Fitness & Sailing

matt1

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The recent thread on singlehanded sailing got me thinking..... I’ve never seen an article in YM or even YW about what exercises are appropriate for sailing. I know we are all amateurs, and some of us (me!) not getting any younger but it would still be interesting to here what the pros do to increase fitness for sailing

I’m guessing the movements involved in sailing aren’t easily replicated in a gym, for instance hauling in quickly on a sheet or furling line, I get a lot of shoulder pain from sailing and realised that one of the things that doesn’t help is reaching up to tug on the stack pack zip

So come on Yachting Monthly, how about a winter fitness program so we are ready for next season.
 

Birdseye

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The TV remote button exercises your windlass finger. Raising repeated cups of tea prepares for the YC bar. On and off a stool prepares for the pontoon leap. Doing your tax return gives the imagination to explain to SWMBO why you come back after midnight when the race finished at 2pm.
 

duncan99210

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Usually I’m ashore in U.K. from October to May and aboard the boat in Greece from May to September. I spend most of the winter gig rowing, cycling and circuit training in preparation for the World Pilot Gig Championships in the Scillies. That little lot improves/maintains cardio vascular fitness, overall muscle tone and upper body strength.
I then spend the summer loosing all that hard won fitness as the thought of replicating it in the heat of Greece is just meh, not going to happen. Seriously, I don’t find that working the boat causes any real problems during the summer as the work during the winter has sorted out most of the aches and pains that I used to get when we lived on board full time and didn’t have anything to motivate training during the winter.
As to specific routines to help you cope with the work of sailing, I’d suggest finding a personal trainer, discussing what you’d like to achieve with them and getting an exercise programme put together for yourself. Needn’t be overly expensive and you’d have a set of exercises tailored to your needs and abilities.
Just re-read this. It makes me seem like some sort of gym bunny. That’s most definitely not the case: simply that I row once or twice a week and do the club run circuits once a week.... Do get the bike out most days though (but it is an e-bike).
 

johnalison

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I think that the issue of fitness is an interesting one. I struggle to hoist the main at the start of the season but manage easily after a while. After that, it is mainly a matter of being able to maintain the helming position for some hours without discomfort, mainly from the neck.

I am sceptical about exercises as such. Not are they mindlessly boring and rot the brain, but one set of exercise is unlikely to be right for more than a small set of individuals. I prefer fitness to be developed by building it into one's daily routine, as by using stairs instead of lifts and walking wherever possible. Arm strength is something that needs to be worked on and which I have ignored. Perhaps I should get an allotment.
 

capnsensible

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I reckon light excercising is a great way to pass some time on watch, especially at daft o clock.

At age 16 I was taught a regime of leg, chest, supple, bend twist,arm that has kept me in reasonable shape ever since.
 
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sgr143

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A related but slightly different issue is "endurance" - being able to keep an adequate level of mental focus and physical reserve even at the end of a long trip. Back in the day, I was a fairly hard-core caver, and after a 16-hour trip, you needed to be sure that you weren't going to make some potentially lethal cock-up on the last ropes out to the surface. Similar, I think, with coming into harbour after a long day. General fitness helps, for sure, but so does knowing how to pace yourself, and being aware of when the reserves are running low.
 

rotrax

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I firmly believe, certainly at cruising level, that like during my motorcycle racing days the best regime was riding the bikes - any bikes.

Same with sailing. Sailing the boat - any boat - tunes up those muscles in places you did not know you had places!

Just coping with a squirrely beam swell on a long passage tunes me up.

I have good upper body strength but shot knees so the above works for me, might not for others.
 

Resolution

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A rather timely thread for me as the wife and I have just finished a weekly session of zoom pilates, led by a lovely ample French lady. Excellent for keeping some of the joints working.
Later in the year I will move on to three times a week sweeping of the leaves which our garden produces in abundance. Excellent for all the winching needed on board next year.
But what we find most difficult on board is getting down off the transom into the dinghy. Somehow this seems to require 360 degree joints, muscle strength and balance way beyond our capabilities.:(
We are of course keeping up the daily practice of a drink at 18.00 hours - a glass of wine for her and a rum for him.:p
 

Wansworth

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The problem is having strength on the occasions when the adrenaline is course ing through the body and you need to be able to pull the anchour up or haul the main without being totally flumoxed
 

LONG_KEELER

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Mobility and strength generally ok. I have a hydraulic lifting keel that takes 70 pumps to go up. I'm quite pleased in a way because it builds my upper body strength.

As mentioned, it's endurance that I need and probably means doing activities where you get out of breath. That's the hard part, not that I don't what to do it, but most disciplines are boring and therefore hard to keep up.
 

HissyFit

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What ever strength exercises you do to maintain your winching capability, it will always be beneficial to add exercises for core stability. Standard weight training neglects those core muscles which actually hold us together and stop us doing damage when stretching awkwardly.
 

rotrax

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A rather timely thread for me as the wife and I have just finished a weekly session of zoom pilates, led by a lovely ample French lady. Excellent for keeping some of the joints working.
Later in the year I will move on to three times a week sweeping of the leaves which our garden produces in abundance. Excellent for all the winching needed on board next year.
But what we find most difficult on board is getting down off the transom into the dinghy. Somehow this seems to require 360 degree joints, muscle strength and balance way beyond our capabilities.:(
We are of course keeping up the daily practice of a drink at 18.00 hours - a glass of wine for her and a rum for him.:p


Have you a sugar scoop or a conventional transom?

A good fender step might help if it is the latter, along with a removeable gate.

Our previous boat had a sugar scoop but far too much stuff in the way for that to be used.

It did have, however, two gates, one on either side which allowed us to put the dink along the lee side and use a good fender step for ease of access.
 

AntarcticPilot

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In most cases, it isn't so much strength as using your strength efficiently. So, for example, getting your body over a winch is more effective than using your arms at full stretch; heaving on a halliard works better if you pull from the legs rather than from the arm (i.e. leaning away from the direction of pull) and so on.
 

HissyFit

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When I was cycle racing last, approx. six years ago, I consistently used one of those large, inflatable swiss balls. It introduced an element of wobble into everything you did, thus exercising those core muscles. I have been less active over the last three years, and when I do get out on the bike I feel myself getting 'out of shape' more readily than I've experienced before.
 

Resolution

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Have you a sugar scoop or a conventional transom?

A good fender step might help if it is the latter, along with a removeable gate.

Our previous boat had a sugar scoop but far too much stuff in the way for that to be used.

It did have, however, two gates, one on either side which allowed us to put the dink along the lee side and use a good fender step for ease of access.
Rotrax
Resolution has a very practical slight scoop, with a small step half way down and then a usable space at bottom level. This is still 30 to 40 cms above water level. There are two excellent grab bars in between these two steps, , and a fold-down swimming ladder in the centre. The dinghy side tubes are about level with the lower step, and I guess that the dinghy floor is about water level.
All too easy for crew to try to step on the side tubes, where they really need to make a downward lunge for the dinghy floor!
 

FlyingGoose

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For over all core fitness and increased stamina and aerobic workout without putting pressures on older joints as mentioned above . You cannot get better than swimming.
You need to get the heart rate up and keep it steady 45 mins to 1 hour is good
Clearly if your younger fitter then other exercises are there
Also yoga to help stiff ligaments and muscles move
On long trips I have exercise bands that can go around the mast or many other variations to get a full work out.
 
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