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Any tips for windsurfing fitness?
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AndreiA



Joined: 14 Apr 2013
Posts: 73

PostPosted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 7:24 pm    Post subject: Any tips for windsurfing fitness? Reply with quote

I'm going to ABK clinic in March, and I know it's gonna be tough.

Still learning water start and straps, and burning too much energy in the process, 2-3 hours is my typical summer session, and not so much in the winter (it's -4 out there at the moment in Winnipeg Sad)

So, here is my question to the crowd:
Are there any muscle training sets for a seasonal windsurfer?

Any tips are greatly appreciated!

Andrei
www.na-windsurfing.com
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 9:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My favorite books on building strength and aerobic/anaerobic fitness are Body by Science (by McGuff; check out his BBS website for a quick start) and P.A.C.E. (Sears). BBS does all three; PACE concentrates on interval training for aerobic and anaerobic fitness. You should be able to make some significant progress by March with very little actual workout time IF you are willing to work out harder than you have ever worked out before.

Mike \m/
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boardsurfr



Joined: 23 Aug 2001
Posts: 1266

PostPosted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 9:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Until March, do some kind of sport on a regular basis to keep your general fitness up. Hands will be a big issue if you don't sail all winter. Using a variety of things like hand trainers, weights, rowing machines, and even elliptical machines. They all can help to toughen your hands up at least a bit. Then use hand cream (e.g. Nivea) every night to make the blisters disappear.

Take it easy the first couple of days. Nothing wrong with taking a little break on the water and watching others. Bonaire makes it easy to take little breaks in the water Smile.
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coachg



Joined: 10 Sep 2000
Posts: 3549

PostPosted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 9:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you are an experienced windsurfer then exercise your legs, back & core. If you are inexperienced, plan on doing lots of sail handling or not very efficient with the harness you will need to consider exercising your forearms & biceps as well. And don’t forget your cardio. If you do lots of pumping with big sails you will probably also need some shoulder exercise.

In the offseason I cross train using an indoor rower (Concept 2) a couple times a week. I also work out in the gym 2 to 3 times a week. At the gym I’ll set up four different stations that target four different areas of the body and rotate between them with little to no rest. By varying the exercises at each station it helps keep the boredom out.

Coachg
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U2U2U2



Joined: 06 Jul 2001
Posts: 5467
Location: Shipsterns Bluff, Tasmania. Colorado

PostPosted: Fri Dec 06, 2013 9:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

the best fitness program for windsurfing is windsurfing. since you cant do that in winter, use the body parts in the same manner

do it in moderation, something that will increase the heart rate like a static bicycle .

anything that maintains some stability in the muscles. walking FX

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rexi



Joined: 17 Nov 2009
Posts: 155

PostPosted: Fri Dec 06, 2013 12:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I go to my rock climbing gym and do endurance workouts along with some pull-ups and pushups, then i try to go jogging about 5k 1-2x a week. Thinking about changing that into swimming instead to be better prepared for long swims since now i´m wavesailing more then i did.

I have a heart condition called HCM so i can´t really work out or sail like i would prefer so it´s always a balance for me with being active and fit with out causing troubles/taking risks. But before i was a competitive rock climber and then i just would not get tired windsurfing so for me i find the climbing workouts to be the best stuff for me, it targets ton of muscles and can also be done as a cardio workout.
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DelCarpenter



Joined: 06 Nov 2008
Posts: 499
Location: Cedar Falls, IA

PostPosted: Tue Dec 10, 2013 12:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

You can sail with a windsurfing rig in Winnipeg in every month. Just attach it to something that can handle the available surface....such as a mountain board with 7 inch tires for cleared parking lots or a modified toboggan or something attached to canted skis for hard packed snow or ice. I've sailed on hard packed snow & ice since Jan. 1995 and on cleared parking lots since around 2007-2008. For protection I use a motorcycle helmet along with knee & elbow pads.

Search for videos using terms like street windsurfing, dirt windsurfing, or land sailing, or ski sailing or snow sailing.

Use your oldest cheapest sails, masts, booms, due to the beating they can get from parking lots or frozen surfaces.
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techno900



Joined: 28 Mar 2001
Posts: 4161

PostPosted: Tue Dec 10, 2013 8:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

andreiA,

The number one thing that poops out first for me is arms, mostly forearms. Number two is legs, three is back, four is core.

I am an old retired dude, so I supplement all year with weights, but on average, only one to two times a week. Golf and windsurfing get in the way of doing more.

While I do lots of different exercises (full body workout for each session), the most critical elements include:

Chest rows on a machine or over a bench with dumbbells.

Leg press on a machine or squats.

Lat pull downs on a machine.

Core work - front and side planks; chest lifts, dumbbell push ups with alternating arm chest rows, medicine ball rotations in a sitting pike position.

As I said, there are another 8 or so exercises I also mix in, but the above are the key ones I feel that I need for windsurfing. I moved to a new state and only have 40 days of windsurfing this year. I had 80 last year and 90 the year before. ABK clinics are great, have fun.
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Tue Dec 10, 2013 11:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Probably the closest dynamic simulation of WSing I do in the gym is what onlookers have dubbed the "Superman". You rig up a trapeeze bar suspended overhead by a cable at each end, and counterweight each cable with roughly a quarter of your weight for a total somewhere near half your weight. Grab the trapeeze, walk with it way off to one side, face the center, pull the trapeeze down as you crouch to preload both your legs and the counterweight system, then leap into the air towards the other side. You're now flying through the air across the front of the cable station. Turn in midair to land facing center again, use your momentum and muscles to preload your legs and the weights again, and leap back towards your starting position. Max float time in each direction is an invigorating objective. Repeat rhythmically until you've used up all the oxygen in the gym or your legs collapse; that'll take only a minute or two if you're really going for it. Even under an 8-foot ceiling your leap footprint can span 20 feet laterally; with a higher ceiling and higher cable system the sky's the limit. Make sure you move Granny and her yoga mat well out out of the way first. To hit the arms harder, add more counterweight. For more leg involvement, use less weight.

It absolutely nails your legs, arms, shoulders, back, core, timing, control, and lungs VERY quickly, as you're combining strength, power, plyometrics, endurance, intervals, neuromuscular timing, balance, spatial awareness, most of your muscles, and your will power all at once. It's also more sheer fun than just about any other gym exercise I've found; I'd love to work up to 5 or 10 nonstop minutes of it, but it's usually part of an larger interval training workout, so lung power comes at a premium.
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Sailboarder



Joined: 10 Apr 2011
Posts: 656

PostPosted: Tue Dec 10, 2013 11:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

With the level you describe, you can probably concentrate on hands, forearms and back for pulling. I'm not that much better and the only problems I had caused by windsurfing was in the forearms (tennis elbows).

The other problem that I often see from others who travel south in winter to windsurf is that they get "holes" in their hands from bad blisters. Toughening the hands or finding fitting gloves seems important.
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