upwind hiking and weight

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radialsrule

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hi....... im a 16 year old boy .i started racing laser radials i march.i weigh 64 kgs adn have a problem upwind in a breeze.i wsail alot and do lots of hiking bench work also........my best time flat out is 2 and a half minutes.i dunno if thts good or not..........aslo whts the ideal weight for the radial and what should i eat to put on weight??????????\
 
The best way to put on what would be to build muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat. So to put on muscle you need to work out and eat lots of carbs to feed the muscles. Get some weights to lift to build your upper body weight. Do sit ups, and push ups. The best suggestion I can give you is to bike. I would suggest mountain biking as it is more enjoyable but road biking will do. biking will build enormous muscles in your legs that will help you with hiking and put on weight.
 
I'm 21, athletic build 6'1'' and 182 lbs which is about 82.5 kg, and because I'm a midshipman, a lean mean fighting (and hiking) machine.
Spending time on a hiking bench is good, but work all your sets of muscles, there are several differant ab excercises other then just using a hiking bench, but if that is your only option try and get a hold of some free wieghts to use and practice sit-ups at the same time. But more importantly, the best way to build muscular and cardiovascular endureance is running, or jogging, or cycling, trade speed for distance if your training for endurance. The longer the better, but strat short and work up.
 
Originally posted by Goonie
The best way to put on what would be to build muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat. So to put on muscle you need to work out and eat lots of carbs to feed the muscles. Get some weights to lift to build your upper body weight. Do sit ups, and push ups. The best suggestion I can give you is to bike. I would suggest mountain biking as it is more enjoyable but road biking will do. biking will build enormous muscles in your legs that will help you with hiking and put on weight.
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Hey Goonie, I can't leave this one alone..
What weighs more, a pound of muscle, or a pound of fat :D

And you don't increase muscle size with carbs - you need to feed the cells protein. Ideally you feed them within 30 minutes after weight training, when the initial cell regeneration is occurring.

Gaining weight by increasing muscle size is the ideal way to go, but there are many factors such as body type (mesomorph, ectomorph, endomorph), metabolism rates that make it easy for some, and very hard for others. There are some issues specifically dealing with Laser sailing that are counter to building muscle mass. The big one is that Laser sailing requires muscle endurance, tranlated to weight training terms that means low weight but high repetition. Building muscle mass with weights is best achived with high weight, low reps. So you can build big muscles, but end up with low endurance - that translates to running out of steam while sailing.

Bottom line when it comes to gaining weight is:
calories ingested > calories burned.

I like your biking suggestion, again remember though that cardio work like biking is great for Laser sailing, but the high repetition of biking is not going to build muscle size. The best you can do is to either do a lot of uphill work or lots of sprints from a standing start in high gear to stress the legs. If you just go for a ride, you end up burning lots of calories, getting a fantastic cardio workout, but not building muscle mass.

So, my suggestion for radialsrule to put on weight at age 16 is to make sure you follow the simple rule of more calories eaten then burned. Most athletes trying to gain weight will go to eating 6 smaller meals a day. If you are able to weight train, do some research on the ideal ratios of protein to carbs to fats, and the best time to ingest them.

I think you'll find the top guys are able to go at least 30 minutes upwind fully hiked - That may only translate to 15-20 minutes on the bench, but it's a number to work up to.

Regarding the ideal Radial weight - it depends on where you plan to sail, if it's a heavy air area, I think guys like Ryan Minth who looks like he weights in around 155-160 lbs have an advantage over the 140 lb and less guys. Just my humble opinion
 
RadialsRule, don't just rely on the information here, buy and read Michael Blackburn's book Sailing Fitness & Training.

Michael, a former Radial lightweight, got a PhD in Sports Science on his way to the Laser bronze medal. He knows this subject.

WATCH THE WEIGHTS by the way- according to the Dr, it can damage youo at your age. Beware, there is a LOT of work involved in putting on weight while also improiving fitness at the same time - one tends to work against the other according to Dr M.

64 kg is not bad at your age; when I was Lasering, our district radial champ (from a fleet including a guy who was 4th in the open worlds and a 3 time Masters world champ) was short (5'7") and 70 kg, and that's in a windy part of the world (Australia). Being light at the start of youor Laser career can be great, it gives you an advantage in some conditions so you can get right up to the front of the fleet and see what they are doing; it teaches you a lot.
 
Your 16.... dont sweat it.... it doesnt sound like you have a problem with your weight accept maybe your a little on the light side....

This is what you do..... eat.....and sail...eat ...and sail.... the rest will come with time. ;) take my word for it.
 
49208. You can feed yourself protein, but you only need 1 gram of protein for every kilogram in your body, therefore eating more protein will do nothing for you as it will only be removed from your body while you pee.

Muscles DO need carbs. Muscles need the glycogen. When you eat carbs, your body breaks the Carbohydrate polymers into monomers(ex. glucose) through dehydration synthesis. When cells are full of glucose, it stops accepting it. The body then takes the monomers and performs the reverse of dehydration synthesis and again makes polymers called glycogen. The Glycogen is then stored in your muscles. That glycogen will provide you with what energy you need while sailing, biking ect...

Also, take one square metre of fat, and one square meter of muscle. The muscle will weigh more. It is denser than fat.
 
Originally posted by Goonie
49208. You can feed yourself protein, but you only need 1 gram of protein for every kilogram in your body, therefore eating more protein will do nothing for you as it will only be removed from your body while you pee.

Muscles DO need carbs. Muscles need the glycogen. When you eat carbs, your body breaks the Carbohydrate polymers into monomers(ex. glucose) through dehydration synthesis. When cells are full of glucose, it stops accepting it. The body then takes the monomers and performs the reverse of dehydration synthesis and again makes polymers called glycogen. The Glycogen is then stored in your muscles. That glycogen will provide you with what energy you need while sailing, biking ect...

Also, take one square metre of fat, and one square meter of muscle. The muscle will weigh more. It is denser than fat.
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When the normal person, eating what they normally eat, goes thru the nutritional value of the food they are eating, it's rare that they even come close to taking in 1 gram per kilogram - hence the need for additional protein to get to that level.

Of course carbs provide energy (unless you reduce them to the point of entering ketoisis), but I believe you said to add muscle you need to work out and eat lots of carbs. Sorry, the carbs are not involved in the rebuilding of the cell, (which is how the muscle increases in size) protein is. Not enough protein = no increase in muscle size, regardless of how much carbs you consume.

Regarding the "which weighs more", your original statement was ambigous, and your follow up about square meters no better. (to clearly prove your density statement, you should use cubic meters ) Yes, muscle is denser that fat and weighs more for a given cubic amount.
 
i'd say for radials you should be about 145- 150 pounds.... much heavier than that and you have a pretty big handicap in teh light... i have seen people who are 155-160 do pretty well, but they have to compensate for more weight with perfect tactics.
although at nationals 155-165 was optimal, but it was blowing 20...
if you're just sailing in one venue, you can specialize a little more, but its still a crapshoot- i had a friend who weighs 165 and sails a fullrig, but he figured that in corpus christi (for north americans) it usually blows and he'd sail a radial-- wrong decision.
 
When the normal person, eating what they normally eat, goes thru the nutritional value of the food they are eating, it's rare that they even come close to taking in 1 gram per kilogram - hence the need for additional protein to get to that level.

Maybe in your diet, but 1 g for every kilogram is easily ascertainable, and most people would not need to increase the amount of protein in your diet. Radialrule, if you believe you are not getting this much protein, then yes you should increase the amount you are eating.

Of course carbs provide energy (unless you reduce them to the point of entering ketoisis), but I believe you said to add muscle you need to work out and eat lots of carbs. Sorry, the carbs are not involved in the rebuilding of the cell, (which is how the muscle increases in size) protein is. Not enough protein = no increase in muscle size, regardless of how much carbs you consume.

Very true. I was not communicating well when I spoke earlier. Now that I read it over again, I see how it is unclear. I was implying that the carbs are important because he will need all the energy he can get during the workout, and during a race all the extra glycogen will also be very important.

Regarding the "which weighs more", your original statement was ambigous, and your follow up about square meters no better. (to clearly prove your density statement, you should use cubic meters ) Yes, muscle is denser that fat and weighs more for a given cubic amount.

Too true my friend. Let this be a lesson. Don't post in a rush. I did not think through my statement due to the fact I needed to go study for a test. I am sorry.
 
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