A few tips on how I manage to keep riding through the winter in England…

Winter is here!!!  For most this means hibernating at home in your One Piece with a hot drink and a mince pie; well we all do this no doubt, but there are some other perks to the winter when it comes to wakeboarding.  You sometimes get those blue bird days where the water is like glass and sun feels slightly warm on your face. These are the days to cherish and take advantage of by getting yourself on the water!  No queues, no weavers, no choppiness, just an empty lake to play on. This goes for any of the watersports I love: wakeboarding, surfing or wakesurfing!

I know these crystal clear days don’t come around very often, so here are a few things that I do to make the grey choppiness a little more welcoming..

First things first.  Invest in a good wetsuit, you think you won’t use it, but once you have it you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it,  sometimes you can wear it for six months of the year!  I have a couple of suits I like to bust out over the winter, my 543mm Mystic Hypnotize and my 543mm Billabong SG5.  Both keep me very warm and toastie!

Next on the list: Gloves/Socks.  Wake: If you can go through the pain of adapting to gloves, then thats all good, I do because my hands would fall off if I didn’t.  Otherwise, a pair of marigolds do just fine, they are thin and they keep the windchill at bay.  If you’ve not got closed toe binding, get some socks, blue toes are not cool.  Surf: I have 7mm booties and 5mm gloves, also a hood to try and prevent the brain freeze duck dive!

Find a buddy to ride with, then you’re more motivated to get out there because someone else is going through the same thing.  You can bond.  Its beautiful.

If none of your buddies ride, then head down the lake anyway.  You’ll find a group of winter warriors that shred every Saturday/Sunday.  Stick it out to show them  you mean business.  After a couple of weeks, you’ll be part of the crowd.  People are friendlier in the winter months at the lake – all diehards!! 🙂

The aim of the game is to ride so make it quick.  You just can’t spend all day on the dock like you can in the summer.  Get to the lake, get changed straight away, don’t look at the water or else you won’t go in it.  Get your new winter suit on as fast as possible, joke about how cold it is with you new found buddies, and get on the water!  Depending on the air/water temperature and around the edge ice situation, aim to ride for as long as you can.  Everyone is different.  On the occasions I’ve ridden just before the lake’s frozen, or its been snowing, I’ve aimed for about 20mins (also aim to stay dry, winter in England is no time to be trying new tricks).  But if its around the 5c mark you could go a bit longer, maybe 30-40mins.

After your freezing wake session, you need warmth!  So take a flask and snacks with you. This will also make you popular with your new winter riding buddies.  Grab a warm shower and get your layers back on.  It will take a while to warm up properly but with hot water, warm clothing and a cuppa tea, you’ll be well on your way.

Happy winter riding!! 🙂

I suppose its not officially winter here till December but its cold, grey, raining, miserable and dark at like 4m!  However, its great for curling up on the sofa with some yummy snacks and a cup of hot cocoa..  No matter how much curling up I do at the moment, I just want to be somewhere hot!!  Take me back to Hawaii!!!!

So the photos of me training here might look a little odd.. the reason for this is I’m seven months pregnant!  I haven’t been able to ride much but I’ve been working with my trainer throughout my pregnancy.  We’ve been making sure that I’m doing the right level of exercise and focussing on the joints and muscles I need to keep healthy and strong, and to also deal with the birth!

          

Obviously its really important to warm up before a work out.  As my pregnancy has progressed, I’ve found that my warm ups have become shorter and shorter because I get out of breath much quicker.  Some of this will be because I’m not doing as much activity so my fitness levels have decreased, but mostly because my lung capacity has shrunk – baby grows up and lungs get pushed out the way!

          

Sharm and I have been working on keeping my fitness levels up as much as possible.  The main reason for this is for mine and baby’s health, but also to get me through the labour.   Also the better prepared your body is for such an event, the better the chance of a speedy recovery (fingers crossed!!)  So lots of pelvic floor exercises and leg and butt exercises, all focussing around my breathing.

We work through two or three circuits each session using weights, kettlebells, my own body weight and stretchy rubber bands.  Every exercise is focussed on more than one muscle area so that I’m getting the most out of one movement.  Its hard work, and its even harder to see my stamina and fitness levels decrease each session.  This is partly through not wakeboarding, but mostly because the baby sucks everything from my body and so I have less energy to put into working out.  Its difficult knowing how fit you were and what you could do, and then cutting it in half!

Sport wise its been an unusual journey.  The best way I can describe it is that its like being injured!  Since April I’ve not been able to wakeboard properly, I’ve just been able to do laps and little sliders (but now my wettie doesn’t fit my bump which is probably a good thing, but I managed it till I was five months gone!)  I surfed in Portugal and Hawaii which was amazing, but I’d have to sit on the beach now because I can’t lay on a board.. However, wakesurfing was a big help, you can get on the board without laying on it, and the boats only going 10mph – fantastic pregnancy sport!! 🙂

Contact Sharm:

KURUP FIT Personal Trainer 

sharmy@kurupfit.co.uk

07968 854397