Kayaking is a fun summer activity that is great for strengthening your upper body. This adventurous exercise targets your back, shoulders, arms, hands, abdomen, chest and especially heart. An hour of this activity is guaranteed to engage all muscle groups simultaneously - a feat that is hard to accomplish in a single gym session.
Let’s break down kayaking by muscles worked:
Back: Every stroke you take while kayaking is a single-arm row, which works your lateral muscles to a great degree. While one arm is rowing back, the other is getting a stretch and then a contraction. It’s an effective back workout and you can go at whatever tempo or variation you like: sprints, long sets, each pull as hard a possible, wide grip or narrow grip.
Shoulders: At the end of each stroke, the paddle has to come up and around to the front again. This motion transfers the load from the large lat muscle up to the shoulders. That forward circular motion really attacks the rear, lateral and anterior deltoid muscles. Again, varying the tempo and the width of your grip will vary how the muscles are worked.
Biceps, Triceps and Hands: As one arm is rowing in, hitting the biceps on that side, the other arm is countering with a forward extension to create more torque on the paddle. That extension involves a lot of triceps. As the biceps and triceps are engaged, your grip and forearms are getting attacked by handling and maneuvering the paddle. Like high-rep pull-up workouts, your hands will fatigue and your forearms will be tested.
Abs: As with all rotational movements, the abdomen and obliques are heavily involved and responsible for your performance. Your trunk, which runs from your waist to your neck, is constantly working in a rotation and counter-rotation manner, resulting in a huge demand for spine stabilization and balance.
Heart and Chest: When one arm is rowing back, the other is countering with a forward push, like a single-arm dumbbell bench press. The interesting part is that when you do any row, your pectoral muscles actually work to stabilize the shoulder and pull the arm in, so the chest works on both arms simultaneously in opposite fashions. And of course, kayaking is a cardio-respiratory activity, with your heart and lungs tested on every single row for the duration of your adventure.
Source: Livestrong.com
Photo cred: John L. Joy
