Cross Training Sports that Work well with Dragon Boating
Swimming
Swimming as a
sport or an exercise (not leisure) is an excellent full body workout
that directly relates to dragon boating as it emphasizes body rotation
and use of core muscles.
Swimming during childhood and adolescence has proven to help increase in
height, maintain excellent body balance/weight, and swimmers generally
develop great V-shape bodies from the tremendous body exertion against
heavy water pressures.
Misconceptions about swimming includes perceiving a leisure swim back
and forth across the pool as an exercise. In order to swim an effectively, proper techniques and a good work-out plan/regiment need to be
in place.
Below are some excellent reading, workout plans, and
videos to help you swim better.
Ask our Club members and coaches. There are swim instructors &
lifeguards among our club membership. We will help you!
Ruth
Kazez Swim Lessons
Ruth has put together an excellent web compilation of her writing on
basic swimming.
Read through the basics. http://ruthkazez.com/swimming.
Jimmy D. Shay's YouTube Instructions
Now,
a cool US Marine has put his off-duty time to very effecting swim
lessons for you:
Other Simple Exercises You Can [Should] Do
Pull Ups
Pull ups are one of the best and simplest strengthening moves you can
do.
Pull up are done with hands gripping a bar, or a high edge, beam, with
palms facing away from your body as you pull yourself up.
The effect of
a correct & effective pull up is to strengthen the shoulders, lats, and back.
Your
arms are secondary to the pull up.
The video below has one of the best description of how you can start doing pull up, even if you haven't done it before.
There is no need for a special pull-up bar, just a
strong steel pipe available at any hardware store that one foot longer
than your shoulder width. Then find a strong tree branch about 6 inches
diameter, place the bar balanced in the middle as show, and voilą,
you've got a pull-up system.
You can also use this handy bar to add leverage for changing car tires,
blow air to aid building fire, keep mean folks at bay....It can serve
many purposes!
The Club has a 2011 baseline fitness/cross-training measurement chart to help you keep up your work.
Please check your numbers against this set a couple times a week as it can quickly get difficult. When we meet, we will run some group tests on these numbers --keep up, be prepared!
These are not substitute to other aerobic and anaerobic workouts.