from a livery, odds are you're getting a stable hull design that's so doggy it's pretty hard to get a higher heart rate CV workout of any sensible duration.

It's all fun, though.

BrianSharpe wrote: »

Kayaking may not be great cardio unless you're racing or kayaking in more challenging environments but it's still a great way to get out and enjoy yourself. I think we fixate too much on calorie burns & heart rate zones and lose perspective..... to quote the famous song "feeling good is good enough".

So true!