Exercise aboard

[truant]

Not sure if this belongs here or the recreation forum, but here goes. What, beside swimming and rowing, do various cruisers do for cardio and strength training while aboard? I had heart surgery last year and want to keep the strength up. Thanks.

[mangomuffins]

Truant,
Tai Qi or Qi Gong are excellent exercises to develop and maintain cardiac health.
Great on a beach!!

Here are a few links to check out...

Tai Chi & Qigong (chi kung) Health Benefits, Medical Research, Illness, Health Concerns, Natural Health, Traditional Chinese Medicine

Tai Chi Exercises Both Mind and Body

and, of course, Dr. Mehmet Oz, famous cardiologist and {name drop} my buddy, highly recommends Tai Qi and Qi Gong for heart health.

If possible, I recommend classes with an instructor. One can learn from a video,if you are already cruising and unable to find an instructor but it's not quite the same... still, it's better than nothing.

You can also check out my site..

Main Page @ acupuncturemed.bravehost.com - A Bravenet.com Hosted Site

Good health,

mm

[iiii]

We ride bikes whenever possible.

[DWT]

Truant,

Exercise aboard is a big concern for the both of us. My wife has health issues and need to exercise to keep her strenght up and I like staying fit. We are limited as to what we can do on our present boat, a 30' monohull. Sure, swimming is good but you cannot always do it and pulling up the anchor is a good work out but not enough to stay in shape.

We have a stationary bike (a good one) at home and she is on it almost every day and wants one of these on our next boat. I like biking off road so I see myself using it also. But where to put it?

We're looking at an older catamaran in the 42' range. If I could pull out one of the aft bunks it might give us the room to make a small gym and get one of these bikes in. She is also talking about a tread mill and I am all for it if we have the room.

Hope this helps.

[Liberty28]

We just go to a fitness center. No big deal.

[tom151]

Originally Posted by truant

N What, beside swimming and rowing, do various cruisers do for cardio and strength training while aboard?

I set up my own weight trainer using a large bucket, some line, and a few blocks. Hanging the water filled bucket off the end of the boom and running the line to the trampoline allowed me do do most of the exercises that I did at home on my Total-Gym. If your boom doesn't hang over the water, then perhaps a reaching strut, spi pole, or even an oar might be rigged.
Hope that helps,

[JustStartin]

We have a Wii Fit!

[Roy M]

Has anyone set up a generator or alternator to a cycle or step machine? I'm trying to figure out something for passing the hours of a long watch and getting some amp-hours in return. Or maybe, a washing machine!

[Shu]

Being a long time Tai Qi and Chi Qong practitioner I have to recommend them myself. However there are several other ways to promote good health as well as stay in relitively good muscle tone. I have found the "Power Band" type products do a fair job of retaining muscle tone. These are the elastic or rubber bands you see advertised on TV. You can buy them with a complete workout program. They will not build any real strength but will help retain what you have. Then of course there is the old "High School" type calisthenics which is good mainly for cardio work. Push ups on deck, pull ups from the boom etc. You may also try the "Palaties Ball" programs. If you have room for something like a treadmill or stepper you may want a "Bowflex" I have assembled a few of these for friends and they are a pretty good machine and some fit in a relative small space. Chuck Norris also has a sliding seat exercise device which works pretty well. I can't remember the name now but a little search will find it. These things can all be found in a good sports store for reasonable money.
Or you could buy the "Maltese Falcon" for a mear HOW MANY MILLION? and ride your bike around deck, or maybe a car.

[rebel heart]

Pushups and crunches do a lot. If you have a single 20lb dumbbell, you can get a fairly good upper body workout doing curls and lifts. Use two of them and you can lunges, which work a lot of muscle groups.

Rowing helps a lot too. On a passage, expect your fitness levels to plunge a little bit if you were in super good shape on land.

I think the real key is making a point of "every day we're going to do something active". Walking around and checking stuff out is great too.

[Strygaldwir]

An elastic band is great for strength training. A wheel was great for the adominals. Asside from that, working on boat projects, and swimming.

You'd be surprised how little energy you actually can produce in extending bicycle riding. Competition class rider do in the VERY low 100's of watt range if I recall correctly. Doesn't amount to much juice back in the battery!

[MarkJ]

Just sail a lot I lost 5 - 6 kgs and Nicolle lost about double that

Just look around at the other cruisers. They are a fit looking mob

The only thing we have found is we need to do lots of walking when on land!

[Beausoleil]

Originally Posted by Strygaldwir

You'd be surprised how little energy you actually can produce in extending bicycle riding. Competition class rider do in the VERY low 100's of watt range if I recall correctly. Doesn't amount to much juice back in the battery!

Pretty close. According to this commercial website advertising a Human Power Trainer, the average person can sustain 150W for a reasonably long period. A trained pro still has to struggle to maintain 300+ watts...

Still, if I still had my mag trainer, I'd probably see if I could swap out the mag unit for a permanent magnet generator...

[Ex-Calif]

How about a cycling machine hooked up to a generator or the shaft. Charge the batteries or propel the boat through the doldrums.

Also -

Row your dinghy
Hoist jerry jugs aboard
Hoist sails
Douse sails
tack
gybe
Hoist sails
Douse sails
tack
gybe
Hoist sails
Douse sails
tack
gybe
Hoist sails
Douse sails
tack
gybe
etc...

[Roy M]

Ex-Calif, What I was looking for is something along the lines that Beausoliel has introduced. On passages, I find less sail handling to be the norm. Hence, looking for something that could maintain fitness while sitting in the cockpit for extended periods, particularly on night watch. And, if it generated some juice, that would be even better. But best of all? If it could be coupled to a tumbler so that I could wash clothes, ahhh, that would be heaven.