The Kitesurfing Fitness Guide
The sport of kitesurfing has seen its popularity soar in years of late. It is actually growing faster than any other water sport according to the governing body for kitesurfing. It is also one of the fastest growing extreme sports out of all of them also, and it seems people are ditching their snowboards in favour of kites, as snowboarding growth has recently been overtaken by this great sport . If you want to take up the activity however, you’re body better be in pretty good condition. These main areas are where your fitness focus should be.
- Upper Body Strength. As areas of general fitness go, this has to be among those of greatest importance to train. The upper body is responsible for around 75% of the work load when you’re on the water and if you want any chance of staying in control, it is vital these muscles are conditioned. The main muscle group you need to work on are the deltoids (shoulder muscles). These are responsible for a lot of the movements and are also stabilising muscles. You’ll also need to work on your upper back muscles and the ones that make up the chest
- Core Strength. because the sport is largely about moving your body around under dynamic force conditions, you body should have well developed core stabilizing muscles. Using a Swiss Ball is one way to effectively develop core muscle efficiency. Weights will also need to be including in your core work to enable you to replicate the force levels that you would experience when actually performing the sport. Often the kite will want to pull you in a direction you do not want to go so it will be your developed core strength that will let you remain planted
- Aerobic Fitness. Although you might not associate the sport with aerobic fitness, your lungs and heart will need to be in shape. Because so much demand will be put on lots of different muscles, they will be requiring vast amounts of oxygen and producing lots of carbon dioxide and lactic acid. You will feel the effects quite early on if you lungs and heart cannot feed the muscles with oxygen quickly enough and remove harmful bi-products at a steady rate. Jogging or cycling are ideal methods for enhancing your CV (heart and lungs) system.
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