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raueda1
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Postby raueda1 » Tue Jul 08, 2014 3:31 am
What's the best way to improve conditioning for kiting? I find that kiting is unusual in that it doesn't produce "acute" fatigue (as with burning thighs from skiing). For me it's more like a generalized, systemic fatigue where I start making more mistakes, miss landings, stuff like that. When I start making mistakes I take a break. If the break doesn't help I head home. After about 3 hours on the water I'm usually pretty spent. Obviously more time on the water would help but I'd like to find a training regimen that I can do off the water that would translate into longer sessions.
I'm mostly doing open ocean and wave riding and am in otherwise excellent shape for my age (61). My other sports are skiing (about 40 days a year downhill + lots of cross country) and rock climbing (indoor and out, about 75 sessions a year). Neither of these seems to translate to kiting much except that obviously fitter is better - but that applies to anything. I can still do pretty much everything I could 30 years ago, I just can't do it as long. Age sucks!
Anyway, ideas and thoughts welcome. Thanks!
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plummet
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Postby plummet » Tue Jul 08, 2014 6:35 am
Theres some web sites around with kite specific exersizes. Sorry I'm too lazy to look them up.
Personally I mountain bike also. That has made my legs stronger than what is required for kiting.... Also keeps my aerobic fitness/endurance up which is also usefull. It doesn't work the core though which is required for kiting.
Your other sports are more muscular than aerobic. perhaps adding aerobic exersize will improve your endurance?
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sarc
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Postby sarc » Tue Jul 08, 2014 10:24 am
Most 20 year olds at my beach are spent after 3 hours in the water. Seems to me like you are doing fine! Maybe cut down on the handle passes a bit! Heee heee
But seriously maybe some sports drink, bananas or similar during your break may get you another hour or 2 of endurance.
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Robsw6
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Postby Robsw6 » Tue Jul 08, 2014 10:54 am
get some kettle weights and do your work out on an indo board... that would work
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sijandy
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Postby sijandy » Tue Jul 08, 2014 11:34 am
10 malboro lights n a big mac does the trick for me!
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Starsky
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Postby Starsky » Tue Jul 08, 2014 1:51 pm
sijandy wrote:10 malboro lights n a big mac does the trick for me!
Marlboro lights, pffffft. Lose the filter like a real man.
Any cross training is the ticket. The biggest issues seem to be the intermittent intensity or weekend warrior aspect of the sport that can lead to injury and strain. Good base level fitness doesn't have a single recipe. Kettlebells and indo boards are awesome, so are bikes and paddleboards and windsurfer...... well maybe not, but there are a ton of ways to get your ass in gear. Have never been able to rely on Kiting for my overall fitness. Once the wind season gets rolling, I definitely reap the reward, but I need some type of consistent training to stay in shape. Personally I'm a minimalist so keep it low tech and train at a local boxing gym, but you choose whatever you like.
I do think that many people are too focused on training and neglect the concepts of personal maintenance. You brush your teeth every day so along the same lines, there is a lot more to maintain than teeth, skin and hair! Exercise is punishment that leads to development or your various systems, but there is plenty of damage and tension and poor motor pattern ingrained along the way and a truly smart athlete will spend consistent time focused on activities from yoga to foam rolling to massage to chiropractic to maximize their recovery and performance and get a little closer to reaching their full potential.
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raueda1
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Postby raueda1 » Tue Jul 08, 2014 4:06 pm
plummet wrote:Theres some web sites around with kite specific exersizes. (1) Sorry I'm too lazy to look them up.
Personally I mountain bike also. That has made my legs stronger than what is required for kiting.... Also keeps my aerobic fitness/endurance up which is also usefull. It doesn't work the core though which is required for kiting.
(2) Your other sports are more muscular than aerobic. perhaps adding aerobic exersize will improve your endurance?
1. I did look them up. Didn't seem to be anything very specific for kiting, just general fitness stuff.
2. That's true, though I do a lot of backcountry skiing, and that's VERY aerobic. Unfortunately I completely missed the last ski season so I'm not bringing that fitness base to the kiting this summer.
An interesting and annoying aspect of aging seems to be that when exhaustion finally kicks in it's much more sudden than it was when I was younger. It's more like falling off a cliff than gradually getting more tired. At that point I'm DONE. This is especially true for skiing. No amount of rest, hydration, electrolytes, supplements or stuff makes a difference at that point (or leading up to it), I just have to knock off and get a good nights sleep. Don't get old you guys!
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edt
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Postby edt » Tue Jul 08, 2014 5:03 pm
if you can already kite 3 hours your fitness level is more than enough to kite for another 3 or 4 hours, and I'm not sure extra exercises will help any I mean sure you can do ab exercises, legs, shoulders but you can still hit that wall. It sounds like your overall fitness level is already excellent and you seem to train plenty when not kiteboarding.
I think it's just a matter of technique.
Try to relax more when you kite. You know how when you are on a cross country drive and it's 24 hours to get to your destination, you can't be gripping the steering wheel white knuckle, you can't be slamming on the gas and the brake all the time, and you need to take a 15 minute break every few hours.
It's the same kiteboarding. Relax your grip on the bar, relax your stance, don't push as hard with your legs try to glide on the water. come in every 30 minutes and set down the kite, have drink of water. Make sure you ride enough toeside or blind so you don't get fatigued from riding exactly the same way all the time.
If you are already at the level that you can kite 3 hours I think should be able to kite 10 hours if you take it easy and try to relax more.
Throw down of course when you want to throw a trick but then after the trick make sure to relax again. Come back in to shore more often, rest for 5 minutes throughout the entire day. Don't wait until you hit the wall.
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raueda1
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Postby raueda1 » Tue Jul 08, 2014 5:58 pm
edt wrote:if you can already kite 3 hours your fitness level is more than enough to kite for another 3 or 4 hours, and I'm not sure extra exercises will help any I mean sure you can do ab exercises, legs, shoulders but you can still hit that wall. It sounds like your overall fitness level is already excellent and you seem to train plenty when not kiteboarding.
I think it's just a matter of technique.
Try to relax more when you kite. You know how when you are on a cross country drive and it's 24 hours to get to your destination, you can't be gripping the steering wheel white knuckle, you can't be slamming on the gas and the brake all the time, and you need to take a 15 minute break every few hours.
It's the same kiteboarding. Relax your grip on the bar, relax your stance, don't push as hard with your legs try to glide on the water. come in every 30 minutes and set down the kite, have drink of water. Make sure you ride enough toeside or blind so you don't get fatigued from riding exactly the same way all the time.
If you are already at the level that you can kite 3 hours I think should be able to kite 10 hours if you take it easy and try to relax more.
Throw down of course when you want to throw a trick but then after the trick make sure to relax again. Come back in to shore more often, rest for 5 minutes throughout the entire day. Don't wait until you hit the wall.
Makes sense, maybe that's the key. Where I kite it's usually not so easy to relax. Yesterday was over head high swell, crazy, random chop and heavy shore break that closed out hard. Just getting through it was a challenge and it was a kind of white knuckle day in general, 25 kts or so on a 12m. Kiting "relaxed" would be like skiing a steep mogul field "relaxed."
But I take your point.......
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edt
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Postby edt » Tue Jul 08, 2014 6:12 pm
raueda1 wrote:Yesterday was over head high swell, crazy, random chop and heavy shore break that closed out hard. Just getting through it was a challenge and it was a kind of white knuckle day in general, 25 kts or so on a 12m. Kiting "relaxed" would be like skiing a steep mogul field "relaxed."
But I take your point.......
Same in the water as on snow, be as relaxed as possible, don't fight the moguls go with the flow. If you are white knuckling crazy chop and overhead heavy waves for 3 hours your fitness level is extraordinary.
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