Exercises You Can Do Onboard to Start Your New Year’s Resolution

2021 is finally here and with it a new opportunity to improve our health and fitness level. Yachting is a beautiful experience that, when taken as a sport, can be very rewarding. For those who are looking for a healthy lifestyle on board, here are five onboard exercises you can do while cruising or sailing. They don’t require any specific equipment or a lot of space. All you need is focus and motivation. These workouts won’t take much of your time, but they will tone up your body and make you feel great.

Before you do your onboard exercises.

Before starting any exercise, whether you are on board or land, always warm up your joints; it will help you avoid injuries. When on a yacht, warming up is even of higher importance, considering the vessel is continuously moving whether it is at anchor or cruising. To make sure that you don’t feel pain when exercising, conditioning your joints is essential.

• Starting from your ankles and going towards the head, try to warm up the joints by rotating each one at least ten times in every direction.
• For example, do ten circles with your foot clockwise and then ten circles counterclockwise to help condition your ankles.
• Do this for each joint until you reach the head’s pivot joint, at which point you will move your head in different directions.

Once you completed this task, you can proceed to do the following onboard exercises.

Five onboard exercises you can do to get started with your New Year’s Fitness Resolution (no equipment needed).

Exercise 1: To increase the heart rate, we suggest Jumping Jacks.

1. Stand up straight with your feet next to each other, and your arms left down to touch the sides of your hips. This is the starting position.
2. Then jump while lifting your arms laterally and separate the legs with a finishing position slightly wider than the shoulders.
3. Afterward, jump back to the starting position.
4. Do this around fifty times in a quick manner.
5. Don’t stop in the different stages of the exercise.

An alternative exercise that would increase your heart rate is the “Invisible Jumping Rope.” Imagine you are holding a rope and that you are jumping on it. Be careful with the moving yacht because you could twist your ankle!

Exercise 2: Push-Ups.

Push-ups are one of the most popular exercises, and there is a reason for this. Push-ups can be done anywhere, and, over time, they give excellent results. Depending on the part of your body that you want to work on, arms would be placed differently. Lay on the floor faced down, and then proceed to push yourself up. If you don’t have the necessary strength to push your body up, you can stay on your knees, still facing the floor.

Here we offer three variations of the push-up depending on the body part you want to work on:

1. If you work more on your back, you should place your hands slightly wider than your shoulders.
2. Should you want to train your triceps, put your arms straight under the shoulders with the upper part of your arms touching the sides of your chest.
3. If you want to put more pressure on your chest, place your arm under the chest in a rhomboid position.

Do as many repetitions as you can, and don’t forget that you have to feel pressure to make sure it is effective.

Exercise 3: Abs exercises.

Depending on your level of fitness, you could do different exercises involving your abs.

1. First, lay down to start the first exercise, which consists of having the upper side of your abs closer to your lungs.
2. Bend your knees and start lifting your shoulders toward the knees, but don’t raise your chest so much, so it touches your thighs.
3. Lift it until you feel the burn in your abs, hold for a second, and release.
4. Repeat this exercise several times.

Once you are done, proceed to do the regular leg raise.

1. Lay down with your legs straight and back on the floor.
2. Start lifting your legs, keep them straight until they make a 90 degrees angle with your upper body, and in a controlled manner, let them go down again.

To avoid lower back pain, place your arms under your lower back. This exercise would put pressure on your lowest part of the abdomen. Depending on your physical condition, choose the number of repetitions.

Exercise 4: Squats, another popular exercise.

It mainly involves the lower body – thighs, and glutes.

1. Stand up straight with feet positioned slightly wider than your shoulders. In a controlled manner, clench down.
2. Don’t let your knees go forward further than your feet, and keep your back straight.

If you have pain in your knees, don’t go too low. You can have your arms behind your head, on your waist, or straighten up in front of your chest.

Exercise 5: Triceps dips.

This exercise mainly trains your triceps.

1. Sit on the ground while having a higher surface from the floor behind you – it might be a step, box, or even a chair (in this case, you might not need to sit).
2. Then place your arms on that surface, straighten your arms, so your butt and legs lift, feet are on the ground. This is your starting position.
3. Then bend the elbows and slowly let your body go down.
4. Keep the elbows always pointing backward, not to the sides.

 

Bonus exercise to do onboard.

Try to stay still in an exact balance pose while the sea is not very calm, and you will get great results.

These five exercises (and their variations) are easy to do and could tone up your body while making you feel energized! It is an excellent idea to do a little stretch after all the exercises, and yes, why not go for a swim?

Find the perfect yacht for your fitness goals in YATCO. Search for new or used yachts for sale on the world’s most trusted MLS for yachts and boats for sale. Happy yachting!