Cameron Carter writes: Living in Christchurch, I’m lucky to have 2 paddling spots suitable for winter/night training within 10min. For those without these luxuries, busy work hours, family and those not confident paddling at night, a kayak ergo is worth considering.

Why use them?

From a coaching perspective seeing workout results such as power, cadence, speed and, time would be fantastic in helping athletes maximize their training session efficacy A common problem in training is athletes undertaking a session just because it’s in their programme, there’s no point in charging through some intervals if you are only doing them slowly! If your body needs an active recovery session it needs it! Smashing yourself constantly when you are tired will just decrease the general quality of training and delay improvement. Due to the nature of most endurance athletes it’s hard to know when to carry out an easier session if a specific set is prescribed or whether to train harder in some cases. By having a system which displays key performance measures you can dynamically improve feedback in real time to your program and adjust things on the fly; not months after the fact; then the horse has bolted.

When Kiwi Matt Brick placed 9th in the World TT Championships he did one session on the road each week. The rest was done on the trainer and in the gym, which emphasizes the importance of training quality, intensity, recovery and active data collation and analysis – attributes and services that quality ergos can provide.

Commander Data

The main kayak ergo vendors - Dan Sprint and Speed Stroke provide not dissimilar real time data sets for the land-based paddler, expect to be provided with:

• Stroke rate
• Stroke length (cm)
• Drive time (ms)
• Recovery time (ms)
• Stroke rate
• Stroke length (cm)
• Drive time (ms)
• Recovery time (ms)
• Strokes per minute (1/min)
• Time per stroke (ms)
• Time total (s)
• Force average (N)
• Force peak (N)
• Time to force peak (ms)
• Power per stroke (W)
• Power average (W)
• Work (J)
• Work total (kJ)
• Heart rate (beats/min)
• Possibility to compare two or more parameters simultaneously

Optimising paddling technique, is an area that the ergo can provide significant help with. From being able to see power, heart rate, cadence, work and speed, you’ll soon see the effects of altering technique. A key benefit to be had from the collection of measurements is the reduction in guess work associated with picking a paddle of suitable length. By looking at cadence and heart rate vs speed you’d be able to find the optimal cadence (hence blade length) and heart rate (effort to race at) for the type and duration of paddling you are doing.

When to use?

Being an advocate for race specific training I think it’s important to clarify when the ergo can be beneficial and when it can be detrimental:

Benefits

Winter – To reduce exposure to harsh environmental elements that can cause illness

Specific Interval Sets – Maximise quality of training through data analysis.

People with limited training time or geographical constraints

Deterrents

Loss of feel for the water – Balance, catch, paddle exit etc.

Non Specific to conditions – Provides no white water simulation for race such as Coast to Coast and The Bloody Good Race.

I don’t think anything can match training in conditions as/more extreme than race day to prepare you for the worst the day might bring, but constant exposure to bad weather and placing the body under extra stress while enduring high training loads will simply leave you tired, ill and/or injured, hence the purpose of an ergo.. I’d recommend using the ergo for primarily high intensity sessions in cold/harsh conditions as training in cold weather at a lower intensity will not affect your lungs as much due to the lower breathing rates, this will also ensure you don’t lose any technical boat skills.

A mix of the ergo and on water training during winter would leave you fresh and in good health to kick off the summers training and racing.

TRAINING SESSIONS FOR THE ERGO

For paddlers training 5 times per/week

3 Interval Sessions
1 Technique Session

1 Long steady paddle

Of these using the erg I’d suggest 2-3 interval sessions. Unless you were truly unable to train on any water I’d recommend limiting the erg to 3 of the 5 sessions per week in order to keep technical boat skills. Personally if I was using the erg in my own training I’d do one key session to none in summer and in winter substitute an on water interval session if time was short or weather was bad. Also the occasional easy paddle would not hurt.

Hard Sessions (Paddling 4 – 5 times p/wk)

20min Warm Up – 12min, 10min, 8, 6, 4, 2, 1. Start at a Moderate hard pace and build speed as intervals decrease; then 15min steady followed by 8 x 1min at hard pace. This is an excellent session for endurance and speed, as it gives you a long workout but also provides intensity and teaches good pace judgment.

20min Warm Up – 4 x 10min at 10km Race Pace – 3min recovery for each. Then 5 x 2min hard pace – 1min recovery

20min Warm Up – 15 x 2min – 2min recovery (modhard).

Easy Paddle – Concentrating on technique or Surf/River session – 60min. On water paddle

LSD (long slow distance)Paddle – 2- 3 hours depending on time and/or ability. On water paddle.
Easier Sessions (Paddling 3 – 4 times p/wk)

20min Warm Up – 4 x 7min at 10km Race Pace – 3min recovery. Then 5 x 2min at hard pace with 1min recovery.

20min Warm Up – 8 x 2min at mod hard pace – 90sec recovery. Then 5 x 1min at hard pace – 1min recovery.

LSD Paddle – 1.45 – 2.15 depending on time and/or ability.

Optional Easy Paddle – Technique or Surf/River session – 50 – 70min.

Any questions or advice? Drop me a line Cam Carter - PMC.