I'm once again thinking of making a big effort to improve my fitness in an attempt to improve my TOW, water starting ability and gybing. I am assuming an improvement to the strength of the core would assist with this. Anyone have any tips to achieve this without going to a gym? Obviously TOW is the best solution but unless I win lotto it won't be a solution until retirement.
Meant to post this in General
The problem with windsurfing fitness is that the average worker is lucky to get 1 day a week, sometimes in winter it's 2-3 weeks between sessions.I found that any other sport like swimming, cycling, jogging during the week help me 'last longer' when windsurfing. For sore arms you can do dumbells exercises. Also don't kill yourself, start slowly, but do it regularly.
Cycling is a great way to stay fit. Mountain biking I would say is best as it hits more muscle groups but it can be difficult to find time for mountain biking unless you're lucky enough to live near trails and not have to drive.
I've been mountain biking for 20 years but also got into road cycling as well recently and now getting in between 100 km and 200 km per week on the road. I've noticed a big improvement in my windsurfing endurance and also skills - leg strength really improves fine tuning particularly on manoeuvres.
Of course you still have to maintain upper body fitness, but cycling does a lot of the work plus you can fit it in during a commute and you are outside, not staring at a gym wall.
Select to expand quotehoop said..
Lay off the pies fat boy!! Easy :)
I'm 75 kgs. Being tied to a desk for 50 hours per week is the problem 
Try High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) e.g. 7-minute workout not more than couple of times a week.
Compared to jogging, cycling etc it improves your strength and endurance really quickly -should feel significant improvements in your VO2Max (i.e the maximum or optimum rate at which the heart, lungs, and muscles can effectively use oxygen during exercise, used as a way of measuring a person's individual aerobic capacity.) within 6 weeks or so.
There are apps for smartphones and it does not require special equipment....Caution: you should be in good health e.g. no cardiovascular issues etc...and start slowly.
get a SUP 1 hour of paddling is great exercise .
also improves you balance for windsurfing ,improves your footwork on gybes.
i rarely blow one now .
Select to expand quoteTardy said..
get a SUP 1 hour of paddling is great exercise .
also improves you balance for windsurfing ,improves your footwork on gybes.
i rarely blow one now .
+1
30 push ups every day when you wake up
swim, run or cycle 3 times a week
Do 50 situps in the evening or morning.
Whenever you turn on the kettle to make yourself a coffee do push ups while the water boils
walk the dog daily
g'day orange whip
any of those exercises above are good, and anything is better than sitting in front of the computer
the best exercise for health and general fitness is usually the one you enjoy the most, as you'll be motivated to make time to do and push yourself to improve, find your limits etc.
also look at when is the best time for you to exercise, before work, lunch time, after work, days off etc and make it part of your daily/weekly routine. I walk the dog before and after work/school with my son which doubles as good time for us to spend together and I swim at lunch time as I enjoy that and the pool is close to work. I also do a bit of mountain biking and SUPing, which are also both good for windsurfing fitness but I do them because they're fun.
if you're not sure what you like, try anything and everything that's available to you.
don't forget to eat well too so you get the most out of your exercise.
Cheers for all the tips. Plenty to work with there and some I wouldn't have thought of or considered. Found out a few years ago by chance that I have a low heart rate, was 42 at rest when they sent me for tests, conclusion was, I've just got a low heart rate. Never had any problems from it and don't really know the possible consequences. Adrenalin pumps when I get out on the water, I know that much
That's the same hart rate as me , it's not given me any problems so far ! I try to keep my fitness for windsurfing by cycling 8mile to work (3days a week)5 minutes a day on my rowing machine and get out on my SUP as much as I can when not sailing. I do find it more challenging now I'm in my sixties now though. 
I found this on another forum 
Bigger reductions in risk of five common chronic diseases only achievable with five to seven times more activity, research finds
I've done plenty of research about how one can extend their lifespan as much as possible. There's a few things that stand out.
1. Studies show that fasting and calorie restriction extends lifespan by as much as 30%
2. People who are highly physical active, and thus consume a lot of food tend to die younger. Much younger in the most extreme cases.
3. Morbidly obese people who weigh hundreds of kilograms and massively overconsume tend to die in their early 30's.
4. The oldest surviving people are always slim.
5. Studies show that people who have more physically exhausting jobs have shorter lives than people who have less physically demanding jobs.
6. Eating and exercise causes build up of free radicals; free radicals are said to be the cause of aging.
7. Slow moving animals (relative to body mass though) live the longest lives. A parrot in capivity lives around 30% longer than a wild parrot, and can easily live till 70 years old, despite how small it is. Seeing as I have a parrot myself, I can see why. They mostly just sit in the cage getting very little movement all day long. We see the same in turtles too, the tiny ones can live for 100 years, the bigger species can live hundreds of years. Turtles are very slow moving, very slow metabolism. Conversely small high energy creatures such as flying insects have super fast metabolisms and live for just a few days. A robin (bird) lives for just 1 year, whilst a gerbil lives up to 4 years, or even 8 years in some species.
From all of this I was able to conclude that the secret to living longer is to eat less, thus using less energy and lowering your metabolism. Maintaining a lower body weight whilst not moving around more than necessary will help to keep calorie consumption on the low side of what is necessary to survive and this should give you the longest possible lifespan. For this reason, I stopped going to the gym. I decided it better to allow my body to shed some muscle mass as I'd previously built up a fair bit more than necessary. The biggest bodybuilders/wrestler types tend to live much shorter lives, supporting my idea. You must always adjust for any exercise decrease by eating less food, otherwise it doesn't work because you end up fat and suffer the negative health consequences of that.
What I hope is that if you eat a generally healthy diet and balance your physical exercise so you get just enough and not more than necessary you are effectively 'burning your candle' more softly. This is like the saying, live hard, die fast. I think the opposite is try also, live light, die slow.
Some of you probably already knew this or guessed it, because it's just common sense.
So I get back to the new W.H.O report - that we need to exercise five to seven times more
They're saying we should exercise 7 times more than the current recommended amount. That's quite a big increase, does anyone else find that suspicious?
For reference the current recommendation is to do 150 minutes brisk walking or 75 minutes running per week. They want to increase that to 1050 minutes brisk walking or 525 minutes running per week.
That's nearly 2.5 hours of brisk walking per day, or 75 minutes of running per day, every day of the week.
Brisk walk calories burned:
You'll burn about 415 calories per hour at a regular walking pace (usually about four miles per hour) — that's 57 more than you'd burn on a standard stroll without the baggage.
So to meet the new recommendation you should go on brisk walk for 2.5 hours a day, and you'll burn 1000 extra calories doing that. Considering the average person eats around 2000-2400 calories a day this calculates to a 40% to 50% increase in energy usage.
What happens if you burn a candle 40-50% harder? It dies 40-50% sooner. I highly doubt this directly translates into a 40-50% lifespan reduction because people are more complex than candles. However, I am sure that it does translate into a decrease in lifespan.
I think you miss read the original post he wants to get fitter for his windsurfing not live longer.
Try again.
Ps
Lock yourself up in a giant cage, with a swing, a mirror, eat lots of seeds, you might get bored and depressed, but at least you'll have a long (boring depressed) life.
Select to expand quoteR1DER said..
I think you miss read the original post he wants to get fitter for his windsurfing not live longer.
Try again.
Ps
Lock yourself up in a giant cage, with a swing, a mirror, eat lots of seeds, you might get bored and depressed, but at least you'll have a long (boring depressed) life.
Couldn't agree more with you R1DER.
I have have worked in the health and fitness industry for nearly 30 years and am still doing so. It's taken me all around the world working with a diverse range of people. Longevity versus quality of life is the big issue facing people today in "first world" countries. Pretty much everyone agrees they don't want to spend their last years in a nursing home bed but do little to prevent it or worse expedite their progress towards it.
The only wisdom I can contribute is to be as active as you can doing the things you love doing. If exercise falls into this category and you want to get fit for windsurfing then I strongly recommend you look into TRX training systems, Kettle Bells, Power Bands, and stability training tools. I find riding (specifically mountain biking) is great for cardio, balance and leg strength.
Me personally I live and work to sail and ride. I love food and eat heaps of it, I enjoy a quality beer in moderation, and think we have our heads up our arses when it comes to many other drugs. Life is to be experienced not accumulated. I've met and trained way too many super wealthy people who are going to die young, unhappy, and/or unfulfilled.
Select to expand quote the best exercise for health and general fitness is usually the one you enjoy
Fully agree; choose and do something you enjoy.
Based on the answers here you see a variety of answers. I have done and do a lot of different sports: from soccer, HIIT, boxing, cycling, muay thai, yoga to pilates. All of them help with my windsurfing. Yes, you could choose something based on similarities of muscle groups and endurance but chances are that you get the most consistent results from something that you have fun doing in a motivated fashion.
Some good programs on this website - a WA physio,
total surfing fitness
a few 20 min sessions a week - balance & freeweight based - a good winter program for those of us getting on a bit that tend to pack it on over the winter
My winter training regime basically involves thinking really hard, twice a week about going for a jog. Three times a week if I'm feeling really energetic.
Stretching for the remote is a great simulation of laying into a gybe too.
just a thought ...maybe doing another sport seriously is easier to motivate rather than trying to jog aimlessly ...say join a cycling club or rowing club
Shag the misses at least 3 or 4 times a week. Missionary, albeit a tad less interesting than others options, will give you the best core and upper body workout. It might just improve your marriage too, which subsequently means you're more likely to get that pass when the wind does blow. Jump on it!
HIIT
15 BURPEES
10 PUSHUPS
20 SQUAT JUMPS
70m SPRINT
- Walk back to start, recovery, after sprint and repeat 4 times (or 5), should take you about 12 minutes 
Select to expand quoteN1GEL said...
Shag the misses at least 3 or 4 times a week. Missionary, albeit a tad less interesting than others options, will give you the best core and upper body workout. It might just improve your marriage too, which subsequently means you're more likely to get that pass when the wind does blow. Jump on it!
Have you considered the average age of windsurfers/seabreeze members 
Regarding "What happens if you burn a candle 40-50% harder? It dies 40-50% sooner.", let me draw your attention to this
