Well I have been now windsurfing for 4 months and have acheived some milestones and my competence levels are as below:
Beachstarts 85%
Waterstarts 20%
Planing 80%
Planing in In Footstraps 45%
Harnessing in straps
Gibes 50%
Tacks 40%
I am improving in all the above areas weekly, but one thing that is not improving is my physical condition.
Apart from the fact that I am bruised black and blue on my arms legs from failed attempts, and my hands are butchered - I wear that with some pride. What I cant seem to get over is the aches and pains. My back, arms, legs and shoulsers are constantly sore between sessions. Its fair to say I am semi disabled when I am out of the water, but as soon as get into the water I suck it up and go for gold.
Neurofen and Voltaren help little but i dont want to be on the stuff forever.
What should I do physio? Suck it up an ingnore it?
I do some stretches from a chiro that i have for my crook neck.Bit hard to explain them but if I do them every couple of hours after a session it stops me from getting stuck in bed the next day with a headache.They are really good for stretching the muscles between the shoulder blades & down either side of the spine.I can lie down to do them with a headache & get up headache free & so much less stiff! I may be able to get a copy of them if you want to PM me.I'm sure they would help anyone after a sail..
Sailing gloves help the hands and are are good in winter too..I wear fingerless ones.. about $39..?
I find a presail and post sail electrolyte replacement drink helps, plus two nurofen straight after sailing. Pre sailing may be even better.
Has improved my recovery time and reduced pain enormously.
Jez when your next at Invy will have a look at your stance,but i think Elmo is right in that your no commiting enough weight to your harness, your hands should be relaxed and not in a "death grip" Try lifting your boom as well. A bit of bike ridding will help to toughen up your legs and swimming for the rest.
I too hurt a lot between sessions, basically I walk like a penguin for coppola-days.
But I like it, it's good hurt (mostly, except for parts that are permanently damaged).
Your proficiency level is good, may I suggest you're at the stage where you want to start sailing whilst pushing the rig? Mostly coming out of a tack, else the freestyle way, whilst planing, you switch over to the leeside.
It's a personal thing, but in this position, I find this balances the work between pulling and pushing, biceps and triceps, abs versus dorsals, etc. Sessions where I do a lot of those are better for my overall ache than those I don't.
Anyways, congrats on the quick progression!
I agree with sports drinks a (esp after a session) and adding more protein to the diet. Also weight training helps a lot. If you want to sail a lot, not just 45 min sessions but several hours and more each session, I think you do need to have above average fitness. It has worked for me.
I agree with elmo and kato, your hands should be fairly relaxed.
Tuning the rig, plays a big part.
Enough downhaul is a big factor, not enough and the sail will be heavy, and put more load on your hands, arms and shoulders.
Harness lines should be placed so there's an even load on front and back hands.
Sailing in gusty conditions will always be harder than steady, and too under or overpowered will also wear you out.
Hi Jez, sounds like you have been skimping on those cans of HTFU I prescribed!
But seriously, that is a really good progression in 4 months. It is good to hear that you are sailing so well!
Your fitness now will partly depend on how fit you were when you got into windsurfing - were you used to hard exercise? Four months is not that long to really shape up if you are just windsurfing a couple of times per week.
And what else do you do to keep fit between sessions? For example I ride my bike to work - which is about 50 mins each way (with hills) and do yoga, interspersed with some pushups and chinups for the arms.
I agree that stretching is very important - before and after. I agree with the comments about death grip - having done that myself - try to commit more to the harness and grip the boom lightly. I also agree with the sail tuning comments from decrep - not enough downhaul can play havoc with sail handling and make an otherwise good rig feel heavy and make you feel like you were fighting it the whole time.
As a dietitian and vegan I would caution about too much protein though. Most standard aussie diets have way too much protein (a major cause of osteoporosis). I think that you can be very fit and have good stamina through regular training and not need to take supplements or gorge on meat and dairy. I'm no Arnie Swarzenegger, as you know, but have sailed 230km in a day - just through being reasonably fit and having a good diet.
Massage also should help, I can recommend a great masseur who comes to your home for $60/hr (just pm me).
But also, the early learning stage is physically really demanding - you are working really hard, falling in all the time, water starting, every thing is harder than when you get more comfortable and have more finesse.
But the main thing is to keep having fun!
what we need is a windsurfing physio?
Ideally one that isn't too clumsy himself.. no broken feet, knees through decks of new boards..
any ideas?
When I got back into it I got a ton of injuries as well as broken equipment. One thing that made a huge differences was buying smaller sails for stronger conditions. Previously I used to just muscle through some crazy winds with the same sail. When you're really overpowered in chop your body will take heap of strain no matter what and you are much more likely to have some nasty crashes.
This may or may not be the case with you, but worth considering.
Thinking of starting a thread where we can all post pic's of our injuries, gashes, bruises and broken gear.
Anyone know if its been done before? Might keep my mind off my own injuries knowing that there are people worse off than me!
My bloke is a massage therapist.. first few years of crook neck I got regular massages + first 6 months of getting back into sailboarding..Now after sailboarding its the " self inflicted ' story..unless Im so bad I get stuck in bed for a few days with a headache & then he''l grudgingly take pity on me..
I think some really good comments have come from this. I'm in the same boat, having sailed with Jermaldan, Ozbiker and Architect every weekend... and feeling the strain too. I figure - I'm sitting in an office all day on my @rse... get home stuffed from work, then try to have some good sailing on the weekend and then I wear out pretty quickly.... enter reference to AFL... (go saints)
Those dudes are training hard all week for the big clash on the weekend, weights, running, cold water conditioning etc, and then have a pretty physical game - I figure you need a similar platform during the week, although not as full on, to get best performance, so regular exercise and a good diet as everyone has mentioned, some weight training, swimming ideally, will sort you out. Protein suppliments and that stuff that prevents lactic acid to speed recovery sounds like a good plan too.
I think swimming is the shiz (word stolen from Gen Y) for curing aches and pains... good for joints, say 4-6 km a week is ideal.
That all said, all that is left is the doing - Jermaldan -Architect - you guys in for regular swims and gym after work?
I could say something.... but I won't...... no sir.... I'm leaving this one alone....
busters stats.........
fitness 60%
Beachstarts 99%
Waterstarts 99%
Planing 99%
Planing in In Footstraps 99%
Harnessing in straps 99%
Gibes 10% EPIC FAIL _arms are to tired
Tacks epic FAIL
Racing t baggers
with overpowered sails 99%
Smiling 98%
jump and bump 65%
loosing momentum
on landing 50%
upwind speed angles 50%
wavesailing 25%
Picking up women 22%
Bangcock transvestites 12%
seabreese trolling 80%
Will send through the chiro exercises when they send me them.Another thing I find great ( especially as the real massage therapist has gone on strike ) is a hand massage thingy..( no rude suggestions please..) Rather heavy and a large triangular shaped head with a handle.. several settings. Great especially if you use it on your back / shoulders / arms straight after a sail as the next day when the muscles jam up its B painful! ( but still worth using).The one we have is about $100..? Should be a lot of others around.
