Does living on a boat make you fitter?

[Nostrodamus]

Come on, as a nation the British are generally slobs when it comes to fitness.
If they can get there in a car they do and if they park the car too far away from the kerb they call a taxi to get them the rest of the way.
I know because I was one. Why walk when you don't have too. If the remote for the tv is too far away we would rather watch the wrong channel than turn it over. If there is a machine to save us doing work we will use it. Oh and as for food, we don't like it unless it has got a billion calories, loads of e numbers or full of colouring.

The Spanish as a nation have this thing where they speed walk every morning and often at night. Everywhere you go the nation is speed walking around the marina in groups no matter what the age. They even do this weird thing in the fresh air called talking to each other and greet complete strangers with a hello and good day.

Since moving onto the boat we have been breathing in fresh air and even living in the stuff. We do washing (dishes and clothes) by hand and have found that if you put one leg in front of the other over and over again you can get miles under your own power.
We eat fresh food, always local, have lost weight and even have time to socialise. Even my bad back seems to have disappeared.

In two years no one aboard has had even a twinge of sniffles or anything else wrong (excluding self induced headaches which become far more prevalent). I even though about running the other day... I say thought but it was something that had never crossed my mind before.

So for us living aboard has certainly been better for our health.

Have you found your health improving by living aboard and can a lot of illnesses you may have suffered from in your past be put down to lifestyle?

 

[WindyOut]

Yes, definitely. No stranger to podginess, I reckon I shed half a kilo a week when cruising. If I go easy on the red wine and peanuts, that is.

WindyOut

 

[Nostrodamus]

Yes, definitely. No stranger to podginess, I reckon I shed half a kilo a week when cruising. If I go easy on the red wine and peanuts, that is.

WindyOut

Part of the 5 a day although I think that refers to fruit and not glasses of red

 

[macd]

The Spanish as a nation have this thing where they speed walk every morning and often at night. Everywhere you go the nation is speed walking around the marina in groups no matter what the age.

Speed walk? In my experience they're more likely to be stood in shop doorways having animated conversations, oblivious to anyone's need to get past.

As to the original question, I suppose it depends what you did before. I rarely run up flights of stairs these days, but then I sometimes row ashore.

 

[Sandyman]

No sickness because of constant fresh air and not mixing with all those plebs full of bugs

If you're cruising & not fitter than when you started then you've probably not left the pontoon yet.

Most UK folk are fat slobs because of the amount & type of awful awful food they consume, vastly more than their bodies need.
'Sold' to them to make vast profits for the supermarkets.

 

[sarabande]

living on board also means that you are doing more bending and stretching and lifting and heaving and...

Much cheaper than a gym !

 

[PhilipH]

living on board also means that you are doing more bending and stretching and lifting and heaving and...

Much cheaper than a gym !

+2 - the killer is when you arrive at the anchorage or marina. Fittest is when sailing.

 

[Mrs Springy]

In my experience over the last 18 months, yes is the answer - we're definitely fitter and haven't had any petty health problems i.e. colds, sore throats etc.

I put this down to several reasons, already mentioned - walking or cycling onshore as opposed to driving, the fresh air and not mixing with the great unwashed and bug-infested population. In addition, especially in the summer, I swim and snorkel several times a day when possible which is excellent all round exercise.

We've always eaten healthily and continue to do so. However, I must admit that, due to the sociable nature of cruising, I would hazard a guess that our alcohol intake has increased a tad

 

[Mrs Springy]

Speed walk? In my experience they're more likely to be stood in shop doorways having animated conversations, oblivious to anyone's need to get past.

Ha-ha! Actually, that's very true too

 

[NornaBiron]

We're now in the middle of our second cold/cough since we left the UK in 2008, both times as a result of visitors bringing bugs with them! We maintain a healthy weight, walk lots and swim when able. Our diet is much healthier than when we both worked full time in the UK. Lack of cold storage space has meant that we now eat a much more vegetarian type diet with meat eaten occasionally as a treat. When we last went back to the UK our cholesterol levels and blood pressures were down.

Must be something to do with the lifestyle!

 

[Liz_I]

Yes healthier! However not being exposed to bugs means no immunity so when visitors arrive with the lurgy or on flights one is bound to pick up a cold or worse

 

[chinita]

There are benefits of living aboard which you can easily replicate on land to maintain a peak of fitness. We sleep in the garden, walk into town to use the public conveniences and fill up our jerrycans from the garden centre. When at home we 'hide' as many things as we can to simulate having to move loads of things to find what we are looking for. Best of all we stand on the pavement watching pensioners trying to 'park' - shaking our heads and tut tutting just like we do on the pontoon !

 

[Nostrodamus]

There are benefits of living aboard which you can easily replicate on land to maintain a peak of fitness. We sleep in the garden, walk into town to use the public conveniences and fill up our jerrycans from the garden centre. When at home we 'hide' as many things as we can to simulate having to move loads of things to find what we are looking for. Best of all we stand on the pavement watching pensioners trying to 'park' - shaking our heads and tut tutting just like we do on the pontoon !

Chinita... excellent.

 

[Nostrodamus]

We have also found that our food intake has gone down and those huge fatty meals are not needed any more.
It is difficult when visitors come out as they look down their minds obviously thinking "Is that it". Then again it helps with the provisioning as they always want to come to the supermarket and buy extra or offer to cook....

 

[KellysEye]

Long distance cruising we found our upper body strength went up and our aerobic fitness went down. In six and a half years away we only got one cold in Antigua - tourists.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

I lose weight and feel fitter when sailing (I'm not liveaboard - yet!). I reckon there's several reasons.

1. More active
2. Continual exercise, as the motion of the boat keeps me moving constantly.
3. Colder, so I'm burning calories to keep warm
4. Being outdoors has plus and minus - plus is I'm getting vitamin D, minus is the UV!
5. Tend to eat well; cooking on a two burner stove with a marginally effective oven tends to make you think about cooking more carefully!

 

[Nostrodamus]

I also believe it keeps your mind working as well. Beside the thinking about sailing you also learn how to communicate and can even understand drunks (as you often become one). Gone are the days when you would get in from work and fall asleep in front of a square box. Now you look at the time, wonder where it as gone, apologise if you have outstayed your welcome and practise pilates as you wobble down the pontoon. Next comes step aerobics as you try to get back on your own boat several times. Sailing and fitness obviously go hand in hand.

 

[capnsensible]

Not having a telly for 15 years has been great because we have to walk to a pub to watch football.

 

[nortada]

Nope! Getting on & off might.

 

[mattonthesea]

There are benefits of living aboard which you can easily replicate on land to maintain a peak of fitness. We sleep in the garden, walk into town to use the public conveniences and fill up our jerrycans from the garden centre. When at home we 'hide' as many things as we can to simulate having to move loads of things to find what we are looking for. Best of all we stand on the pavement watching pensioners trying to 'park' - shaking our heads and tut tutting just like we do on the pontoon !

love it