Scott and I led very (some might say "hyper") active lives when we were landlubbers. I worked out every day at lunch and did Bikram Yoga four times a week after work. Scott biked to work every day and either ran or biked several times during the week. We are both triathletes and marathoners and Scott is even an Ironman. Staying in shape was a big deal to us. It made us happy.
I am here to tell you our "shape" is suffering. Ugh. It pains me to type that.
While we don't have a scale and can't say for sure - Scott and I both feel a little softer in the middle than we are used to.
Life on a boat is active - we are constantly engaging our core muscles to counter act the heeling of the boat, we're pulling lines to raise and trim sails, and getting the flour out from under the settee actually causes me to break a sweat. We get exercise, it's just different than what we're used to. For the most part we eat light and healthy and, despite what it might look like according our Facebook photos, we are not drowning in a bottle of rum every night. What is missing, however, is cardio.
We have run ashore a few times - but lately we have been moving so much that running ashore is not a priority. We also both have foldable bicycles - but getting them to and from shore is a production and not usually worth it for a day's ride. Swimming is something we both love but the anchorage and water quality are not always up to par (our last anchorage in St. Maarten tested positive for staph and all sorts of icky stuff and today I saw a shoe, a plastic bag, and a Styrofoam cup float by our boat right before I was about to jump in). We do sit ups and push ups from time to time, but our regime is inconsistent. It's gotten very hot down here, we're sticky and sweaty and the idea of working up more of a sweat kinda makes us want to puke. Yesterday we spent the bulk of the afternoon laying below deck in the shade, barely able to move, with two fans blowing directly on us. It is that hot.
BUT - we are looking forward to getting to Grenada where we will be staying put for five months. We're hoping to get into more of a routine where exercise is a consistent part of our life!
Until then - we'll just let it all hang out. Ha!
PS. I will tell you - one pose that I love and I try to do a minute each day is this one. Very good for the body!
Great post. One of the challenges of living on the water that us land bound folks don't think about.
ReplyDeleteGet an exercise bike and an alternator for the aft cabin!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_-wVuEkk2E
Check it out- you've been quoted on North American Sailor.
ReplyDeletehttp://nasailor.com/2011/05/19/10-tips-for-guests-on-board-your-boat/
You should check out Zero to Cruising's blog. They are former martial arts teachers and they use a TRX on their catamaran. She also has a separate blog called Strength Plus that has detailed boat exercises.
ReplyDeleteDeb
S/V Kintala
www.theretirementproject.blogspot.com
Great post! You actually answered a lot of questions I had, like how hot it's been. Do you have a wind scoop? Is it really uncomfortable? Don't think we'll be able to have a/c on our boat. I guess it is difficult to load and unload the bikes onto the dinghy. We might have to rethink getting bikes cause I can see us not wanting to bother with it. So sad to hear that much of the water is polluted. We'd never through a piece of trash overboard! Love the plank pose ... I try to do it a few times a week too. BTW, ya'll both still look great! =)
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