Cruisers: How do you stay fit?

[NedX]

Originally Posted by boatman61

That's why I buy beer 2 pints at a time.. Left, Right, Left...

I'm totally hiring you when it's time to bring my sirius to the Americas

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by NedX

I'm totally hiring you when it's time to bring my sirius to the Americas

[capblasters]

Callisthenics, swimming and rowing. All in addition to sailing of course. We have a Beneteau Oceanis 34 and find we can do most callisthenics on board: squats, lunges, pushups, situps, side bridge, planks. Some of these can be quite challenging when anchored in some swell!!

I like the idea of resistance bands and will have to look into this.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Fore and Aft

Gilow when you want to get real serious about fitness you should be able to put your Swanson on autopilot and swim beside her........LOL
Cheers

Actually Robin Knox Johnston used to do that exact thing while 100's of miles offshore with no boats anywhere near by during the Golden Globe race of 1968.

But he was in his 20's ......

[tstano]

Well you could do what I’ve done. Start with a 5 pound potato bag in each hand and hold them out to your side building your time up to 10 minutes. Then get a 10 pound bag and do the same. Then get a 25 pound bag and repeat until you can make 10 minutes. The next step is a 50 pound bag (that’s where I am) and hold them out for 10 minutes. If you finally reach this level then you can try it again but now add a potato to each bag. Happy Holidays.

[NedX]

Originally Posted by capblasters

Callisthenics, swimming and rowing. All in addition to sailing of course. We have a Beneteau Oceanis 34 and find we can do most callisthenics on board: squats, lunges, pushups, situps, side bridge, planks. Some of these can be quite challenging when anchored in some swell!!

I like the idea of resistance bands and will have to look into this.

Doing these exercises in a swell, if you do them carefully, actually increases the benefits, because you have to compensate for the motion (which is what happens in "real life" when you need those muscles!)

[MicHughV]

first time I sailed to Bermuda, I had onboard a guy, that was a gym rat....

came outside one morning to find him working out on the foredeck with some barbells he had smuggled on board and hid in the bilge...

while I admired his zeal and dedication, his tendency to bend the rules to suit his own personal habits, caused some issues....

I have found that just being on a boat is a 24/7 routine of isometric exercise.....that and daily diving has pretty much kept me in shape for most of my years. It's only when I've been off the boat for any period of time, that I've noticed a light weight gain....but once a pound has glommed onto your belly....trying to eradicate it is a monumental task...

[NedX]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

first time I sailed to Bermuda, I had onboard a guy, that was a gym rat....

came outside one morning to find him working out on the foredeck with some barbells he had smuggled on board and hid in the bilge...

while I admired his zeal and dedication, his tendency to bend the rules to suit his own personal habits, caused some issues....

I have found that just being on a boat is a 24/7 routine of isometric exercise.....that and daily diving has pretty much kept me in shape for most of my years. It's only when I've been off the boat for any period of time, that I've noticed a light weight gain....but once a pound has glommed onto your belly....trying to eradicate it is a monumental task...

Smuggling dead weight on board a cruiser sounds pretty gnarly, lol.

[CassidyNZ]

Originally Posted by tstano

Well you could do what I’ve done. Start with a 5 pound potato bag in each hand and hold them out to your side building your time up to 10 minutes. Then get a 10 pound bag and do the same. Then get a 25 pound bag and repeat until you can make 10 minutes. The next step is a 50 pound bag (that’s where I am) and hold them out for 10 minutes. If you finally reach this level then you can try it again but now add a potato to each bag. Happy Holidays.

Excuse my incredulity.

You can hold two 50lb bags of potatoes, one in each hand, arms horizontal, for 10 minutes? I reckon that there is probably only a handful of people in the world who could hold their arms up there for even a few moments with that weight.

10 minutes? WOW. I would happily watch a ten minute video to see that.

[CassidyNZ]

I do no organised exercise when I’m on the boat and I know two things:

When I haven’t been on the boat for some time (months), the first few days aboard leave me very tired and stiff.

When I’ve been on the boat for a while after having been away for an extended period, I always lose several kilos of body weight.

Both of these indicators tell me that organised exercise would be excessive so in the interests of my health and well-being I try to avoid it.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by CassidyNZ

Excuse my incredulity.

You can hold two 50lb bags of potatoes, one in each hand, arms horizontal, for 10 minutes? I reckon that there is probably only a handful of people in the world who could hold their arms up there for even a few moments with that weight.

10 minutes? WOW. I would happily watch a ten minute video to see that.

In his dreams, he did that for 2 minutes.....

[MicHughV]

Let's simplify this....I've got two 35lb anchors here, I welcome anyone onboard that thinks he can hold these at arms length, horizontally for 10 minutes...seriously....I wanna see this, I'll record it and post it. In fact, do it for 5 minutes....just 5 minutes ???

You can do this on your own boat...post the video...all 10 minutes..I wanna see this !!

For that matter, I have a coupla 10lb dinghy anchors here...a mere 10 lb each.....c'mon, 10 minutes, a lousy 10 lbs....surely, someone can do 10 lbs for 10 minutes...surely...???

[David B]

Originally Posted by NedX

This came up in another discussion and I'm curious.

It seems that a few people here are closer to retirement age than high school.

I read a lot of "Can I handle a big boat." Don't know about you all, but in my experience, a 40+ guy is more likely to throw out a back or pull a quad or hamstring with a sudden, extreme exertion (hauling, yanking, pulling, hoisting)

So how do you stave off that sort of thing? Do many of you have workout regimes geared toward being able to do the things you need to do on a boat?

Or does it all just work out for you.

BONUS QUESTION: Want to share any tricks for keeping fit during a passage?

[ABOUT ME: I'm 58, and do a lot of exercises to keep me in shape for things I need to do, like pulling myself (or the heaviest person back on board) or hauling, hoisting, pulling, etc. etc, yet. Yet at anchor, I will also find myself keeping in shape by doing 12-oz curls and two-finger raises. So this is a no-judgment question. I'm just curious, and will likely learn something.]

When not with our boat, I tend to cycle some 250 to 800km per month - alone and with a group of mates. Despite that, when we are living on our boat I am generally trimmer and feel fitter. Just the movement of up and down and in and out lockers etc, plus the walking for provisions etc tends to keep us fit.

We are both in our late 60's now. Living on a boat we find, is a very healthy life-style.

[MicHughV]

you guys tear me up, my wife is 17 years mah junior, and excels at keeping me in shape

[Rob_P]

Originally Posted by NedX

Just watching his trailer I'm exhausted

Whenever I watch a trailer I often spot stuff other people miss. Things like missing hubcaps and rusty leaf springs.