Take it easy

11 February 2012

4 Comments

Your body is something you are stuck with for your whole life; it is not uncommon for us to push it to its limits, oblivious of any future consequences. Though some may not think it, sailing takes a great toll on the body, particularly over time. Repetitive strenuous tasks such as hiking, grinding and looking up the rig (especially for trimmers) over time put immense stress on your joints (back and neck in particular). If you go and see an amateur football match, you will see the team warm up and warm down after the game. More professional sides often undertake recovery activities following their event. Not once have I seen someone have a stretch after sailing or take an approach to recovery, they just de-rig and hit the bar.

Prevention is just as, if not more, important than recovery. They say that poor posture over time will cause your body to adjust to a regular position. For example, if you work at a computer every day, your neck and back will arch forward; a similar effect happens with sailors, mainly from hiking. I’ll start with dinghy hiking as it is where I have found myself in some trouble. Over hiking is a common problem, as is maintaining a healthy position without adequate body strength. It is important to build and maintain good core muscles to support your back while hiking. A good rule of thumb is to hike so that your torso does not exceed and angle of 120 degrees to your legs, any further than this is considered over hiking, which will cause significant damage to your back. Keelboat hiking is on the other end of the spectrum. There is much less stress on the back, in fact, sometimes it can feel good as it stretches the lower back. However, regular keelboat hiking is relatable to the old desk job problem where a constant posture is changing your back shape. A simple way to overcome these problems is stretching by doing opposite movements to those done while hiking. Example, if you are arching your back hiking off the rail of a 40 footer, stand up and bend backwards. Having done a back injury from hiking, I can tell you from personal experience the agony of having to see a chiropractor every month, as is the pain after a regatta, especially considering I am only 18!

Recovery is more than stretching; though it is a large part of recovery, it involves nurturing your body back to its original state for better performance. Recovery is important in many situations which even casual weekend sailors find themselves in. Recovery is most important after long training sessions, competing in more than one race a day, competing regularly (every weekend, several days consecutively), if you have history of injury or after high level of fatigue/muscle use (common after windier days).

Recovery can be broken down into stages, the first of which start as soon as you get off the water. Always warm down; this could mean going for a light run or walk followed by quick stretch. A quick stretch of 5 minutes or so relaxes the muscles. You don’t need much; static stretches of 5-10 seconds should suffice.

Nutrition is another aspect which goes unnoticed, particularly to those who have a few too many at the bar after the race. This should be done following the race however urgency is not required like the first stage. Nutritional recovery means re-hydrating and re-fuelling with carbohydrates and protein. Sugars can be good to replace energy but be careful about how much. It is especially important to be aware of the effects of alcohol on your recovery following a race. Alcohol increases the rate of dehydration, something which correlates directly to your recovery. Sleep is the most significant aspect of recovery, though it is something that goes fairly unnoticed despite most of us becoming tired with ease. It is while you are sleeping that your body begins its natural repair process. A good target to aim for is 7-9 hours of quality sleep. It can be a good idea to do another warm down prior to nodding off with a more thorough stretch.

The final stage is the one which may seem a bit farfetched for many. It involves compression, cold water immersion and other hydro-therapy methods. These are not as hard as they sound, though the basics should be done right prior to using these methods. When done right in conjunction with warm downs and nutrition, these methods prove very effective.

Recovery is extremely important in achieving peak performance, as is taking care of your body. Having to retire from sport due to careless injuries is a tragedy no one wants to be a victim of, as is the awful feeling of constant fatigue which can be achieved from overtraining and improper recovery. It’s great to get off the water and have a beer or 2, but it is even better to take care of your body so you can continue performing at your peak for many more years to come!

Written by Michael Tozer for TeamB4Ego

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