These methods may be novel to many of you. They were to me when I was first exposed to them. As a flat lander from Michigan who moved out to Washington and worked at Mt. Rainier the world of climbers and climbing was foreign. I was resistant at first, but having plenty of opportunity to put various methods to the test I am convinced of their effectiveness. Given the relatively modest elevation changes in canoe country some may question the need for such methods. Fair enough, if you are in primo shape and can really roll these might not be for you. But, if your canoe trip is one of your big "workouts" of the year I can promise you this will make your life much more comfortable.

I use them selectively. If it is early in a trip or a hill is especially steep I downshift. Now I take a certain amount of pride in the discipline required to execute the maneuver. One thing I can tell you, when you get to the top of the hill you will not be out of breath, your heart rate will be comfortable and you will likely not be sweaty......oh, and your legs will not be wobbly .

1) Mountaineering cadence- As simply put as possible this entails taking a step, then a breath, then a step, then a breath.........sounds crazy I know. At least that was what I thought when I first heard it described. "that will take forever" was my first thought. A few hiking trips in the mountains with big loads changed my mind forever. Given the small elevation changes in canoe country this method actually takes very little extra time. There are very few hills I climb now where I even break a sweat or are out of breath in the least. Often you will find you are half way up and sense you have your wheels and can proceed normally. I also use this method on potentially dangerous ground or if it is wet. Don't knock it until you try it. Climbing steep ground can actually be relaxing.

2) Forced air breathing- I suspect a big problem many folk have when they are walking the trail and laboring is that they are simply not getting enough O2. Shallow laborious breathing leads to ineffective muscle use. Are you getting whipped? Try forced air breathing. Breath in through your nose and exhale rapidly and forcefully through your mouth. A slight pucker seems about right. Your doing it right when a big "swooshing" noise is associated with the exhalation. This gets the spent air that is deep in your lungs out and out quickly. In comes another big breath through your nose. Repeat until you feel your stamina returning. If I am climbing a steep incline and prefer not to use the mountaineering cadence of a step and a breath it is common for me to use forced air breathing. If your on a trip and hear something that sounds like a choo-choo train coming don't worry......that's just me coming up the hill.

If your cardio is good you won't need these tools in canoe country. But they are employed by world class athletes who climb big stuff ( yes, I get the air is thin in the mountains, thank you). I use them selectively and find them to be a great benefit and advantage in keeping your heart rate in control and in helping alleviate muscle fatigue. Will it take you a little longer? Yes, a few minutes is all. You will make that up rather easily as you put in an extra hour or two later in the day because your not spent .  

ST
I hadn't really considered the hunched over aspect. Somehow I can't picture anyone doing that UNLESS they are dead dog tired, then everything tends to droop. The advice I have given is to help you avoid that scenario.

In the mountaineering cadence I usually take the step upward, set it in place, take the breath and up I go. It is a very relaxing and methodical process.

With forced air breathing I have been doing it for many, many years and I'm not shy in employing it when needed. Be loud and proud. Usually 3 or 4 deep swooshing breaths will get you back on track. Get rid of that dead stale air in the bottom of your lungs. Once on a hike at Mt. Rainier I hit an incline I didn't feel like slowing down for and I forced air breathed for close to a mile and if anything I increased my speed upwards. Once in a while it's fun to "see what you've got" . 

Thanks for the tips, MT. The missus and I are hiking Yosemite this summer, and we'll definitely keep this in mind.    

Wow... I didn't think of it on my way to town last night on my walk. It took a good 45 minutes to get there. Then I was feeling the workout I'd gotten so far and actually find myself going slower on the way home... I was wearing a pair of boots to get myself used to that too. Anyways, I remembered what you, MT were saying here and I tried the breathing thing as you discribed. I got home in less than forty minutes. More than five minutes quicker than going to town when I'm "fresh". BTW, I'm a little sore today. 

It doesn't matter whether you breathe through your mouth or your nose (other than you might take in a few extra bugs through your mouth). It's the same air and it gets mixed well before it gets to your lungs.

What does matter is that you learn to breathe deeply - using your diaphragm (the muscle below your stomach), not your upper chest muscles.

It's also important that you match your exercise rate to your oxygen intake rate. You want to maximize the burning of blood glucose (aerobic pathway) rather than muscle glycogen (anaerobic). The rule of thumb is that you should be breathing hard, but not so hard that you can't carry on a conversation.

One word of advice for those just starting out on an exercise program: your cardiovascular fitness will improve much faster than your muscle strength. So be careful not to increase your week-to-week workout load too fast, you might end up injured before you get fit. 10% per week is certainly safe, 20% per week is probably ok for most people too.