Michael Blackburn - Sail Fitter

K

keenbean

Member
Hi,

I can't seem to find a review on here so sorry if it has already been posted. I'm keen to get fitter in a cardio sense for my laser sailing and was just wondering of people's opinions of this book?

thanks
 
Thanks but that link doesn't really comment much on the book itself so if there are any other reviews out there keep them coming..........
 
Don't know what you are expecting as far as a review. But IMHO, there is not a better book out there right now for fitness specifically geared to Laser sailing. On top of that, the cost is a bargain.

Read the following if you are looking for more of what's in it..
http://www.sailfitter.com/sailing-fitness-and-training.html

and
http://www.nzsailing.net/michael-blackburns-secrets-xidc28987.html

There is a fitness section in the Ben Tan book, written by MB, but it's a condensed version and not as complete as what's in Sail Fitter.

IIRC, both the Ben Ainsle and Paul Goodison books lightly touch on fitness compared to sail fitter
 
Not a big fan of the "it worked for person A, and they had success doing it, so copying it to a tee will definitely work for me!" mentality.
 
For what it's worth, Michael's background is a Degree and PhD in Human Movement. Of those writing books on what laser sailors should be doing for fitness he's probably the only one qualified to be doing it. This differs from people writing books on what works for them, at least he's go the science to back it up.

I still think possibly the best sailing book ever written was Eric Twiname's book, "Sail, Race and Win", for those wanting to improve their aailing/racing skills.
 
AlanD said:
For what it's worth, Michael's background is a Degree and PhD in Human Movement. Of those writing books on what laser sailors should be doing for fitness he's probably the only one qualified to be doing it. This differs from people writing books on what works for them, at least he's go the science to back it up.

I still think possibly the best sailing book ever written was Eric Twiname's book, "Sail, Race and Win", for those wanting to improve their aailing/racing skills.
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"Qualified". That means you hold pieces of paper saying you are educated enough that people should blindly follow what you say.

You know what they call a doctor who was at the very bottom of his class and just barely graduated? A doctor.

I hate when people say: "Oh, well he's certified, so he knows."

I wouldn't go to a 140 lb toothpick "certified" personal trainer, teaching soemone how to do bench press on a Bosu ball to learn how to be strong. I'd approach the 250 lb monster in the corner using the barbell, with chalk on his hands.

Not saying Michael's degrees haven't helped him in his development of a Laser sailing fitness methodology, as I'm sure they have, I'm just saying there are plenty of successful, knowledgeable people out there without degrees that shouldn't be ignored.

Fitness of any variety is something that you must commit to, consistently, over a very long period of time. Not only then will you see the best results, but you will also come to know your own body enough to adjust whatever needs to be adjusted to best suit your personal goals/needs and, in some cases, your body itself.

As for the thread topic...

TS, I've heard very good things about Ben Ainslie's material. I believe it comes with DVDs(?)

Also, try YouTube. There are a ton of Laser sailing videos on there. They're easily accessible and soemtimes watching something makes learning easier.

I won the Laser book written by Glenn Bourke and while it's super old (and just plain dated in some spots), it still lays down the basics.

Just try Googling stuff, as well.
 
keenbean said:
great, so you would say it's worth getting? anyone know where you can order this from in the UK?
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I believe I said it before but let me be clearer

YES, IT"S WORTH GETTING

As far as getting it - If a place like Rooster Sailing doesn't have it, order it directly off MB's site (I already provided you the link) I ordered mine this way, it arrived via snail mail about 2 weeks (to the US)
 
49208 said:
I believe I said it before but let me be clearer

YES, IT"S WORTH GETTING

As far as getting it - If a place like Rooster Sailing doesn't have it, order it directly off MB's site (I already provided you the link) I ordered mine this way, it arrived via snail mail about 2 weeks (to the US)
Click to expand...

love not war
 
I bought Blackburn's book (on fitness) because Ben Ainslie recommended it in his excellent book (on technique). I was horribly disappointed with Sail Fitter. I'm not exaggerating by saying I think I could have written a better book on sailing fitness myself.

The only worthwhile part of the book is the couple of pages where he talks about his PhD research. In a nutshell, your blood pressure goes up really high when sailing upwind in a breeze due to the static contractions in your quadriceps and abdominal muscles of about 25% of maximal force. The only other sport that comes close in raising blood pressure is cycling. Heart rate goes up, and can get very high prior to the start but that's mainly for psychological reasons.

In terms of content, he doesn't provide any training plans but rather case studies, where he just describes what sailors at various levels are doing. Instead of saying what you should be doing, he just says what some other people actually are doing. The section on nutrition was woefully lacking. He doesn't go over the basics, like what proteins, fats and carbohydrates are, and doesn't distinguish at all between sugars and complex carbohydrates. Needless to say there was no discussion of insulin and blood sugar regulation.

Overall, the book is shabbily put together. I can't imagine he would have dared submit his PhD dissertation or papers to journals in such bad shape. The book is littered with cheesy clip art, all the photos are way too dark, the text isn't justified, which looks really amateurish, and to cap it off, there is a typo on the back outside cover (the book is described as being "much sort [sic] after". Ultimately, what I took from this book is that assuming you have a reasonable understanding of nutrition and physiology if you want a training plan, think about it, and come up with one for yourself.

Oh, yeah, does anyone want to buy it!?!?!? I'll sell it for $15 - bought it for $25...
 
Beachcomber said:
I bought Blackburn's book (on fitness) because Ben Ainslie recommended it in his excellent book (on technique). I was horribly disappointed with Sail Fitter. I'm not exaggerating by saying I think I could have written a better book on sailing fitness myself.

The only worthwhile part of the book is the couple of pages where he talks about his PhD research. In a nutshell, your blood pressure goes up really high when sailing upwind in a breeze due to the static contractions in your quadriceps and abdominal muscles of about 25% of maximal force. The only other sport that comes close in raising blood pressure is cycling. Heart rate goes up, and can get very high prior to the start but that's mainly for psychological reasons.

In terms of content, he doesn't provide any training plans but rather case studies, where he just describes what sailors at various levels are doing. Instead of saying what you should be doing, he just says what some other people actually are doing. The section on nutrition was woefully lacking. He doesn't go over the basics, like what proteins, fats and carbohydrates are, and doesn't distinguish at all between sugars and complex carbohydrates. Needless to say there was no discussion of insulin and blood sugar regulation.

Overall, the book is shabbily put together. I can't imagine he would have dared submit his PhD dissertation or papers to journals in such bad shape. The book is littered with cheesy clip art, all the photos are way too dark, the text isn't justified, which looks really amateurish, and to cap it off, there is a typo on the back outside cover (the book is described as being "much sort [sic] after". Ultimately, what I took from this book is that assuming you have a reasonable understanding of nutrition and physiology if you want a training plan, think about it, and come up with one for yourself.

Oh, yeah, does anyone want to buy it!?!?!? I'll sell it for $15 - bought it for $25...
Click to expand...
I kind of like the fact that instead of saying "here is what you must do," he just describes what multiple sailors are doing. I prefer that. This should give some ideas to those otherwise uneducated on the subject.

Also, about the blood pressure...Lol...For the short period of time while performing a squat/deadlift and to a certain extent the bench press, a powerlifter's blood pressure will sky rocket, almost to the point that the blood stops circulating momentarily. Sometimes, their nose will start bleeding:

Cool stuff.

But yeah, really, sailing fitness: Want to be stronger? Train for strength. Want better cardio? Train for better cardio. Want both? Train for strength and do cardio either after your lifting or on days off.

The best info/resources you could ever need/want for both can be found online, for free.

There's no such thing as "sailing" strength or "sailing" cardio.
 
I bought this book for my daughter. I read it, she didn't. That happens a lot. It is a good book, not a great book. I don't think there is anything magical to fitness that is specific to sailing. Fitness is fitness, and strength is strength. One could argue that you need this muscle group more than that muscle group but in my humble opinion strength training must be holistic and balanced. Overtraining one area can lead to weakness in another. I learned this this hard way with my neck and long distance swimming.
I am a huge fan if the Beachbody Video Programs. I have and use the P90x, Insanity, and P90+ programs. They are tough but you do what you can do. I am a almost fifty mom who occasionally races dinghies but I am in better shape now than 20 years ago. P90x was money well spent.
The original poster was interested in cardio???.....INSANITY FITNESS....bar none will improve your cardio fitness.
 
Its a good book that has a lot of ideas and varied sailing drills to include in your training sessions.

Plenty of content in it for those who would like to step up their sailing to another level, no matter their age.

Cant find the typo you mention Beachcomber in my copy and I don't think that a book aimed at general sailors looking to improve their sailing would benefit hugely from being structured like a PHD dissertation.

Its well worth the read and if your looking to improve your sailing will be money well spent.
 
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