What Type Of Fitness Is Needed For Kitesurfing?

September 18th, 2009 | by timtim |

The popularity of kitesurfing has seen staggering growth recently. 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 in general, and it seems people are ditching their snowboards in favour of kites, as snowboarding growth has recently been overtaken by this great sport . You will need to seriously work on your body however if you’re considering trying out the sport properly. Here are the elements that should be high on your priority list.

  • Upper Body Strength. As areas of general fitness go, this has to be among those of greatest importance to train. 80% of the work you’ll be doing in the water will come from the upper body and you will need to really develop those muscles if you want to stay in control of the kite. Your shoulder muscles should be the ones that receive the majority of training focus. A lot of movement is controlled by these and they function as stabilising muscles also. Also pay attention to the muscle of the upper back and the major pectorals
  • Core Strength. Due to fact there is so much movement and various directions of force taking place in the sport, your core muscles should be well trained. A core stability ball is a very useful piece of equipment to use to develop core strength. You may also have to add extra weights to your core stability exercises in order to truly match the kind of forces you will face in the when in the water. 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. Due to fact various muscles will be working incredibly hard, they will be demanding ever increasing volumes of oxygen and they will be churning out more and more CO2 and lactic acid. Without strong lung and heart function to get the oxygen around the body and take way the bi-products from the system, fatigue will kick in quickly. Cycling or running are very good methods to develop your CV fitness.

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