Hi All,

I am currently recovering from surgery (hernia) and I was wondering what do you guy’s / girls do to stay into shape during the winter.
I must choose a sport from my physiotherapist that will help me get into shape again.

Thanks in advance,

Rob,

Hope your surgery went well.
Here in Socal, we are lucky enough to be able to sail and play all year round. Today, I went surfing at Malibu. The weather at the moment (6:15 p.m.) is mid 70's (strange warm winter we are having)

I stay in shape by running a couple of days a week, doing pool and bike workouts. I would think that the pool would be a good one for you. Non-weight bearing. I do laps, but you could run in place, kickboard.
Check with your Dr. before trying any activity, however. He/she is the expert!

Good luck,

Sheldon

it was in the mid 80s here today so we pretty much sail all year round....I hit the iron,,,,,,,,,,not to bad for 51 eh

Rob,
Hope all is going well. I enjoy just going for walks since we don't have enough snow for cross country sking yet. Can't beat walking for a safe, areobic exercise. Biking is good, also. Take care.

Tudy

The sport I enjoy the most is a good hard game of RaquetBall.

Staying in shape over winter... lots of weightlifting, basketball, indoor flag football. I made a hiking bench to do crunches on. I also made a sheeting system with some old blocks and do sheeting drills twice a week two keep my arms familliar with the ropes.

Try Yoga, too -- it develops strength, balance and flexibility.

Hey Rob,
Sorry to hear about the hernia. Any idea what lead up to it?
My profession is comprehensive fitness assessments, exercise prescription and personal training.

What are the sports that you must choose from?
Heal well.
Dave

I do not know what caused it, normally when I am at work I am sitting behind my computer or in my car at a minimum of 10 hours a day.
Some people told me that the worst thing for your back is sitting all day.
They did not give me a list to choose from, they just told me to do some sports at all because normally except from Cat sailing and skiing I do not Sport on a regular bases.

Yoga may be what I need. I run (or at my age, I should say jog) every morning before dawn but I am loosing (lost) flexibility and I need a program to loosen these joints. I see that as one of the major problems with all the years of getting bumped around in sports. I don't think the average person addresses flexibility issues as they age---heck, when one is young, the body is naturally flexible but that gradually decreases.

Perhaps Mary or someone else knows of a good program I can do in-house to increase flexibility. Seen any good videos or short books on yoga??

Thanks for the help.

Bob Klein
Texas

Rob,
When Rick and I were in our late 40's, we joined a gym for a while and went every day for three months prior to the sailing season. We had a regimen we did with all the different weight and resistance machines, as well as free weights. It made a TREMENDOUS difference in our sailing that summer, both in terms of strength and endurance. We felt much stronger and much more in control of ourselves and of the boat. We stopped doing it because the gym did not open early enough in the morning, so it took a huge chunk out of our work day -- half hour each way to the gym and an hour of workout.

Of course, all that stuff can be done at home, too, but it is so much harder to get motivated and to focus and to shut out the distractions.

Anyway, we felt that the weight training was much more helpful specifically for our sailing than aerobic-type exercises.

Bob,
Yoga solves lots of problems. Rick started going to classes at age 64 because he was no longer able to jog or rollerblade due to a bad knee (well, two bad knees). It is unbelievable how it has improved his flexibility, because he had ZERO flexibility. And it has also virtually eliminated his lower back problems and helped him to improve his tennis game, particularly his serve.

Again, as with weight training, I think this is something that is difficult to do at home. If you have a class to go to at a specific time one or more times a week, it makes you be there and do it. And I think it is important to have a real live instructor for yoga to make sure you are doing the exercises correctly.

Thanks Mary;

Your comments are very helpful and I will pursue a class either at the University or in the community. I thought I would be able to address this flexibility/strength issue on my own but nothing I have tried really seems to work. One person said 'strengthen the muscles around those joints, lift weights'. Well, ever try and do a bench press when your shoulder is hurting like heck. So, guess what, I quit lifting weights.

I just wish I had been more careful when I was younger. That shoulder stiffness comes from trying a jump while downhill skiing (over a rock ledge). Well, I didn't exactly make it and dislocated my shoulder badly. No problems with the shoulder until 20 years later.

Watching Rick get around the tramp in those videos tells me yoga has worked for him. I'll give it a try. Maybe I can get my wife to try it as well.

Cheers

Bob Klein

Bob,
I should have mentioned that the only "problem" with yoga for men is that, at least in our area, most of the participants seem to be women. Rick was kind of intimidated about going to a class at first because of the female factor, so I went with him to the first couple of classes until he felt comfortable.

In the beginning he was absolutely sure that he would not be able to do any of the yoga positions, but he was encouraged by a book he read about it that said it is not as important to be able to actually DO them as to be TRYING to do them and trying in the correct way.

You might want to look for a class that has a male instructor.

Going to a class with mostly women is bad??

I remember taking my first few aerobics classes in the early 80's and feeling the same way! All girls who knew the routines, one or two guys, and I felt completely uncoordinated.
No complaints, though. I figured out the moves, starting talking to the girls, met a cute one and we've been married 10 years now!

Sheldon
P-18

I have been going thru some pt for qutie awhile from two knee surgerys on the same knee. I have been released several times but it keeps giving way. So now I just do something different everyday. [biking,walking, wrestling my 85lb puppy,etc] I had thought about yoga but with all that twisting the thought of my knee giving way is on my mind for certain. Just stay within your limits until its healed...

thom

Nearly all of our H-17 sailors have had hernia's, over seven that we know of. May be due to moving the boat by one person most of the time. Most of us had one between 40 and 50. Caleb Tarleton

Re Thom / Caleb,

I think that’s scary 7+ people with a Hernia sailing a H17.
I do not think my boat caused mine because last winter while we were working on the boat I already had some problems.
I even felt better, when I was able to sail again by the end of the season unlucky for me a few weeks later, I was not able to walk let alone sail.
Perhaps I should stay then a bit more within my limits earlier.

Mary,

I've found that by being the only guy in the yoga sessions, I would get plenty of attention from the instructor. Perhaps because I couldn't even come close to the flexibility of many of the women in the class. The instructor often seemed to be at my side trying to coax me into a posture that I'd deemed impossible.

I remember when I first considered yoga. As someone looking in from the outside, it looked so peaceful and relaxing. Once in the classes, I discovered what an intense workout it can be. It was tough at first, but made a big difference, both physically and mentally.