Training - Health & Safety
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Warning; training can seriously improve your sailing!

Put in the right fuel;
Carbohydrate- The main fuel so eats lots! Cereal, fruit, beans, root vegetables. Cake, Bread. Good complex carbohydrates are bananas, raw carrots, stuffed potatoes and filled rolls. Glucose tablets can seriously damage your health so limit to small doses.
Protein- fish, yoghurt, cheese, meat, if you are veggie make sure you eat nuts, beans, and tofu. Milk is great for calcium and protein, semi-skimmed is fine for all except under 10's.
Fat- won't keep you warm! Limit fat intake but don't dismiss it. It contains vitamins and minerals that keep you healthy. Oily fish such as mackeral, sardines, avocadoes, olive oil, and nuts all contain 'good' fats.

Using the fuel;
Every one needs to be fitter ( who was worn out at Harwich??)
The Dutch guys and girls had obviously worked on their fitness and it did pay off.
Try and do three sessions a week (20-30minutes of hard work) of cycling, jogging or swimming. This will help you manage those long hike outs and heavy winds without getting worn out. Do not train if you have a cold, sore throat or temperature.

Specific strengthening-
Abdominals- those tummy muscles we all admire on other people! Splashes need almost straight legs so Keep your back curled when doing sit ups, Put your hands behind your ears, fix your feet ( get someone to hold them or hook under a heavy chair) Lift your head first then curl your shoulders, then your back. Don't let your back hollow. Do sets of 20 each and build up the sets to four sets a day.
Quads- really important for sustained hiking. Squat thrusts are good, no equipment needed or space. Again start with sets of twenty and build up to four sets a day.
Back extensors- Counter balance that six pack! Lie on your tum, pull in your abdominals and raise your torso from the floor. Height is not the aim, just good strong back muscles.

Get that sleep in!
Don't expect your body to perform for you if you don't rest it adequately.
Stretching-------
Stretch is an important part of warm up and cool down. It is an essential part of injury protection and it looks cool to the opposition too!
Never stretch cold muscles, warm up by gentle jogging in warm clothing first.
Hamstrings- sit on the ground, and reach forward to your toes, one leg at a time. Keep your legs a shoulder width apart and stretch gently, demonstrating how far you can reach will lead to a muscle tear and no sailing!! Don't be in pain and don't bounce.
Quads- stand on one leg, get hold of your ankle and bend your knee until your heel hits your bum. Then do the other leg.
Ilio-psoas- the hiking muscle- Lunge as you do in fencing but hold the position. Keep the rear, straight leg straight at the hip. You feel the stretch across the front of your hip.
Calf- lean up against a wall or the car in a walk position. Keep the leg to be stretched behind you with the heel on the ground. Gently lean forward until you feel the stretch and hold. Repeat with the other leg.
Stretch positions should be held for thirty seconds and approached gently. They should not hurt. Stretching after a race often prevents muscle soreness.
Get fit together!! Training is tedious. Do it with a friend, Mum or Dad. Have fun and watch those results improve.

Recommended reading
is available in;
The RYA Book of race training- Jim Saltonstall