For some of us, paddling continues year round. For others though, the water freezes and the powder begins. For us powder hounds we need to find ways to stay in shape for the approaching spring run off. There are a few key things we can be doing to hit the water stronger than ever.

1. Keep your shoulders strong. Practice hand stand push ups, overhead squats and shoulder presses.

2. Maintain core strength by doing pull ups, push ups and pull overs. If you don't know what a pull over is you should learn. Find a friend and a 4 pound medicine ball (weight can vary up to 20 lbs but start light) sit down in a sit up position about 5 feet apart. The person with the ball lays all the way down and puts the ball on the ground over their head. Then they throw the ball to their partner and, as they do, they sit up doing a complete sit up. The partner catches and repeats throwing the ball back and forth. Try 3 or 4 sets of 20.

3. Do your deadlifts. I know it seems stupid to maintain strong legs but deadlifts also keep your back strong and, with stronger legs, they allow you to better shred POW as well as add more weight to things life overhead squats which are more directly linked to kayak performance.

Here's a work out to try on for size.

For time
5 rounds of
5 hand stand push ups
10 pull ups
15 push ups

Feeling strong? Do 10 rounds