Kayak Warmups
As a novice kayaker there are three things you need to do before you even get on the river. Stretch, get on your sprayskirt and the carry your kayak down to the river.
First off, before you get anywhere close to the water you need to warmup and get the blood flowing from you heart to your muscles. Run back and forth, do jumping jacks, do whatever you need to do to get your heart rate up and the blood flowing. This is great because it prevents all sorts of injuries later on as well as gets you ready for a big day on the river. You will then want to do some serious stretching. Make sure to do all of your shoulder and arm muscles, but also your waist, chest and back muscles that are often forgotten as important parts of the kayaking health
Next you should get on your sprayskirt. This part can seem tricky at first to new kayakers because the a spray skirt is so tight that it is hard to put it on easily. Luckily you just need a little technique and finesse to easily and quickly slip it on. Check that you have the longer deck side sticking out in front of you, and the tube part sticking up towards you. Step through the hole and pull it up, working it up so that eventually the tube is most of the way up your chest and the bottom of the sprayskirt is level with your waist. Then you will want to double check to make sure that all your paddling jackets, drysuits, whatever seams are integrated and working will with the sprayskirt.
To carry your kayak down to the river there are a ton of different methods available and you can pick which one you want to do based on personal preference. I personally enjoy taking the top of the cockpit and resting it on my shoulder to carry it down. If you are feeling lazy or uncoordinated have your friend carry the top half while you carry the bottom half!
