MT, there's always the plain and simple method of going for a hike with a canoe on your shoulders. I haven't done it a lot, told myself I would do it more than I actually have, been some years I've spent a couple weeks walking a mile or so a day portaging my canoe. Seems to make the "real" portages easier on the shoulders.
The other thing that worked well is I used to work as a delivery guy for a lumber yard so I tried to go the extra mile on customer service by carrying lumber to exactly where people needed it no matter how far it was because it gave me the added bonus of doing a lot of walking with heavy long stuff on my shoulders. Not exactly a canoe but every bit counts.

mastertangler wrote on Mar 9^th, 2011 at 7:09pm:

Nothing special here MT.  My thoughts are to toughen the muscles a bit. There is a machine at the gym that isolates the deltoids.  It sits you with your upper arms down, then you rotate them out and up to horizontal against a resistance.  Another one I like is to hold the dumbells in front of the waist and raise them to chin level.  This works deltoids, biceps, and the muscles between neck and shoulders (name of ??).  I agree the vertical shoulder press is good, but need to avoid because it agrravates my lower back when stacking enough weight to do any good.
My yoke pads are made up of a 3" thick piece of open cell furniture cushion over a 1" piece of closed cell material which has more stiffness. The idea is the softer furniture cushion mushes down over the shoulder and distributes the weight to a larger area.  The stiffer piece is a secondary cushion as the soft foam will compress solid where the load concentrates.  I also keep the pad assembly slightly loose so that it can be bumped laterally along the yoke while carrying.  Helps to find the sweet spot and then to allow the shoulders to relax.

KF,
You might be interested in an encounter I had on the Monument Portage. I met this solo dude that seemed to fit the build of the ideal voyaguer.  He was single portaging, one large pack hanging low off his back, another on top of it supported by a tump line, a third hanging from his teeth.  How he had then gotten his oversize wood/canvas canoe on top this load is anyones guess.  He grumbled something in French as he passed by.  I apparently didn't yield the path quickly enough.  He looked vaguely familar.  I later asked my wife, "was that . . . ?" "Yep."   (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

-YB

Kingfisher wrote on Mar 11^th, 2011 at 5:34am:

I use the same idea, except I use left over plastic water bottles (refilled with tap water).  Its a bit cleaner than sand and you can add in known increments of weight.  And if a water bottle springs a leak ... well, its just water.

I started carrying a pack on my walks beginning March 1.  I still do the same 5 1/2 - 6 miles and try to keep the same pace as before I added the pack.  Its usually 1.5 - 1.75 hours for my route, which is mostly over mountain biking trails--narrow, lots of rocks, some climbing/descending, etc--this is about as rough a trail as I can find in my area.  And to help you keep your focus, you have kamikaze mountain bikers headed right for you that you have to step out of the way of.

dd

Weights in a blanket the quickest method of all. Add a few pounds each trip. Unfortunately I have to hike through a somewhat urban area, but I try to climb up and down little walls as I walk, plus walk on slanted curbs to build up the ankles. I know MT was asking specifically about shoulders, and conditioning them to the friction and pressure, but this beats up the shoulders too.

-- kypaddler

Instruments of positive change are a good thing!