At least in the Sth Hemisphere, approaching winter is squeeeeeezing the daylight out of my before work training session.
Theres no time for a 1hr paddle, just a 30-40 minute paddle after sunup and before its time to be at work....so...
Can someone give me an idea of how to use a 30-40 minute time slot effectively?
I usually paddle solo and 90% of the time on the flatest of water, sheltered from the wind.
Thanks in advance
Janita K

Stuart's advice is very good.  The other thing to do is intervals.  30 strokes (counting on 1 side) as hard as you can, then 30 strokes recovery.  An alternative is   1 min hard, 1 min recovery, 2 minutes hard, 1 min recovery, 3 minutes hard, 1 minute recovery.  Repeat 5 times. Interval training is good for speed and endurance.

Thanks for the ideas...all copied down for use this week.
Warm up off water beforehand is easy coz I walk my ski (250m) to the beach on a trolley and usually do a set of push ups to start and finish.
In paddling 6 man outrigger canoes, we would often do resistance training by dragging a storage crate on a line behind the canoe. Great way to add intensity to a session.
In the ski world, is the same ever done? Adding something to create drag?
My advantage is I train in water that is flat as a table, with the tidal sweep up and down the beach tugging me.
I would not want to attach anything to my craft with rope (thats way too dangerous) but we used to hang a car tyre off the nose of an OC6 to create drag....so anyone ever done anything similar with a single ski???
In moving swell and chop I cant see how it would work coz the item creating drag would cause instability, but in my locale, just a tiny kids bike inflated inner tube slipped over my skis nose might give me enough drag to increase resistance.
Surely someone out there has tried to do the same thing for the same reason?
Any ideas?

I also occasionally do what Gary suggests with just a bungee.  If you put it in front of the cockpit area, it should create a bit more drag (by breaking up the laminar flow) than if you put it around the ski just behind the seat area (where flow is already turbulent).  Also, the bungee up front might mess up the water in the catch area of the stroke so that you're stroking in non-laminar water.  Dragging things in the water hasn't worked as well for me compared with bungees.  A thicker bungee provides more resistance than a thinner one does.  Threading a tennis ball onto the bungee makes it really tough.

Some paddlers don't believe in using bungees thinking that it causes your muscles to "learn" to paddle more slowly.  I think they're occasionally useful at different times in the season and at different speeds, i.e. LSD training or short sprints.  Again, more variables to play with.   

I've always found paddling is hard enough as it is, without making it even harder for myself by adding resistance.  Haven't personally done the bungee thing, but the lady did ask...

Great thread, thanks for sharing! 

Ever had one of those experiences where you feel something new and you think "Wow...how did I not do this before?"
Well, thanks to this forum, I tried the occy strap (bungy cord) around my ski to add resistance and it just feels SO effective...great use of time and you can feel this non-stop CRUUUUNNNCH through your abs that must be doing you good.

I am expecting my new paddle to be delivered any day...so using a bungy to sloooowwww the stroke down so I can really concentrate on the feel of the blade will be perfect.

If you havent tried it...have a go...all the best ideas seem the simplest.
Chao
Janita K
Hervey Bay
Australia