Week Twenty Seven - More the Half a Year

 

Making a Road Map

By Coach Anita

During the 27 weeks that your coaches have been contributing to this weekly blog our overarching goal has remained the same: provide information, suggestions, and hopefully motivation to prepare you to get back in the boat. 

All paddlers need aerobic endurance, which I wrote about last week. Paddlers also need strength in their shoulders, arms, back, core, and legs. Muscular strength is necessary to exert force on the blade in order to move the boat. It can also help prevent injuries. Paddlers who lack strength and endurance will not fully benefit from the energy system training used to get a good start off the line or to overrate and settle into race pace. In addition, the ability to not just race three times in a day but race well three times in a day requires training that cannot occur without a base of aerobic endurance. 

Now is the time to be thinking about how you want to get back in the boat. We are entering our traditional off-the-water season in a year when we haven’t been in a dragon boat. We don’t know when we’ll be back on the water, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be thinking about how you want to get back in the boat. Now is the time to be setting goals, establishing baselines, and taking steps to work towards achieving those goals. 

I would like every member of Pink Phoenix who plans on paddling in the coming season to use this time to set dragon boat related fitness goals. Goals should relate to aerobic endurance, shoulders, arms, back, core and leg strength. Fitness goals should address the individuality of your body and current fitness. If you have strong legs, a goal may be one that pertains to maintaining that strength through a specific workout commitment. If you have had injuries or trouble with an area, a goal may start with range of motion improvement and progress to strength building. If you have trouble getting on and off the boat, specific strength work can improve your ability to do so. You can have goals for each of the areas, or you can focus on where you want to see development. Establishing a baseline of your strengths and endurance level will help you measure your progress and/or adjust your goals. 

The way I look at planning is if you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know when you’ve arrived. Now is the time to spell it out. I hope every one of you is excited at the idea of getting back in the boat together, and will commit to using this time to work towards fitness goals that will help you return to the boat strong and ready. Need some help? Want someone to be accountable to? I am happy to help. Just reach out: pdxanita@gmail.com

Prevent Injury

by Coach Oden

We are starting week 1 of our second challenge. It's not by accident that your fitness team has challenged you to squats and now sit-ups. What's the first thing you have to do in order to paddle on a dragon boat? You have to get in the boat. How do you get in the boat you may ask? You use your legs and your core. That's just for starters. Once we're in the boat, having a strong foundation is where all of the movement comes from. Hip hinge, rotation, flat back, shoulders stabilized, your reach, your entry, your pull - all come from strong, stabilizing muscles.

You've been given a chart of 36 core exercises to choose from and a daily challenge of 120 reps per day. Choose the ones you don't know. Choose that ones that strengthen you. Choose the ones that CHALLENGE you.

By keeping a strong core, we prevent our bodies from injury in all ways - whether it be through paddling or just living our every day life. It prevents the chance of falls as well as reinjury.

If you need modifications, you've been given a link to chair core exercises. Feel free to incorporate these. If you have a question on how to do one of the sit-ups correctly, google it. There is information everywhere. If you have a question on whether something else counts like donkey kicks or knee raising on the bar, google it.

Tip: If you're bringing your head towards your toes, it's upper core work. If you're bringing your toes towards you head, it's lower core work. If you're twisting side to side, it's obliques work. If you're doing it all... well, you get the point.

There's just one more thing. If you're doing any kind of hold for your sit-ups, one second equals one rep. This is very generous... so use it wisely.

36 Core Exercises: https://darebee.com/ab-exercises.html

Chair Core Exercises: https://www.wikihow.fitness/Exercise-Your-Abs-While-Sitting

Oh yeah... and have fun! 

Looking Forward

by Coach Pat

We all are looking at the future, training together and racing on Pink Phoenix. But in the near
term we are looking at this time of year as ‘off season’ which has a different focus. Off season means getting off the boat and doing other types of ‘training’. Never mind that we never got on the boat in the first place and that we have been doing some training for the last 7 months.
Now I want to focus on what I need to improve for when I get back on the boat. This isn’t anything to do with technical paddling, it's establishing my ‘fitness training’ routine to allow me, at minimum to be as strong a paddler as I was last year. 

First,  I need to understand where I am.  This requires finding a real baseline that I can measure.  I will want to use exercises from our prior fitness assessments that I can do on my own without equipment.  Then I want to zero in more on my strength.  For the last several months I have been working out at home with very limited equipment.   I want to set goals but I also want a way to see what I am actually doing to achieve those goals.   I like efficient workouts,  short and hard and also long endurance workouts but I can’t tell you when it works and when it doesn’t. I also can’t tell when a workout has been enough or even too hard. When I do a hard workout, how long do I need to rest and what does the rest look like? I’m sure some of you are faced with the same lack of information. Once I have an idea of my baseline I can set goals in any or all areas.

What to do ?  Start a training journal.  You can do this with an app on your phone,  but I will opt for a notebook and pen. My workout types and times are pretty consistent across each week. I can’t tell you which workouts make me feel good or totally overdone. I also need this journal to track progress in hopes that there will be progress and I will get stronger as we go through the off season. I normally would jump into some specific classes this time of year as we pulled off the boat. Interval training and bootcamps would replace my paddling hours. This year that isn’t possible so tracking what I am doing and progress or not being made is essential. What did you do to replace your paddling hours last winter ? What will you do this winter?

What is important to record in this ‘training journal’ ?

• Date and perhaps body weight
• Planned workout .For each exercise I want to know time or reps plus weight or equipment used. This will look a lot like how Oden writes our workouts on the white board along with equipment and/or weight used and reps. 
• How I feel going into the workout and how I feel about my effort during the workout.
• After the workout if I am not at all tired or way too tired this needs to be recorded as well. 
• Optionally I would like to record my food for the day and water intake.

Now when I am going to do another workout with the same exercise(s) I can refer back to weight used or reps.  If I wasn’t over tired I can increase my weight,reps or seconds in the set. If in a month I can do more than when  I started I know I have made progress. I can feel confident my workouts are taking me where I want to go. 

Is There a Fall in Your Future?

By Suzanne Frank

A simple thing can change your life-like tripping on a rug or slipping on a wet floor. We shouldn't accept falls as a normal part of getting older. It is true that as we age our chances of falling increase. 

If you fall you could break a bone which results in a trip to the hospital, injury or even disability. I know that many Pinks out there are younger than 65 years old. The information below is good to be aware of since one day you will be at the age when you are at a higher risk of falling. 

Risks factors for falls:

• weak muscles, especially in the legs
• poor balance, causing unsteadiness on your feet
• dizziness or lightheadedness
• foot problems-including pain and wearing unsafe footwear
• memory loss, confusion or difficulty with thinking or problem solving
• vision and hearing problems
• taking medications that cause you to be dizzy or drowsy (the more medications you take, the more likely you are to fall)
• drinking too much alcohol
• safety hazards in the home
• some bladder or bowel conditions 

Take the right steps prevent falls

• Stay physically active. Plan an exercise program that is right for you. Regular exercise improves muscles and makes you stronger. It also helps keep your joints, tendons, and ligaments flexible. Weight- bearing activities may slow bone loss from osteoporosis. Try to get at least 150 minutes a week of physical activity.
• Have your eyes and hearing tested. Even small changes in sight and hearing may cause you to fall.
• Find out about the side effects of medication you are taking. If a medication makes you dizzy or drowsy tell your physician
• Get enough sleep. If you are sleepy you are more likely to fall.
• Limit the amount of alcohol you drink. Even a small amount of alcohol can affect your balance and reflexes.
• Stand up slowly. Getting up too quickly can cause your blood pressure to drop. This can cause you to feel unsteady.
• Get enough calcium and vitamin D. This will help to keep your bones strong. Also, quitting smoking and limiting alcohol use, which can decrease bone mass and increase the chance of fractures.
• Fall proof your home. Beware of carpets that may cause you to slip and items that you could trip over.
• Have your phone nearby. If you have risk factors for falls be sure to have your phone nearby at all times.

What to do if you fall

1. Prepare yourself to get up: Try to stay calm. If you are unsure of the severity of your injuries, getting up too fast could make things worse.
2. Survey your surroundings: Find the nearest piece of sturdy furniture. The bottom of a staircase may work, as well.
3. Roll onto your side: Turn your head first, followed by your shoulders, arm, hips, and leg.
4. Slowly raise yourself up: If you are not in front of the sturdy furniture or staircase, slowly crawl on your hands and knees so that you are.
5. Place your hands on the furniture: Slide one foot forward so it is flat on the floor while keeping your other leg bent with your knee on the floor.
6. Rise up slowly: Turn your body to sit in the chair.
7. Sit: Sit for a few minutes and assess how you feel before attempting to move again
8. If you think you are injured or cannot get up on your own dial 911 for help.

There are some great YouTube videos that will demonstrate how to get up following a fall. You may want to view some of them.

Having a 90 year old mother who has fallen twice this summer has given me a new perspective about the dangers of falling as well as providing me a reason to stay active and do everything I can for my body to reduce my risks for having a fall. I hope you will do all you can to decrease your risk of experiencing a fall.

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