UpNorthica

In the weeks before our family trips to the BWCA, my dad used to warm up by portaging our canoe around the block. This wasn’t a bad idea, or even uncommon today. But the thing isn’t exactly street legal and it’s hard to hand-signal your turns.

So, earlier this year, I asked a trainer at my fitness club to customize a workout routine for paddlers. In addition to cardio stuff like my runs, I wanted one to improve tone and balance for lifting, portaging, hiking and of course, paddling. After a month or so at it, I can say it feels Good In A Painful Way. I’ve posted the workout here, on a site called Gimme20.com. The free site allows you to subscribe to, print off workout sheets, as well as track your progress over time. And of course, it has a big social networking spin on it. So when you’re not actually paddling, here’s a focused workout that should at least keep your fitness treading water.