The First Post: Snowboarding Season Is Well and Truly Over

After a fantastic snowboarding season which took me to Furedalen and Eikedalen in Norway, Val D'Isere in France and Vemdalen in Sweden, it's time to start focusing more on fitness for windsurfing again.



What this translates to in the gym is a shift more toward the endurance side of rowing and away from the speed side.  More longer rows using lower strokes per minute but still going for good times, that doesn't mean that my hear trate won't get high though, on my last 10K which I rowed at 23spm my heart rate hit 195!  With the weights I'm re-introducing non weighted step ups onto a much higher platform along with some more diverse shoulder work and an improved core and back routine.  Think about the actions when up-hauling, beach/water starting, pumping the sail to get the speed boost in light winds and you can see where each of the elements of my training come into their own.


With workouts 6 days a week, recovery is hugely important to me.  Good warm ups, good cool-downs and a damn good stretch after every session goes a long way towards easing the ache.  Luckily, there's a heli-deck on this vessel (I'm offshore at the moment) so a half hour walk after shift warms me up again, loosens everything off that's tight and leaves me relaxed and ready for bed.  A protein shake before and after my workout means my body has the right munch to repair it's self on.  A couple of neurofen before bed also reduces the effects of the not-to-be-dreaded DOMS!!


Hand in hand with exercise comes diet.  Frankly, I've learned the hard way, if your diet is rubbish, you needn't expect any amazing results.  I'm not going to harp on about macro nutrient splits, eating clean and lean or anything of that ilk as the net is already awash with dietary advice.  One thing I will recommend though is that you read up on it, find the diet that suits your activity level, goals and lifestyle and bloomin' well stick to it. You can strike a balance, it'll just take a bit of mental and physical wrangling to find it!