Work outs in the gym

[Rmanen]

Looking at a couple of Alinghi vids, some of them feature the gym and the exercises the sailors perform. This got me thinking, is there a fitness/aerobic/gym routine that would help train for regatta's? I couldn't find it.

If there is none, we could pool our ideas about it and create one. I sail J22 and ORC races, and especially in this frigid season its important to keep training. I would like to see a work-out routine that could really help in these classes, but obviously all exercises related to a specific activity on-board are appreciated.

For example, a lat-pulldown would be useful for the mastman, in helping develop the strength and stamina needed to assist the pit in spi hoisting. Using bosun-balls could prevent ankle injuries due to loss of stability, and also increase balance and improve speed on deck.

Looking at the vid, a lot of exercises are based on running over the trampoline. What could be done instead of these to apply the routine to monohulls?

Let's see what you do to keep in shape!

Vid linky:



ExRX.net: examples of all exercises, by muscle group.

http://exrx.net/

 

[LoopyGirdleSniffer]

Flow Yoga, or Power Yoga is all you really need. Possibly some Pilates thrown into the mix

 

[barleymalt]

I've found alternating between 12 and 16 oz curls is excellent preparation for sailing. Work your way up to 20 reps and you will be ready for any regatta.

 

[LoopyGirdleSniffer]

I've found alternating between 12 and 16 oz curls is excellent preparation for sailing.

There's always that

 

[jimbojones]

I understand that what I am about to say is impulsive, opinionated, stereotyping, simplistic and potentially obnoxious but this is SA so what the hell. Take it as such and not a declaration of my world view nor a condemnation of sailing.

I know that cup sailors practice on fake grinding pedestals and all but for the average sailor the fitness needs are a bit more fundamental. Such as losing the 50 pounds of beer gut poking out of the foulies. If you want to condition for sailing do a good general whole body fitness workout with free weights, and run or cycle for cardio.

I love sailing and all but sailors are not the folks I look to as exceptional examples of fitness and athleticism. Even the highly competitive sailors I know look soft and sometimes even flabby compared to other athletes at the same level like swimmers, climbers, cyclists etc. The few sailors I know that I would call fit would still get their asses handed to them in most any other sport or demonstration of fitness.

Present company excepted of course., you are all hard tough brutes who embody masculine or feminine athletic prowess and fitness just like myself

 

[KRC]

Rmanen, meet search function. Search function, meet Rmanen. You guys should become bestest buddies.

http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/index.php...xercise+routine

http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/index.php...xercise+routine

Me, I just sail year round. Keelboats in the spring/summer/fall, dinghies in the winter. Keeps skills and muscle groups sharp. Since there is obviously less sailing in the winter, I go to a climbing gym once or twice a week in the winter.

 

[HamishMacdonald]

Most of my training is rugby specific, and fairly old school:

Lots of bench, squat (especially front squat), chinups, upright row and core (both crunch-type and static). However, it gives you a good general level of strength and even the lower body stuff is useful, both for dragging sails around etc. and because factors released by large muscles such as the quads drive general anabolism.

However, I saw a video on BBC sport the other week of the Scotland rugby guys in the gym. A lot of their exercises involved dynamic twisting exercises that brought in lifting in awkward positions and combinations of core, axial, proximal and distal muscle groups. This is just what you need in rugby and sailing. This is one of the reasons that most machine weights should be melted down - a free weight exercise gives a more all-round workout, including all the small agonists and stabilisers of the joint, as well as a good core workout. If you don't believe me, go and do a free weight squat and then a machine squat - the latter will probably be about 50kg higher than the former. This means freeweights let you work your muscles to the same degree as machines, but work more muscles and do so with less strain on joints and ligaments.

That's another reason I love front squats - they put more emphasis on quads and glutes, reducing the load on the susceptible back and knees, and also bring in more core.

In addition, especially for offshore sailing, the more stretching and prehab you do, the better.

 

[Go Fuck Yourself]

I've always wanted to (have someone) design (for me) some workout equipment for sailors. Grinding pedestals would be easy to figure out, I'd just go to Harken and try to buy what they have for their shows. But what I'm also talking about is standard winches for grinding, have lines under load the you could adjust. A mast section with halyards to jump. Spinnakers to take down and stow (you'd need to use the backside of a climbing wall, maybe?) . Sheets to tale. Everyone knows a guy in their home town that owns a gym. Wouldn't it be cool to have this stuff there to utilize over the winter months. Realistically, it would be in addition to your regular workout, and it would be a interesting marketing tool for the gym owner. The only problem is the keeping the R&D under a butt-load so the equipment isn't too expensive and It's got to look good, not just something you've built in your Homer J. Simpson spare time...

Oh, and I'm not a product designer, I'm a packaging designer. I'll need to build a team of volunteers to develop and manufacture the equipment, I'll take care of the packaging..

Any takers?

 

[jesposito]

I will wait for Pitman 260's training video to come out, on how he prepares for a regatta

 

[Jager]

A work out for all sports activity:

30 minutes on the bike or treadmill followed by circuit training done as quickly as possible (low weight-high rep to keep your heart rate up) end with another 30 minutes on the bike or tread. A couple of times a week do free weights to build strength. Learn some basic yoga to maintain flexibility. Takes about 90 minutes and its fun once you get into it. If you do it after work, you'll find you eat less for dinner. I got hooked and ended up doing this routine 5 days a week, lost weight, built muscle and endurance and got around the boat like a monkey!

 

[HamishMacdonald]

One thing I'm probably going to set up in my local gym is specific for the mast. I'm going to mount a block on the roof, which is pretty high, about 30ft, run an old halyard through it and have a chain on the end to run through the middle of weight plates. Sets of ten hand over hand hoists on that should replicate hoists pretty well.

 

[TheTwister]

One thing I'm probably going to set up in my local gym is specific for the mast. I'm going to mount a block on the roof, which is pretty high, about 30ft, run an old halyard through it and have a chain on the end to run through the middle of weight plates. Sets of ten hand over hand hoists on that should replicate hoists pretty well.

That sounds like a great idea, nothing unsafe about weight plates 30ft in the air.

 

[Slowboat]

Crossfit. It will get you ready for any sport, and will kick your ass, but fun.

One thing I'm probably going to set up in my local gym is specific for the mast. I'm going to mount a block on the roof, which is pretty high, about 30ft, run an old halyard through it and have a chain on the end to run through the middle of weight plates. Sets of ten hand over hand hoists on that should replicate hoists pretty well.

Maybe you should just climb the rope to the top...

 

[DriverEd]

I understand that what I am about to say is impulsive, opinionated, stereotyping, simplistic and potentially obnoxious but this is SA so what the hell. Take it as such and not a declaration of my world view nor a condemnation of sailing.
I know that cup sailors practice on fake grinding pedestals and all but for the average sailor the fitness needs are a bit more fundamental. Such as losing the 50 pounds of beer gut poking out of the foulies. If you want to condition for sailing do a good general whole body fitness workout with free weights, and run or cycle for cardio.

I love sailing and all but sailors are not the folks I look to as exceptional examples of fitness and athleticism. Even the highly competitive sailors I know look soft and sometimes even flabby compared to other athletes at the same level like swimmers, climbers, cyclists etc. The few sailors I know that I would call fit would still get their asses handed to them in most any other sport or demonstration of fitness.

Present company excepted of course., you are all hard tough brutes who embody masculine or feminine athletic prowess and fitness just like myself

Um, did you see the lean bodies of the linemen in the superbowl? Holy crap were they fat! That being said, I agree that the average sailor could stand to drop a few dozen pounds. Excluding the crew on my boat of course.

 

[calvinage77]

Training for sailing is definitely not as intense as other sports but shoulders, legs, and core are where I train the hardest.

I am a triathlete by nature and find my upper body strength lacking when I sail with friends.

 

[croman]

Check out Annapolis Sailing Fitness. They have a DVD available for training sailors.

http://www.annapolissailingfitness.com/

 

[us7070]

One thing I'm probably going to set up in my local gym is specific for the mast. I'm going to mount a block on the roof, which is pretty high, about 30ft, run an old halyard through it and have a chain on the end to run through the middle of weight plates. Sets of ten hand over hand hoists on that should replicate hoists pretty well.

That sounds like a great idea, nothing unsafe about weight plates 30ft in the air.

yeah.., i'm sure your gym will let you do that.

make sure you have the video camera rolling if you ever get it working...

 

[HamishMacdonald]

One thing I'm probably going to set up in my local gym is specific for the mast. I'm going to mount a block on the roof, which is pretty high, about 30ft, run an old halyard through it and have a chain on the end to run through the middle of weight plates. Sets of ten hand over hand hoists on that should replicate hoists pretty well.

That sounds like a great idea, nothing unsafe about weight plates 30ft in the air.

yeah.., i'm sure your gym will let you do that.

make sure you have the video camera rolling if you ever get it working...

Pretty simple really - mount two blocks instead of one (my bad for forgetting that), so the weights going up (and more importantly down) are offset from the lifter by a few metres.

Will I be allowed to do it? Probably, it's a private gym, and most of the time it's just me +/- a workout buddy, and I've never had any problems. As long as what we're doing is safe and it's making us bigger, the admin guys stay out of it.

Why not climb the rope? We'll if you can climb a rope hand over hand the same way as you hoist a kite, you're either a fucking shit hot rope climber or a fucking shit mastman. The reason I want to set up my own kit is so simulate the motion from arm right above head to hand by hips, repeatedly and with alternate arms. If you can think of another way, I'd love to hear it (genuinely). The only other alternative I can think of is to have a pulley at top and splice the rope into an endless loop, hanging weights off the bottom to provide resistance.

 

[Jonny_B]

I understand that what I am about to say is impulsive, opinionated, stereotyping, simplistic and potentially obnoxious but this is SA so what the hell. Take it as such and not a declaration of my world view nor a condemnation of sailing.
I know that cup sailors practice on fake grinding pedestals and all but for the average sailor the fitness needs are a bit more fundamental. Such as losing the 50 pounds of beer gut poking out of the foulies. If you want to condition for sailing do a good general whole body fitness workout with free weights, and run or cycle for cardio.

I love sailing and all but sailors are not the folks I look to as exceptional examples of fitness and athleticism. Even the highly competitive sailors I know look soft and sometimes even flabby compared to other athletes at the same level like swimmers, climbers, cyclists etc. The few sailors I know that I would call fit would still get their asses handed to them in most any other sport or demonstration of fitness.

Present company excepted of course., you are all hard tough brutes who embody masculine or feminine athletic prowess and fitness just like myself

Bingo. This is my problem. I'm not generally the active type. What I like about sailing is how much mental stimulation there is, but I won't be good until I can sail the last race of the day with the same focus, strength and quickness as I sail the first. Also, I need to drop weight if I want invites to weight limit regattas.