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Rachel Goetting

30-Day Hydration Challenge

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Hard to believe November is starting this week, where did October go? We hope you have been doing lots of sailing this fall! But with November coming fast and furious, that means winter is not far behind. Winter is a great time to take a break and work on boosting your performance for sailing with your fitness and nutrition. With wintertime soon to arrive sailing in most places will quiet down, which we know is sad to see happen, but its a great time to help us create some healthy habits so we can boost our sailing performance out on the water. One big healthy habit we can improve on in the winter months is our hydration!

We hope you have read our article Hydration Tips Boost Your Sailing Performance, if not head over and check it out for some great and simple tips. Drinking water and hydrating your body is essential to not only boosting your sailing performance but your daily life. Most people aren’t drinking enough water each day, and with winter coming and temps dropping in most places, it can be hard to remember to drink enough water. So what a better way to start off November, but with a 30-Day Hydration Challenge to help build healthy habits that will last all year long!

Every day the amount of water we should be drinking is half our body weight in ounces. So if you weigh 150 pounds, you should be drinking 75 ounces of water each day. That amount should increase if you are doing any other physical activities. When I tell people this is how much water you should be aiming to drink each day, they are blown away; it seems like so much. However, once you start doing it, it will get easier and will become a daily habit. By drinking more water and staying hydrated, you will not only create a great habit but feel better and boost your daily performance in all aspects of your life!

So what is the 30-Day Hydration Challenge? This challenge is designed to help you achieve the goal of drinking more water each day. I have created a worksheet that you can use to track your water consumption each day. At the top of the worksheet, you will see a space to write the number of ounces you should drink each day. The goal is to drink at least that amount each day and track how you do after each day for 30 days. Some days you may exceed your goal where others you may be dropping down on your consumption.

Tips for the challenge:

  • Drink a full glass of water when you wake up in the morning.
  • Get a reusable water bottle that holds at least 20 oz or more and know how many ounces it holds.
  • Set phone reminders to help you remember to drink.
  • Drink mostly water during the day.

Worksheet: 
hydration plan 30 day

This challenge is a great way to start off November and kick start a healthy habit that will not only help you boost your sailing performance but all aspects of your living. By beginning to create this habit over the down season, you can help build up healthy habits that will last for years to come. We hope you enjoy this challenge and drink up that water this month!

Make Team Workouts Fun and Effective

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Coaches and or team captains this one is for you! With college and high school sailing in full swing, we thought we would do another article with a team workout. If you didn’t get a chance to read our past articles on this topic, check them out, Team Training Workout and Team Training: Circuit Workout. In these articles you will find the benefits of team training and different workouts you can do. In this article, we wanted to focus in on making your team workouts more fun, but also effective.

Maybe you are getting team workouts done in the early morning, before practice, or later in the evenings. Well, every sailor is going to be a little different on when they are more motivated to workout. I know for me, I find my motivation more in the mornings, and if I have to do an afternoon workout, I find it hard to get motivated and have fun. Since we are all different, and the times we might be doing training will vary a great way to get the team more motivated is doing training that is fun and keeps everyone engaged. Not only can you do a workout that is fun and more like a game, but you can make it effective, so your sailors are making gains on their fitness levels while working and having fun as a team.

This workout, you will find some partner activities, team relay races, and team-building activities. You can use this workout as a whole, or separate them to incorporate them into your training schedule. This workout will be fun and effective for enhancing your sailors performance out on the water for their next big regatta! Check out the workout below along with the video with the moves for the different exercises.

Team Workout

Warm up the team with dynamic stretching (5 minutes have the team line up and walk to a point and repeat or assign reps to each stretch)

  • Lunge with a Twist
  • Straight Leg Kicks
  • Arm Circles
  • Knee Ups
    Repeat 3x

Partner Workout:
Partner your team up

  • Partner Push Up with Hand Taps 30 secs
  • Partner Crawl Under, Jump Over 30 secs each partner total of 1 minute
  • High Five Sit-Ups 30 secs
  • Jump Squat to High Five 30 secs
    Rest for 45 secs Repeat 3x

Relay Race Workout:
Divide the team into two separate teams. Best of the three relay races is the winner and gets to award the losing team with 15 burpees.

Relay Race 1

  • Bear crawl 30 ft, stand up for 10 jump squats, bear crawl back, 10 jump squats, next team member can go.

Relay Race 2

  • Plank snake assign a point to race to then turn around and finish where the team started. Everyone goes in plank position in a line except the last person, they jump over each person. Once they reach the last person they get in plank, and the other end person gets up and is the jumper. If anyone drops from plank position, the team must start again.

Relay Race 3

  • Sprint to a point, do 15 burpees, sprint back to start, do 20 split lunges, next team member can go.

Team Building Workout:
You have two different team building activities you can do, one in smaller groups and one as a bigger group.

100 rep Challenge
Break the group up into groups of 4. You can make a combination of your own exercises or use the ones we have listed. Have the group complete 100 reps of each exercise together they have to do at least 20 reps, leaving the last 20 reps to be distributed among the group. The remaining reps do not have to be distributed equally.
Challenge 1:

  • Squats
  • Push Ups
  • Forward Lunges
  • Tricep Dips

Challenge 2:

  • Split Lunges
  • Plank Up Downs
  • High Knees
  • Shoulder Taps

500 rep or 1000 rep Challenge
This is a challenge is for the whole team to do together. You can customize it depending on the size of your group. You can have them do 500 reps or 1000 reps for a big challenge. Again depending on the size of your group, assign a certain number of reps they must do for each exercise, then the rest can be distributed out to the team; however they would like. You can make a combination of your own exercises or use the ones we have listed or just do one exercise.
Challenge:

  • Burpees
  • Windmills
  • Squats

Cool Down (5-10 minutes)
Foam Rolling
Static Stretching

For more information on fitness and nutrition for sailing contact [email protected]. Also check out Sailorcise on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for daily tips on fitness, nutrition, and sailing.

S1D 30-Day Fitness Burpee Challenge!

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Hard to believe the summer sailing season is coming to an end as we approach Labor Day this weekend. We hope you had an excellent summer sailing season! Sometimes summer can get busy packing in all our sailing adventures along with all the summertime fun. Why not start the month of September with a 30 Day Challenge to get you ready for some fall sailing ahead. Get ready to kick start the month of September and challenge yourself!

30 day Burpee Challenge!

Why Burpees?
You either love them or hate them, but the burpee is one killer exercise! Not only does the burpee build strength, but it combines cardio into the exercise as well. Of course, we need to build strength for our sailing, but a lot of sailors forget about that cardio, which is just as essential to help improve our on the water performance. The burpee is a great way to get both of those in one exercise. The burpee also challenges your whole body for a total body strength workout all in one exercise. Another great thing about the burpee is that is doesn’t require any equipment. This aspect makes it great for sailors on the go because you can do it anywhere anytime. No matter what your skill level is, the burpee can be modified or intensified, making it great for beginners to advanced athletes. The burpee will improve your strength, endurance, cardio, and general fitness level both on and off the water.

The Challenge
The challenge is to complete 50 burpees every day for 30 days. You can go at your own pace to complete your 50 burpees each day. There are also different levels depending on your fitness ability. Check out the easy, medium, and hard burpee style below along with the video demonstrating all three levels. Watch your form and remember to engage your core. Take breaks when you need to and if you need to take a day off do so. Have fun and let’s get our burpee on!

  • Easy Level Burpee: Standing, step back to plank position, step back to standing position, (if you want to add an element step up on your toes then repeat move).
  • Medium Level Burpee: Standing, jump back to plank position, jump back to standing position, jump up when you stand.
  • Hard Level Burpee: Standing, jump back to plank position, push-up, jump back to standing position, jump up when you stand.

Check out our other 30 day challenges:

Mastering The Push Up: 30 Day Challenge 

Building The Core: 30 Day Plank Challenge 

Leg Strength: 30 Day Squat Challenge 

Hike Longer! : 30 Day Ab Challenge 

Start The New Year With a Challenge: 31 Day Full Body Challenge

For more information on fitness and nutrition for sailing contact [email protected]. Also check out Sailorcise on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for daily tips on fitness, nutrition, and sailing.

Turn Up the Heat: Benefits to Training in the Heat and How to Stay Safe

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It has been a hot summer all across the country, and it’s only July! Maybe you love it, perhaps you hate it, but don’t let the heat get you down. Training in hot temperatures can help to majorly improve your fitness level helping you the next time you hit the water for an event. So don’t hit the air-conditioned gym, but embrace the heat and improve your performance. Learn today the benefits of training in the heat and how to do it safely.

Benefits of Training in the Heat:

Heat Training Exceeds Altitude Training

We have all heard of the benefits of training at high altitudes for elite athletes. The benefits and improvement to your fitness level are significant at high altitudes. And guess what you can gain these improvements and more by training in the heat! Research has shown training in the heat exceeds the benefits you receive from training at altitude. So no need to hit the mountains just head outside this summer and get training in that heat.

Heat Training Improves Body Temperature Cooling

Training in the heat will increase your blood flow, which will improve the ability of your body to cool itself. As you continue to train in the heat, your circulation will increase, and the ability of your body to perform at a high level will increase as well. Training in the hot weather will also help you to tolerate the heat more in the warmer months.

Heat Training Increases Oxygen Consumption

Want to increase oxygen consumption, well add some heat training to your routine. By training in the heat, you can help to improve your VO2 Max, which is defined as the maximum oxygen uptake a person can utilize during intense exercise. Increasing your VO2 Max number will help your body to take in more oxygen and deliver it to your muscles, helping you perform faster and longer. Heat training is a great way to help to increase your oxygen consumption for better performance out on the water.

Heat Training Helps to Improve Fitness Level Quickly

Training in the heat increases the stress you are putting on your body. By doing this, your body will be more likely to respond more efficiently across all temperature ranges. Looking for a fast and challenging way to improve your fitness level on the water, adding heat training will help to get you there. Training in the heat, just a couple of times will help to improve your fitness level more quickly than if you were to train in other conditions.

Heat Training Increases Cardio Efficiency

As we already talked about, heat training will improve your oxygen consumption and improve your fitness level more quickly. It will also help to improve your cardio efficiency. The heat will be hard, but it will increase your cardio capacity as well as your ability to do intense training for longer periods. Get your heart rate up with heat training and improve your fitness level and sailing performance on the water.

Now that we know all the benefits of training in the heat, it is also important to learn how to train in the heat safely Check out our article from last summer: Tips to Working Out and Sailing In The Heat for tips on how to train and sail in the heat.

Here is a brief run-through from that article on how to safely train in the heat:

Work out at the Right Time of Day

You want to work out in the heat but make sure it’s not too overwhelming for you. If it’s your first time, pick a time where the temperature isn’t too extreme. Make sure you know your body and what you can and can’t handle.

Stay Hydrated

Make sure you are staying hydrated before, during, and after your training session. Don’t go into a session dehydrated. You will need to drink even more water than you think, especially with training in the heat.

Wear the Proper Gear

Wear clothes that will keep you cool through the training session. Make sure to cool your body down as well if you are getting overheated during your training.

Know the Signs of Heat Illness

Know when it’s time for a break. Don’t let yourself get to that dehydration phase or worse. If you do get to that point, make sure you understand the signs and stop the training to avoid it from getting worse. Make sure someone knows you are training in the heat as well.

Replenish Your Electrolytes

Water isn’t always enough, especially when training in the heat. With all the sweating you are doing, make sure you replenish your electrolytes. Find a drink or mix you like to get these back into your body. Try to stick to real food and no added sugar drinks or mixes.

With August right around the corner, we most likely will have some more hot days ahead. Use this heat to your advance and increase your sailing performance! Make sure you take the proper precautions and stay safe while training! Turn up that heat and train hard the rest of the summer!

Fitness for Junior Sailing Summer Programs

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Hard to believe, but summer is finally here! Which means so is junior sailing. Looking for a way to enhance your program and get your kids having fun!? Add some fitness to your daily routines! So program directors, head instructors, coaches, and instructors this one is for you! Check out reasons to add daily fitness to your programs routine and how to do it so the kids are having fun and getting fit all summer long!

Whether your program is sailing competitively or recreationally fitness is an important part of sailing. You need to be strong, flexible, and able to move quickly across the boat to enhance your performance in the different wind conditions. By adding fitness to your junior program you can help the sailors to understand the importance and develop a good mindset about fitness for sailing. Since we are targeting juniors we want to make sure we don’t forget to make it fun!

Reasons to Add Fitness to your Program:

Get Sailors Fit
One of the first reasons to add fitness to your program is to help get your sailors fit. Adding some fitness every day or every other day will help your sailors to get stronger which will enhance their performance out on the water. Even if they are sailing for fun, things will get easy out on the water by taking the time to build strength!

Make the Program Fun
Does your program need a little morning or afternoon change up? By adding some morning or afternoon stretching and mini workouts, you can change up the program. The sailors will enjoy the change up and have fun with the new activities in the program. By creating the right fitness routine you can make it fun while getting the group fit!

Develop a Good Mindset 

By adding fitness to a junior program we can help sailors develop a good mindset about fitness for sailing. We need to make sure we make it fun and not make it feel like a chore, so they develop a positive mindset. By adding it to your junior program you can help create a fun and positive mindset so the sailors continue with their fitness journeys as they grow up.

Avoid Injury 

Sailing is a physical sport and activity. So every time we hit the water we are in a position to get an injury. By adding stretching and some strength work to our programs we can help to sailors avoid injuries they may receive on the water due to lack of strength or tight muscles. However, we also need to watch when we add fitness to our programs that sailors don’t do exercises incorrectly or exercises that are too advanced. You always want to consult with a fitness professional before adding fitness routines to your program.

How to Add Fitness to your Program:

So now how can you add fitness to your program? First you want to make a program that is appropriate for the age of your group. You only need to make slight adjustments to make this work for each age group.

Ways to Add Fitness:

  • Add stretching into the morning routine.
  • Add stretching at the end of day, you can debrief while stretching.
  • Fitness activities are great to add on no wind or too windy days.
  • Use team building activities that utilize fitness.

Before Sailing Stretching Routine:

Dynamic Stretching Workout #1
Knee Ups – 10 each side
Lunge w/ Twist – 10 each side
Shoulder Shrugs – 20
Hip Stretch w/ Twist – 10 each side
Repeat 2x

Arm Circles – 10 each way
High Kick – 10 each side
T-Push Ups – 10
Reverse Lunge w/ Reach – 10 each side
Repeat 2x

Dynamic Stretching Workout #2

Single Leg Deadlift – 10 each side
T-Push Up – 10
Side Lunges – 10 each side
Standing Side Reach – 10 each side
Repeat 2x

Knee Ups – 10 each side
Arm Circles – 10 each way
Side Leg Swing – 10 each side
Knee Up Reverse Lunge – 10 each side
Repeat 2x

After Sailing Stretching Routine:

Hamstring Stretch
Glutes Stretch
Quadriceps Stretch
Wrist Stretch
Active Side Lunge
Shoulder Stretch
Tricep Stretch

Check out the video with all the stretching exercises!

Team Fitness Activities:

Fitness relay races are a great addition to your program not only are they fun, you get the group working together as a team while getting a workout in.

Team Relay Race Workout #1

Break the group up into two teams. Each member of the team has to do all the exercises. The team that completes the workout first is the winner. Team members should motivate and push other team members to help them finish.

20 Jump Squats
15 Push Ups
Sprint 50 yards
20 Shoulder Taps
20 Burpees
Sprint 50 yards

Team Relay Race Workout #2
Break the group up into two teams. Each member of the team has to do all the exercises. The team that completes the workout first is the winner. Team members should motivate and push other team members to help them finish.

10 Push Ups
20 Mountain Climbers
30 High Knees
10 Tricep Dips
20 Ski Abs
30 Switch Lunges

Check out the video with all the exercises for the relay races!

A fun way to finish the workout all together as a whole team with a game of “Extreme” Duck Duck Goose.

How To:
Group forms a big circle facing outwards spaced apart. Everyone is jogging in place throughout the game. Someone in the group begins with being it jogging around the circle clockwise calling each player duck until they pick one to be the goose. Each time a player is called duck they do a squat. Once a goose is picked they run the opposite way of the person it and they both attempt to race to back to that empty spot. You may need to enforce a no physical-contact to avoid anyone getting hurt. If you have time let everyone have a turn at being it.

Don’t Forget to Stretch and Recover For Sailing

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Do you think sailing is a sport? Of course, it is! So just like any other sport, we need to make sure we are stretching and recovering for success out on the water! Without proper stretching and recovery prior to and after sailing, we can end of hurting ourselves and decreasing our performance. Stretching before and after a regatta may seem like a silly thing to do, but it’s so important to do for success out on the water. Maybe you remember to stretch, but forget to recover properly, this can also lead to decreased performance out on the water. Just as important as it is to build strength for sailing we also need to make sure we are taking care of our bodies and remembering to stretch and recover for our sailing adventures. 

If you haven’t read our past articles on recovery and stretching check them out here: 

Tips to Speed Recovery After Sailing and Training

Sailing Fitness: The Importance of Proper Stretching

Stretching: 

To review from our article Sailing Fitness: The Importance of Proper Stretching. Let’s look at the different types of stretching: 

  1. Self Myofascial Release or Foam Rolling: This form of stretching is done by rolling a piece of foam on different trigger points on your body. You are massaging away restrictions to your muscles to improve your soft-tissue extensibility.
  2. Static Stretching: This is done while your body is at rest. You use different movements to lengthen your muscle to an elongated position and hold it for at least 30 seconds.
  3. Active-Isolated Stretching: During this stretch, you are moving your joint through a full range of motion. Hold each stretch for 2 seconds then repeat for 5-10 repetitions.
  4. Neuromuscular Stretching or Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation: This stretching involves a Sports Performance Professional moving your limb until the first resistance barrier.
  5. Dynamic Stretching: This form of stretching is using your force production and body momentum to go through a full range of motion.

After reviewing the different types of stretching. Do you remember what stretching you do before and after sailing? Before sailing you want to focus on dynamic stretching for several reasons, it activates the muscles you are going to be using, it helps improve your range of motion, and it has shown to enhance your performance during activity. After sailing you want to focus on static stretching, active-isolated stretching, and foam rolling. All three of these can be used or combined to help reduce muscle fatigue, increase your flexibility, and help improve your circulation.

Check out our new before sailing stretching routine: 

  • High Kick – 10 each side
  • Lunge w/ Twist – 10 each side
  • Arm Crosses – 20
  • Switch Lunges – 10
    Repeat 2x

 

  • Single Leg Deadlift – 10 each side 
  • T-Push Up – 10
  • Side Lunges – 10 each side
  • Standing Side Reach – 10 each side
    Repeat 2x

 

  • Knee Ups – 10 each side
  • Arm Circles – 10 each way
  • Side Leg Swing – 10 each side
  • Knee Up Reverse Lunge – 10 each side
    Repeat 2x

Recovery: 

Lets review some simple tips to faster recovery:

  1. Hydrate
  2. Fuel Your Body
  3. Foam Roll and Stretch
  4. Get More Sleep
  5. Don’t Overtrain

As athletes, we tend to think all about how we can get stronger for our sport. We want to enhance that performance every time we are out there, however, I think we tend to forget about some simple ways to get there. We need to remember how important stretching and recovery are to help to enhance our sailing performance on the water. I know for me this can be a struggle, I want to get that workout in, but sometimes don’t spend the amount of time I should on the stretching and recovery. But we need to change that! Remember you need to stretch and you need to recover so you can perform out on the water! 

Have fun with our new dynamic stretching routine before hitting the water! 

For more information on fitness and nutrition for sailing contact [email protected]. Also check out Sailorcise on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for daily tips on fitness, nutrition, and sailing.

Move Faster: Leg, Speed, and Agility Workout

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Are you ready to move faster? The last couple of high school sailing practices we have had some tricky days on the water. We have had some very puffy conditions where crews are sitting all the way in and then quickly have to pop up to hike and then move back in the middle after the puff passes. Some of our crews were having trouble moving quickly around the boat which prompted me to focus a workout on moving faster while out on the water. Having leg strength, speed, and agility are essential for moving quickly across the boat no matter what kind of boat you are sailing.

In this workout, you will work on building strength in your legs, move faster, and become more agile helping you move more quickly your next time on the water. This workout requires no equipment just drive to push yourself hard and get stronger, faster, and more agile. Check out the workout below and the video with all the moves for the workout. Have fun and get fast for your next time on the water!

Leg, Speed, and Agility Workout

Warm Up with Dynamic Stretching (3-5 minutes)

Core Activation:
Squat Jump   20 reps
High Knees   Go 30 feet and back
Plank Jacks   20 reps
Carioca   Go 30 feet and back
Repeat 3x

Jumping Lunges   30 reps
Sprint   30 feet and back
Tuck Jumps   20 reps
Sprint   30 feet and back
Rest 15 seconds and Repeat 3x

Rest 1 minute

Lateral Shuffle   30 feet and back
Burpees   25 reps
Lateral Shuffle   30 feet and back
Single leg Squat   15 reps each side
Rest 15 seconds and Repeat 3x

Rest 1 minute

Right Side Single-Leg Hop with Run Back   Do 3 times 10 steps forward, run backwards to start
Squat Jumps   25 reps
Left Side Single-Leg Hop with Run Back   Do 3 times 10 steps forward, run backwards to start
Lunge High Knee with Jump   10 reps each side
Rest 15 seconds and Repeat 3x

Cool Down Static Stretching and Foam Rolling 3-5 minutes

For more information on fitness for sailing contact [email protected]. Also check out Sailorcise on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for daily tips on fitness, nutrition, and sailing.

Team Training: Circuit Workout

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Coaches this one is for you! With college and high school sailing in full swing, we thought we would focus on the team aspect of training. Looking for a new workout for your team this one is for you. Team training is a great way to bring together your team and get them stronger for better success on the water. Check out our previous article on Team Training, learn about the benefits, how to incorporate it, and a fun team workout.

Circuit training is a great way to train with your team. How circuit training works is you have different stations, and you have to complete the exercises for that station and then with no rest go to the next station. For our circuit training, we made it timed, so you move on to the next station when the time is up. The great thing about our workout is it can be done anywhere anytime no equipment needed. Maybe its too windy or too light for sailing, use this workout to get your team feeling the burn. 

This workout consists of four different stations. You can split the group in even numbers throughout the stations. Have the groups do each circuit for 2 minutes then switch to the next station, there is no rest in between stations. Your rest will come when you completed all four stations. At that time you can rest for 2 minutes, then repeat two more times for a total of three rounds. The total workout is 30 minutes. Check out the workout below and the video for all the moves. Have fun and get your team strong with this workout! 

Team Training Circuit Workout

-Warm up the whole group with Dynamic Stretching (5 minutes)

Station One:

  • 10 Squats
  • 20 Split Lunges
  • 10 Squat Jumps

Station Two:

  • 10 Push Ups
  • 20 Up Down Planks
  • 10 Tricep Dips

Station Three:

  • 20 Russian Twists
  • 15 In and Outs
  • 20 Plank Shoulder Taps

Station Four:

  • 15 Burpees
  • 20 Mountain Climbers
  • 20 Skaters

-Cool down the group with foam rolling and static stretching (5-10 minutes)

For more information on fitness and nutrition for sailing contact [email protected]. Also check out Sailorcise on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for daily tips on fitness, nutrition, and sailing.

Kettlebell Core Workout

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Have you ever given kettlebells a try? Kettlebells are an excellent fitness tool to help to improve your sailing performance out on the water. Check out our article Kettlebell Training: New Workout To Add to Your Sailing Fitness Training for more on the benefits of the kettlebell, what not to do, and a beginner kettlebell workout. You can use the kettlebell to get in some great workouts for your total body, arms, legs, and or core. Today we are going to focus on the core! 

To review from our previous article check out the benefits and what not to do:

Benefits: 

  1. It’s an excellent workout
  2. It improves your forearm and grip strength
  3. It improves cardio
  4. It’s a functional workout

What Not To Do:

  1. Going too heavy too quickly
  2. Using only your upper body
  3. Giving up quality for quantity 
  4. Swinging too fast 

A strong core is essential to your sailing performance, with a stronger core you will be able to hike longer and stronger! Using a kettlebell will help to challenge your core to help build strength, balance, and stability for your daily life and sailing performance. Make sure you give our kettlebell beginner workout a try before trying this one. Check out the workout and video with the moves for the workout below. Enjoy and let’s get that strong core! 

Kettlebell Core Workout:

-Warm up with Dynamic Stretching (5 minutes)

The Workout: 

Kettlebell Swings – 20 reps
Kettlebell Sit Up with Twist – 20 reps
Kettlebell Kneeling Halos – 10 clockwise 10 counterclockwise
Kettlebell Plank with Pull Through – 20 reps
Rest 30 seconds Repeat 3x

Kettlebell Windmills – 15 reps each side
Kettlebell Overhead Sit Up – 15 reps
Kettlebell Single Leg Deadlifts – 15 reps each side
Kettlebell Russian Twist – 30 reps
Rest 30 seconds Repeat 3x

Kettlebell Overhead Lunges – 12 reps each side
Kettlebell Seated Figure-Eight – 30 seconds
Kettlebell Deadlifts – 20 reps
Kettlebell Side Bends – 15 reps each side
Rest 30 seconds Repeat 3x

-Cool Down with Foam Rolling and Static Stretching (5-10 minutes)

For more information on fitness for sailing contact [email protected]. Also check out Sailorcise on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for daily tips on fitness, nutrition, and sailing.

2019 US Sailing National Sailing Programs Symposium Recap

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Last week US Sailing held the National Sailing Programs Symposium in Jacksonville, Florida. Each winter US Sailing hosts a National Sailing Program Symposium or Leadership Symposium. Last winter was the first time I attended which was the Leadership Symposium and had a great time at the event. If you are looking to gain information on what people are doing out in the sailing world, improve your program, make connections, and check out new boats in the industry, this event is for you!

This symposium focused on sailing education, bringing together program directors, instructors, volunteers, parents, and industry representatives to share and learn information about running, maintaining, and improving sailing programs. The event is three full days of seminars put on by different sailing programs across the United States. This year the event was held at the Hyatt Regency in Jacksonville, Florida from January 31st-February 2nd. On day two part of the symposium was held at the Florida Yacht Club so people could demo some sailboats brought by some of the symposium sponsors. The morning starts with one of the keynote speakers and then the day breaks out into different sessions for the attendees. The day begins at about 8:30 each morning and goes until about 5 pm each day. The symposium is a great way to gain lots of information in three days and learn what others are doing out in the sailing industry.

In this article, I want to recap the keynote speakers and some exciting seminars I was able to attend. There was a bunch of great sessions and would love to recap them all if I could, but these were the ones I had the pleasure to attend at the symposium.

Day One:

Keynote Speaker: Karen Friedman
Title: Manager of Access and Ability YMCA of the USA
Session: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Why is everyone talking about it?

Karen’s session was very informational. She touched on her background and how she started working with people with disabilities. She explained what diversity, equity, and inclusion mean and why our communities are changing.

  • Diversity: The presence of differences within a giving setting.
  • Equity: Individuals with different identities feeling and/or being valued, leveraged, and welcome within a given setting.
  • Inclusion: An approach that ensures everyone have access to the same opportunities.

She then touched on what the YMCA does to incorporate these three things into their programs and how sailing programs can do this as well. Six opportunities where we can do this in the sailing community is member engagement, program innovation, leadership development, collaborations, resource mobilization, and brand and visibility.

Session: Sustainability at Youth Worlds: Challenges, Successes, and Outcomes
Speaker: Elizabeth Kratzig

This session was fascinating and informative especially since we are all trying to be more sustainable to help better our earth. The speaker was Elizabeth Kratzig who was the leader on making the 2018 Youth Sailing World Championship held at Corpus Christi a sustainable regatta. In her session, she talked about all aspects that went into making this event a Platinum Level Clean Regatta designated by Sailors for the Sea. Their goals included making this a Platinum Clean Regatta, promoting environmental awareness and ocean conservation to youth sailors and the local community, create an environmental legacy program, and publish a sustainability report based on the GRI Standards which could be used for other World Sailing Championship. Some of the highlights of the presentation were their environmental impact, education programs, and legacy programs. Check out some of the highlights below:

Environmental Impact:

  • No Single-Use Plastic Water Bottles:
    • Over 65,000 single-use 12 oz. water bottles saved
    • Used dolphin pumps on the water to refill water bottles
  • Zero Single-Use Plastic
    • Reusable lunch totes and snack bags for lunches
    • Connections for fencing and banners were reusable bungee cord
    • Tableware and utensils were either china or compostable
    • Bulk food
  • Waste Management: Composting, Recycling, and Landfill
    • 89.8% of waste diverted from the landfill into recycling and compost
  • Fuel Usage, Energy Usage, Carbon Emissions
    • For each of these, they calculated what they used for the event.
    • They saved over 22 tons of CO2e emissions by recycling and composting
  • Other Measures Taken:
    • Reduction of paper by using multiple screens to display information
    • Promotion of Harken Derm reef safe sunscreen
    • No soap boat wash

Education Programs:

  • Beach Clean-up
  • Wildlife Plan
  • Conservation Booths
  • Art Initiatives
  • Other: Yacht Club Staff Education, Opening ceremony with Dr. Sylvia Earle, and Solar-Powered Compost Machine

Legacy Programs:

  • Texas Sailing Association formed a “green team” within their organization
  • Corpus Christi sustainability event plan created for future city events
  • A sustainability report was published on the YSMC for future sailing events to become sustainable.

Session: Fathom, Sailing Leadership – Leadership Techniques On and Off the Water
Speakers: Elizabeth Gagnon (Leadership studies coordinator Fathom Sailing Leadership CNU), Peter Patnaude (Co-Founder Fathom Sailing Leadership CNU), Maxwell Plarr (Head Sailing Coach Fathom Sailing Leadership CNU)

This session was about the Fathom Sailing Leadership Institute at Christopher Newport University. The speakers were two teachers for the course and the co-founder, which included Max Plarr head sailing coach of CNU, Elizabeth Gagnon a senior lecturer of leadership studies at CNU, and Peter Patnaude a corporate real estate executive and co-founder of Fathom. The presentation included a fun game where volunteers from the audience had to use different leadership skills to solve a murder mystery. They talked about their leadership program where high school kids can gain knowledge of how to use their leadership skills both on and off the water. They use in the classroom and on the water techniques to teach the group of sailors leadership skills. Check out more on their program here: http://cnu.edu/fathom/

Session: Live Drill Training on the Water with Local First Responders
Speakers: Liam Faudree (Junior Sailing Director Rochester Yacht Club), Ed St. George (President Sodus Bay Junior Sailing Assoc.), Holly Stevens (Waterfront Manager Rochester Yacht Club)

This session was very informational and focused on how to make your programs more safe for your sailors. In this session, you learned how Rochester Yacht Club works with the local Coast Guard and First Responders to do Live Drill training with their instructors before the start of their junior sailing program. It focused in on the importance of live drill training being safety, communication, and fun. Reach out to your local responders and work with them to set up live drill training to help keep our sailors safe on the water.

For lunch, they had a sit-down lunch where they did the US Sailing Association Awards. Click here for the 2018 award winners

Day Two:

Keynote Speaker: Joshua Lifrak
Title: Director of the Mental Skills Program Chicago Cubs
Session: Be Present Not Perfect – How to be Where your Feet Are

If you ever have the chance to check out Joshua Lifrak speak, you need to! He is an excellent presenter that is informative, enthusiastic, passionate, and interactive. This was my second time seeing him present, and again it was awesome! The session was interactive and took a look at how the Chicago Cubs used mental training programs to become World Champions. The talk was about how our mind matters and how he helped create a culture within the Cubs to change their mindset which led them to break their 100 plus year losing streak and win the 2016 World Championship. That’s Cub is their theme which stands for:

  • Courage
    • To do the right thing
    • To focus on the process
  • Urgency
    • To do it right now
  • Belief
    • That we can get it done
    • In ourselves and our teammates

This positive mindset is something we can take back to our sailing programs and use in our everyday life to focus more on the process and create a positive culture.

Session: Gowrie Group – Top 10 Safety Tips and Fixes Before Next Season
Speakers: Kellie Crete (Director of Safety and Loss Prevention), Whitney Peterson (SVP Marketing Gowrie Group)

Safety, it’s essential to a successful program. Gowrie focused in on the top 10 safety tips and fixes to do before the next season. It was an excellent refresher on what we can do to help make our programs safer for our sailors.

Top Ten Tips:

  1. Drones: Understand drone safety and liability exposure.
  2. Emergency Action Plans: Team with local authorities, conduct a preseason drill.
  3. VHF Radio Usage: Train your team on VHF and location awareness.
  4. Docks, Floats, and Boat Racks: Follow OSHA Standards and Building Codes for docks, floats, and racks.
  5. Electric Shock Drowning: Make a prevention plan.
  6. Electrical Cords: Understand OSHA’s guidelines for the use of electrical cords and extension cords.
  7. Electrocution: Respect electricity and make a prevention plan.
  8. Fire Extinguishers: Comply with OSHA’s fire extinguishers standards.
  9. Flammables and Gas Storage: Ensure flammables and gas are safely stored and handled.
  10. Prop Guards: Consider installing on safety boats and teach safe boating.

Demo Time:
Unfortunately, the weather was a little chilly and rainy for demo time at the Florida Yacht Club, but that didn’t stop sailors from heading out on the water! Sponsors that brought boats included RS Sailing, Bic Sport, Zim Sailing, Melges, Dynamic Dollies, and Nacra Sailing.
Boats that were available to demo:

  • RS boats: RS 21, RS Zest, RS Neo, RS Terra, RS Feva, RS Quest, and RS Aero.
  • Melges 14
  • Nacra 15 and 500
  • O’pen Bic Windsurfer and O’pen Bic
  • Dynamic Dollie Opti Simulator

Session: From Opti’s to Offshore – The Mudratz Program Model
Speakers: Brandon Flack (Founder Mudratz), Taylor Walker (Coach Mudratz)

In this presentation, we learned how the Mudratz program started and how it got to where it is today. We heard from Brandon Flack the founder and Taylor Walker, a coach of the Mudratz. This program won the US Sailing Captain Joe Prosser Award for 2018. The program began in 2013 and has grown through the years recently just being featured on Fall 2018 issue of Sailing World for the offshore teams win of the Stephens Brothers Youth Trophy in the 2018 Newport to Bermuda Race. This program gives the responsibility back to the sailors to cultivate their love and passion for the sport of sailing. Check out more on their program at their website: https://mudratz.com

Day Three:

Keynote Speakers: Zeke Horowitz and Will Welles
Titles: North Sails One Design Experts
Session: From the Bottom Up, Sailing as a Stepping Stone

Day three keynote speakers were Zeke Horowitz and Will Welles 2 of this year’s Rolex Yachtsmen of the Year Finalists and recent 2018 World Champions. They spoke about their journey through sailing from childhood giving the crowd inspiration on ways to help grow sailing in their community. Three of the great takeaways from their experiences were:

  1. Sailing is a lifelong sport you can do with family and friends
  2. There is so many avenues in sailing to take to enjoy sailing, and we need to support them all to keep people enjoying sailing.
  3. Enjoy the moment and have fun.

Read below their sailing journeys from childhood to now.

Zeke Horowitz:
Zeke recently won the 2018 J-22 World Championship held in Annapolis, Maryland. Zeke first grew up in Cleveland, Ohio where he first learned about sailing. His father was introduced to sailing by work friends and wanted to share that experience with his kids. When Zeke was seven years old, his family moved to Sarasota, Florida the perfect place to sail year round. Zeke spoke about how when he first started sailing Optis he was very nervous. A storm came in one day when Zeke was out on the water and made him nervous to get out in conditions above 12 knots. He eventually got over his fear and won an Opti green regatta. This win sold him on sailing, and he continued racing Opti’s finishing his Opti career with winning Opti Team Race Nationals. Zeke continued his love of sailing moving on to lasers and starting a high school sailing team. He thanks community sailing centers for helping to make this happen and keep him and other youth sailors sailing all year long. Zeke attended Charleston College where he focused in on team racing for the team. As captain senior year he helped Charleston win its first ever ICSA Team Racing Nationals. After college, Zeke continued his passion for sailing by working in the sailing industry and competing in different classes. He worked at a yacht club as well as did some college coaching. Zeke has been working for North Sails for the past 4 years and loves getting to stay active in so many classes.

Will Welles:
Will recently won the 2018 J-24 World Championship held in Lake Garda, Italy this is his second time winning the J-24 Worlds his first was in 2014 in Newport, RI. Will grew up in Boston and summered in Maine, at a young age his family moved to Maine full time. Wills family sailed and raced together. At a young age, he was introduced to many different boats from sloops to row boats and just loved being on the water. He loved that his father showed him boats, but never pushed him into a particular boat. Will never sailed an Opti and never sailed in college, but learned a lot about boats and how to take care of them which he thinks is a lost art in the sailing world today. He started working in the marine industry at a young age and loved working on and driving boats. Will then worked for someone who offered him a J-24 to sail with his friends, and the owner taught him a lot as he had campaigned lots of different boats. In high school, he started a high school sailing team with his friends all of those people on the team are still in the marine industry today. Will continued to sail and decided to move back to Boston and pursue a job with North Sails. He worked with them for five years and did a lot of sailing specifically J/24 racing. Then Will decided to move back to Maine and stop sailing as much but stayed in the marine industry. Some years later Will and his family moved to Newport, and in 2006 he went back to work for North Sails.

Session: Youth Sailors: Ask Them What They Want
Speakers: John Pearce (Youth Director US Sailing)

This session was put into a neat format, John Pearce the Youth Director of US Sailing was the moderator, and he had teenage sailors as the panelists.
Panelists:
Mallory Edwards: Commodore, Jr Gulf Yachting Association, Sails 420s, Viper 640s, VX Ones, and the good ole Flying Scot, Raced in multiple Ida Lewis, Championship of Champions, and Smythe regattas, Three year sailing coach at Gulfport Yacht Club
Will Levy: Instructor/Coach, Charles River Sailing Academy, Beaver Country Day School Varsity Sailing, Junior Instructor, Yale Corinthian Yacht Club, Summer Racing, Yale Corinthian Yacht Club, Sailed and Raced 420’s and Lasers
Sydney Monahan: Raced Laser Radial, Oakcliff Sapling Graduate – Newport to Bermuda Race, Competed in Redbull`s Foiling Generation Series in Flying Phantoms, Opti Green Fleet Coach at Edison Sailing Center, US Sailing Level 2 Instructor

John started the discussion talking about how youth sports in the United States are organized by adults and by this happening we are losing kids in different sports across the country. He touched on The Aspen Institute Project Play which is a major youth sports research advocacy initiative. The #1 play is “Ask Kids What They Want.” The discussion then went into various questions for the panelists where the audience could ask questions. It was a very open conversation about how the young sailors got into sailing what has kept them in sailing and what other young sailors would like to help keep more kids in sailing. The audience was captivated with the conversation and had so many questions for the young sailors.
A couple of interesting takeaways from the conversation:

  1. Kids like to be exposed to different boats and not be stuck in one boat all the time.
  2. Some kids want to sail with others rather than just by themselves.
  3. The attention some kids are getting from their instructors or coaches isn’t as much as they would like, some instructors and coaches tend to pay more attention to the sailors doing well.

It was an eye-opener of how we can help grow and keep young kids hooked to sailing.

Session: Sustainability in Action: Composting at you Facility or Regatta
Speaker: Shelley Brown (Education Director Sailors for the Sea)

Sustainability has been a big theme throughout sailing events in the past couple of years. It was great to have another opportunity to hear about another aspect of sustainability from Shelly Brown the Education Director for Sailors for the Sea. In this session, Shelly spoke about how big a problem food waste is becoming in the US. About 50% of produce in the US is thrown away, going to our landfills. Once in the landfills the food rots in plastic bags and produces methane gas, and the nutrients aren’t able to return to the soil. A solution to this problem is composting at your regattas and or programs. If you can add composting at your clean regatta, you will be at the Gold Level certification for Sailors for the Sea the worlds only sustainability certification for water-based events. Shelly talked on how you can make composting part of your regatta and how Sailors for the Sea can help. It was very educational, and hopefully, we see more regattas and programs start to implement this process!

This years event was filled with excitement and excellent information if you have never been to a US Sailing Symposium before you should consider going next year! Next winter it will be the Leadership Symposium which will be held in San Diego, California. Hope you enjoyed the recap and were able to take some information away for your programs. If you were also able to attend we would love to hear from you in our comments on your favorite sessions from the event. Let’s keep sharing knowledge and growing the sport of sailing!

Winter Training: Give the Sandbag a Try!

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Winter is in full gear all across the country. Hopefully, you either live somewhere warm or have been able to sneak away this winter for some warmer sailing. Winter is a great time to take advantage of stepping up your fitness training. A great training tool to build serious strength for sailing is the sandbag. Check out our previous article on the sandbag, Sandbag Training: Build Serious Strength For Sailing.

The sandbag is a great training tool to test out this winter. This training tool can help you build serious strength for sailing. In our previous article we shared with you why this tool is excellent for sailing:
1. Sandbags vary in weight sizes and you can easily adjust the weight to pick the perfect weight for you.
2. The sandbag is awkward to lift, and this requires you to work hard to perform exercises which helps you build total body strength.
3. Your grip strength will majorly improve with the sandbag.
4. The sandbag is unstable which helps you to gain serious core strength.

Along with these, the sandbag is a great training tool in general because:

  • The sandbag is an affordable training tool.
  • The sandbag builds overall strength as it challenges different muscle groups.
  • You can take the sandbag with you unlike weights; you just need to empty the sand and refill once you arrive at your destination.

Now that you know all the benefits of this training tool, who is ready to start training! Check out our new workout below and the moves for the workout in the video. Enjoy and get started on that training today!

Sandbag Workout:

-Warm up with Dynamic Stretching (5-10 minutes)

Core Activation:
-Plank Rotations (30 secs)
-Forward Lunges (30 secs)
-Tricep Dips (30 secs)
Repeat 3x with 15 sec rest between sets

Workout:

-Single-Leg Deadlift with Row on Right Leg (15 reps)
-Single-Leg Deadlift with Row on Left Leg (15 reps)
-Pull Through with Alternating Spider Plank (20 reps)
-Sandbag Russian Twists (25 reps)
Repeat 3x with 15-30 sec rest between sets

-Sumo Squat with High Pull (20 reps)
-Alternating Overhead Press (20 reps)
-Burpee with Snatch (15 reps)
Repeat 3x with 15-30 sec rest between sets

-Squat with Shoulder Press (15 reps)
-Sandbag Halos (10 reps one way 10 reps other way)
-Alternating Reverse Lunge with Good Morning (20 reps)
Repeat 3x with 15-30 sec rest between sets

-Cool Down with Foam Rolling and Static Stretching

For more information on fitness for sailing contact [email protected]. Also check out Sailorcise on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for daily tips on fitness, nutrition, and sailing.

Start The New Year With a Challenge: 31 Day Full Body Challenge

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Hard to believe New Years Day is this week! We hope you have had a great 2018 sailing season! Hopefully, you have been keeping up that sailing training all season long. Now that the off season is here it’s time to put in more strength training hours to help maximize your sailing performance. What better way to start the New Year but with a 31 Day Full Body Challenge.

This challenge is an excellent addition to your training plan. The challenge is three different moves a day that challenges your total body. You start with nine exercises for half of the 31 days then you move on to nine other exercises for the second half. It will only take you 3-15 minutes to complete the challenge each day. You can complete all the moves at one time or break it up throughout the day depending on your schedule. By the end of challenge you will see improvements in your overall strength helping you the next time you get on the water!

Get ready and start the New Year with a challenge! Check out the schedule for the 31 day full body challenge below. Also, check out our video with all the moves for the challenge. Jump start your sailing performance for 2019 and challenge yourself! Good luck and start the challenge today to help maximize your performance for the next time you get out on the water.

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