Off season preparation

Fit for sailing

Some hard work now will see you in better shape when the season starts, says Andrew Verdon.

Strength in its most basic form is the ability of a muscle to exert force. This is generally done in sailing by pushing or pulling an object. Why
is strength important for sailing?

    * A strong joint is less likely to be injured.
    * Strength helps on windy days as loads increase.
    * Helps you perform over multiple race days by not tiring as rapidly.
    * Increases muscle mass and may help reduce body fat levels.
    * Improves body awareness, balance and agility.

Here are the top three exercises you can do to get stronger at home or at a gym, with little equipment needed:

Lunge

Why? Primarily to help leg strength but it has other benefits too.

Leg strength is important for all sailors from hikers to keel boat sailors – hikers will benefit from the endurance it gives them and trapeze and keel boat sailors from improved stability and balance.

Trunk strength is also improved as you need to keep a tall posture with the trunk muscles activated, and as a single leg exercise it helps to improve balance as well as strength. Flexibility is an added benefit from this movement as it gives the hip muscles a good stretch. Hips are often tightened from hiking.

Lunges are safer than squats for beginners and you need less specific equipment. A squat may be a good progression from the lunge if you have access to a gym.

To make the lunges more challenging, after mastering the movement you can add dumbbells (start with 4-5kg).

Chin up

Why? Excellent for shoulder health and to prevent injuries. This will give you a good improvement of your overall upper
body strength.

Ensure that you start and extend back to full straight arms and minimise any swing of the body as you rise up. Focus on pulling your chest (not your chin despite the name) up to the bar with shoulder blades pulled back and down.

Use an underhand shoulder-width grip and once you can do three sets of 8-12, try a pull up – same movement with an overhand grip.

Inverted row

Why? A great pulling exercise to help with the upper body and arm muscles to give strength for sheeting and grinding.

Watch body and keep it rigid. Aim for chest touch on each rep. Use an overhand grip and hold the bar slightly wider than shoulder width.

To make this exercise more challenging you can place your feet on a Swiss ball.

Whether you hike or trapeze from a dinghy or crew on a sportsboat or yacht, then strength will be an important part of your physical performance. Winter is a perfect time to improve your strength while you are sailing less. Strength is improved by strength (resistance) training but let’s be clear here that strength training does not mean body building! Strength training is done to improve performance while body building is done to increase the size, not improve the function of a muscle. Bigger does not equal better!

For a sheet showing these exercises and their progressions in more detail, email andrew@beyondstudio.com.au.