Windsurfing is great fun but it’s challenging physically particularly in strong winds. And to achieve the experience you want you need to be strong and fit.
You may have experienced some frustration at not being able to continue after more than one two or three hours of intense windsurfing on your Sunday morning training session. You might have needed to rest regularly or struggled to maintain your technique due to sore muscles or exhaustion.
Windsurfing is a high intensity combination of surfing and sailing. It combines high speed with extreme manoeuvres and a wide repertoire of tricks. And because windsurfing requires handling your equipment whilst blasting along or carving through sometimes rough water you need a combination of balance core stability technical skill and optimum fitness levels just to hang on.
Whether you are a pro windsurfer a local competitor or just a passionate Sunday windsurfer if you are keen to improve to go faster and feel great flying at max speed on your board you need to develop your strength and endurance.
Staying upright on the board puts stress on all the major muscles groups.
When you windsurf your legs are essentially in a half squat position. The continuous switch from an upright position to a half squat or half sitting position as you bend your legs going over chop or when you initiate a gybe puts tension on your major leg muscles including the quadriceps and glutes and hamstrings.
Your upper body gets a great workout as well. Trimming the sail will activate muscles in the arms and the back. The muscles of the upper back work alongside your core to keep the sail steady as you bounce over chop.
Windsurfing in strong winds will raise your heart rate fast and you won’t be able to stay on your board for long if your aerobic conditioning is not good enough.