Here is how I try to keep fit for windsurfing. For inspiration. I would like to hear how others try to stay fit for our amazing sport
I found a routine that Nico Prien posted a few years ago and I like it because it helps to keep me fit and is pretty easy to do every day.
At the start of the covid lockdowns I looked around for home work outs and Nico's was one of the 1st I did. Just following 1 or 2 routines gets boring, so I found these. You can go as hard at the exercises as you like. I paid USD10 for their monthly planner.
I should have stuck to that, as there are 2 rest days per week, but did random workouts on the rest days. I really got into the routines, and after a year I felt more fitter and toned than I had for years. But then the rot set in as my tendons didnt like it, and had calf strains. Shaking off tendonitis/RSI or whatever it was takes a very long time as you get older.
www.youtube.com/@HASfit
The Sarah Hauser structure is awesome, can't recommend it enough. Different components for different types of wave sailing. Nc6training.com.
Select to expand quotePhilUK said..
But then the rot set in as my tendons didnt like it, and had calf strains. Shaking off tendonitis/RSI or whatever it was takes a very long time as you get older.
Tendonitis is a PITA (well, not literally). Took me a year to find a way to get rid of elbow tendonitis from windsurfing, and a few more years before it as 100% gone. Since then, my body seems eager to point out that there are many more tendons in my body that can get inflamed. The pain can be quite different, and doctors can be quite poor in diagnosing it correctly.
One recurring theme, though, is that eccentric exercises can work wonders to get rid of tendonitis. My elbow tendonitis was mostly gone after a few days of Therabar exercises; before, there had been very little improvement for many months. My wife had a similar experience with upper hamstring tendonitis.
The basic principle behind eccentric exercises is to slowly lengthen (rather than contract) the affected muscle under load - think Tai Chi instead of Karate, and add load. When working with weights or on machines, it is pretty straightforward to modify the routine: just slow down all movements a lot, instead of just the return to the starting position. Reduce weight as necessary, you still want to do 12 reps and a few sets. You'll get eccentric training of the paired muscles (adductor and abductor). Often, the tendons attached to either one of them can get inflamed; tennis elbow vs. golfer's elbow is an example.
A little extra benefit of slowing down the exercises is that you extend the total time the muscle is working, which puts the training a bit more towards endurance, rather than maximum strength. That matches typical muscle use in windsurfing (and winging) well.
Yeah I've been managing elbow tendonitis on one side for a long time.
I second therabar for eccentrics on that.
The Arm Aid helps for fascia release there (learned about it from climbing because that's where my tendonitis originated from).
I recently started adding rice bucket exercises as well. I'm hoping to stomp it for good but so far have been unsuccessful.
I regularly go to the gym, and have to be really careful about overtraining that joint with any pulling exercises that also pair with the bicep. I've had to adjust curl types and hand positions to minimize the strain on those tendons.
