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Bio - Eric Mihelbergel is an intermediate level windsurfer and kiteboarder living in the Great Lakes Region of New York State who enjoys writing about windsports and fitness.
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Off-Season Training
By Eric Mihelbergel
Written December 2018
In general, I don't write unless I'm inspired to write. I usually write for my own pleasure, and then if it's decent I share it. This is an article I had intentions to write for a couple years, but until now I was never inspired to write it. Let's face it, the "off-season" is just not as exciting as the "on-season". That's why we call it the "off-season". It ain't ON. Nonetheless, those of us that are restrained from travelling to warmer climates in the winter can still have a great deal of fun and keep in good shape for windsurfing and kiteboarding. While there might be one or two more water sessions still in store this season I am already a couple weeks into my "off-season" program. And, this year, I am excited about it. Here's why.
(Please note that I am NOT a physician or certified trainer/nutritionist. In fact, I have no credibility at all. This is just information about what I do with hope that it may help and inspire others with their off-season training and health. Consult a licensed physician, a certified trainer/nutritionist, a psychic, your dog, or whomever else you consult with on health issues to verify that my suggestions are appropriate for you. Do NOT do what I suggest without checking with a professional.)
Winter training, for me, has been broken down into these 9 overlapping categories for nearly 30 years:
1.) Fun, 2.) Goals, 3.) Strength, 4.) Physique, 5.) Cardio, 6.) Flexibility, 7.) Visualization, 8.) Recovery, 9.) Nutrition
These are not in any particular order of importance, but if they were ordered by importance it would differ from year to year. Let's take a look at each one in more detail.
1. Fun - The winter is long. Some people even experience depression during long winters. So find a FUN physical activity to participate in. For me it is snowboarding and table tennis. I love to be outdoors, even in winter, and snowboarding gets me out there. The board gives me a rush somewhat similar to windsurfing and kiteboarding. Table tennis is also a blast. It's just plain FUN! These activities overlap with the "Cardio" category because they burn calories and increase heart rate.
2. Goals - Having a goal during the off-season makes it much more interesting and can help keep you motivated. It could be a fitness goal, weight loss/gain goal, physique goal, or anything that you want to accomplish. I have always kept a detailed training log to help me reach goals. Back in the early 90's I didn't use speadsheets much so I just drew out charts with a ruler. Now my training logs are all on spreadsheets which makes it much easier. Here are a couple samples of old logs I created over the years:
(Please note that I am NOT a physician or certified trainer/nutritionist. In fact, I have no credibility at all. This is just information about what I do with hope that it may help and inspire others with their off-season training and health. Consult a licensed physician, a certified trainer/nutritionist, a psychic, your dog, or whomever else you consult with on health issues to verify that my suggestions are appropriate for you. Do NOT do what I suggest without checking with a professional.)
Winter training, for me, has been broken down into these 9 overlapping categories for nearly 30 years:
1.) Fun, 2.) Goals, 3.) Strength, 4.) Physique, 5.) Cardio, 6.) Flexibility, 7.) Visualization, 8.) Recovery, 9.) Nutrition
These are not in any particular order of importance, but if they were ordered by importance it would differ from year to year. Let's take a look at each one in more detail.
1. Fun - The winter is long. Some people even experience depression during long winters. So find a FUN physical activity to participate in. For me it is snowboarding and table tennis. I love to be outdoors, even in winter, and snowboarding gets me out there. The board gives me a rush somewhat similar to windsurfing and kiteboarding. Table tennis is also a blast. It's just plain FUN! These activities overlap with the "Cardio" category because they burn calories and increase heart rate.
2. Goals - Having a goal during the off-season makes it much more interesting and can help keep you motivated. It could be a fitness goal, weight loss/gain goal, physique goal, or anything that you want to accomplish. I have always kept a detailed training log to help me reach goals. Back in the early 90's I didn't use speadsheets much so I just drew out charts with a ruler. Now my training logs are all on spreadsheets which makes it much easier. Here are a couple samples of old logs I created over the years:
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As part of goal setting and goal achieving you may find that a heartrate monitor is helpful. With a heartrate monitor you establish heartrate "zones" and aim to keep your heartrate in a particular zone based on your intensity goal for that particular workout. Over the course of the winter you can plot your heartrate on a graph compared to something like your speed on a treadmill. By comparing heartrate and speed you can see your progress toward a given goal. You can determine if you are getting faster while staying at the same heartrate. A heartrate monitor is a useful tool and it helps to prevent boredom during the winter. There are many brands and models available. I have been using Garmin heartrate monitors for the last five years, and I like additional features that measure calories burned, speed, distance, and elapsed time. Then you can easily analyze the data on your smartphone or computer. A feature like "calories burned" can help guide you toward a physique or weight loss/gain goal.
3. Strength - Strength training is one of my favorite winter activities. I love lifting weights. But strength training is more than just lifting weights. I break it down into two parts. I call the two parts weight training and core training.
Weight Training: When I say weight training I'm talking about power type movements with the specific objective of progressively increasing the amount of weight you use as you get stronger. It can be as simple as using three compound movements. For example, you might use the bench press to hit chest, front delts, and triceps. Then a lat row to hit your lats, biceps, rear delts, and mid traps. And then a squat to hit glutes, hams, quads and lower back. At the beginning of the off-season start with a moderate weight where you can get 15 reps with perfect technique. Perfect technique is key, so take a lesson from a trainer or watch some Youtube videos. Then, while still hitting 15 reps, increase the amount of weight by 5 pounds every couple of workouts or whenever you feel you have gotten stronger. Continue to progress as you build strength and power.
Core Training: Core training is not so much about power and raw strength, but more about stabilization, balance and training all the smaller muscles that might be used in a dynamic sport like windsurfing or kiteboarding. For example, you might stand on a Bosu balance ball and do partial squats while simultaneously doing lateral shoulder raises with 3 pound dumbbells as your constantly flex the muscles of your entire abdomen. As you can imagine, your body is going to be a little wobbly standing on that ball which will activate lots of little muscles in your entire body. Concentrate on keeping your entire abdomen flexed hard so that your core is completely engaged. Consult a trainer or Youtube to find more exercises.
Weight Training: When I say weight training I'm talking about power type movements with the specific objective of progressively increasing the amount of weight you use as you get stronger. It can be as simple as using three compound movements. For example, you might use the bench press to hit chest, front delts, and triceps. Then a lat row to hit your lats, biceps, rear delts, and mid traps. And then a squat to hit glutes, hams, quads and lower back. At the beginning of the off-season start with a moderate weight where you can get 15 reps with perfect technique. Perfect technique is key, so take a lesson from a trainer or watch some Youtube videos. Then, while still hitting 15 reps, increase the amount of weight by 5 pounds every couple of workouts or whenever you feel you have gotten stronger. Continue to progress as you build strength and power.
Core Training: Core training is not so much about power and raw strength, but more about stabilization, balance and training all the smaller muscles that might be used in a dynamic sport like windsurfing or kiteboarding. For example, you might stand on a Bosu balance ball and do partial squats while simultaneously doing lateral shoulder raises with 3 pound dumbbells as your constantly flex the muscles of your entire abdomen. As you can imagine, your body is going to be a little wobbly standing on that ball which will activate lots of little muscles in your entire body. Concentrate on keeping your entire abdomen flexed hard so that your core is completely engaged. Consult a trainer or Youtube to find more exercises.
4. Physique - This overlaps with the Strength, Cardio and Nutrition categories. I enjoy improving my physique, and the off-season is a GREAT time to do it. Take some photos of your body at the beginning of the off-season and then again at the end. Get a tape measure and record the size of your chest, waist, neck, bicep, and thigh. Do it again at the end of the off-season. Get a caliper to measure body fat percentage, and take measurements periodically throughout the off-season. Get a high-tech scale that automatically downloads to your computer. Measure your weight every morning after you empty your bowel and bladder. Download MyFItnessPal to your phone or computer, and record your calories at each meal. Record how many calories you burn during each Strength and Cardio workout by using your heartrate monitor system. Adjust the weight training portion of your strength program to improve targeted body parts. Consider training more like a bodybuilder by adding isolation movements if you are inspired by that. All of this can be a lot of fun, and in 4 or 5 months of off-season training you can make drastic improvements to your physique. I really enjoy working on my physique in the off-season. I find it difficult to work on physique during the windsurfing and kiteboarding season. During the windsurfing and kiteboarding season it is difficult to fit in consistent weight training because of the time it takes to recover from windsurfing and kiteboarding sessions. I need at least one to two days of rest after windsurfing sessions before I can weight train effectively. Muscle building is put on hold during the windsurfing season. And it is very difficult to manage calories during the windsurfing season. A hard windsurfing session might cost me 1500 calories. A couple days in a row like that and my body goes into starvation mode. Fat burning is mostly put on hold during the windsurfing season when this starvation mode kicks in. It becomes very difficult to make physique changes. But during the off-season I can effectively manage all of these things with good precision. Refer to my articles "How I Lost 30 Pounds in 30 Weeks Without Losing Muscle" and "Trimming That Last Bit of Stubborn Fat" for more details.
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5. Cardio - Here I am interested in both high intensity cardio and low intensity cardio. This is measured with a heartrate monitor. Map out your heartrate "zones", and then develop workouts that put you in high intensity or low intensity zones depending on your goal for that particular workout. In general, low intensity cardio uses oxygen to produce energy and high intensity cardio does not use oxygen, so by exercising in both zones you will condition your body to perform in both ways. This helps conditions us for windsurfing and kiteboarding. This also overlaps with the Physique category because you will be able to estimate how many calories you burn with your heartrate monitor and use that information to develop your meals for the day. For low intensity cardio I like to swim, cross-country ski, snowboard, ride the exercise bike, and play table tennis. For high intensity cardio it is usually swimming or cross-country skiing at high speeds, but you can add running, cycling, or whatever sport you like. Your cardio may overlap with the Fun category as well like it does for me with snowboarding.
6. Flexibility - Flexible muscles get injured less frequently. And flexible muscles allow us to perform windsurfing and kiteboarding movements that we might otherwise not perform as well. For these two reasons I stretch every evening on my living room floor. The off-season is a great time to start a flexibility program. Often, I watch windsurfing movies while I stretch. In this way, the Flexibility category overlaps with the Visualization category. Develop a stretching program for yourself and continue it beyond the off-season. It is relaxing and enjoyable. It benefits you on the water in many ways. Improved flexibility has allowed me to waterstart with very little wind on very small sails. Flexible glutes, hamstrings, groin, lats and shoulders allow me to pull the board right under my hips while on extended arms. It is amazing what a difference it makes in my waterstarts. Riding frontside, I am able to twist into the clew-first position with greater flexibility. It only takes 30 minutes to get a good stretch. And it overlaps with the Recovery category as it loosens tight muscles.
7. Visualization - Back in the early 1990's I acquired a video recording of Greg Barton winning the gold medal at the '88 Seoul Olympics in sprint kayaking. At that time I was training daily, and sometimes twice a day, to compete in sprint kayaking at the state and national level. I must have watched that video of Greg Barton five hundred times over that period of years. The image of his paddle stroke and perfect technique was burned into my brain. During every training session I tried to match my own stroke to the memory of Greg Barton's stroke from the video. A few years later I was mountain biking a lot. In the winter I would train indoors on a stationary trainer, but it was boring. During the 1996 Olympics I video recorded Bart Brentjens and Paola Pezza winning gold medals in their respective mountain biking events. I must have watch that video a couple hundred times while riding the indoor trainer over that period of years. When I was on the mountain I could picture them on their epic rides, and it helped push me to the next level. Learn the art of visualization. What you burn into your mind during the off-season will translate into improved performance and motivation during the windsurfing and kiteboarding season. I watch a lot of windsurfing videos on Youtube. Here is a list of some of my "Favorite Youtube Windsurfing Channels".
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8. Recovery - All of this off-season training is going to challenge your body. And, as our bodies age we generally take a little longer to recover from physical exertion in order to continue to perform at top levels. We need both inactive and active recovery. Inactive recovery includes things like sleep, rest, hot tub, steam room, and sauna. The heat promotes blood flow and loosens tight muscles. Sleep and rest allow the body to repair itself so that you can get to the next level. Active recovery includes things like self-massage, light cardio, stretching, and nutrition. Self-massage and light cardio again promote blood flow for repair, while stretching loosens tight muscles and increases flexibility to prevent future injuries. Nutrition is below.
9. Nutrition - This overlaps with the category of Recovery, it applies to the muscle growth that you want from the Strength category, and it plays a major role in the outcome of the Physique category. What you eat is what you become. If you improve your nutrition you will improve your athletic performance. Start by mapping out a program for your macronutrients. How many grams of protein, fat, and carbohydrates will you consume each day? How many total calories will you consume each day? You can refer to my article "How I Lost 30 Pounds in 30 Weeks Without Losing Muscle" to get started. Determine the source of your protein, fat, and carbs. Will you use organic sources, vegetarian sources, animal sources? How much fiber do you need each day? Most people don't get nearly enough fiber. What about daily vitamins, amino acids, apple cider vinegar, creatine, fish oil, water consumption, prescription medications/supplements, probiotics? Will you consume alcohol and caffeine? Do some research. Pay attention to your nutrition.
It's December, so get excited about your off-season training! Write down a fitness program for yourself, create a training log, put together a nutrition program, and get into some FUN activities. Come April you will be a lean mean fitness machine ready to hit the water.
Please note that I am NOT a physician or certified trainer/nutritionist. In fact, I have no credibility at all. This is just information about what I do with hope that it may help and inspire others with their off-season training and health. Consult a licensed physician, a certified trainer/nutritionist, a psychic, your dog, or whomever else you consult with on health issues to verify that my suggestions are appropriate for you. Do NOT do what I suggest without checking with a professional.