Cockpit workouts

Plank twist

Miami to Bahamas took us 14 hours of motor sailing into 20-25 knots of wind. Mammoth size waves crashing over the bow, at short intervals, made it an unpleasant passage to say the least. Just trying to maneuver ourselves around the boat was laborious enough so there was just no way that a formal workout session was going to happen.

That was 4 days ago. Fortunately, we don’t endure this kind of weather all the time while we are cruising. After staying put in Bimini for a day, we left Monday afternoon to head towards Nassau. Although still blowing quite significantly, we had the wind behind us more and the waves ultimately subsided appreciably. This made it much more agreeable for both of us. With favorable winds, this led us to our decision to head all the way to Nassau. Although the 26.5 hour trip kept us captive on the boat, this didn’t stop me from getting in a couple of exercise sessions.

Yes, while underway, even while sailing, this typically doesn’t stop me from exercising. While there may be a bit of labour to be done when the sails are up, this is not enough to really account for a workout (in my opinion). Our trampoline area at the bow of the boat is a great exercise area but is unsafe many times while underway.

This is when I look to our very deep cockpit as an exercise venue. Using a bit of creativity, I have come up with a variety of exercises to give myself a sufficient workout (or 2… or 3). The following is one of the workouts that I did while underway from Bimini to Nassau:

“No Blah to Nassau” cockpit workout:

• Back leg elevated static lunges (25 reps each side)
• One-legged Push ups (leg to side) and plank twist (15 reps each side)
• Elevated side lunge to knee tuck (side) (25 reps each side)
• Fire hydrant to side kick (25 reps each side)
• Leg scissors ab exercise (50 reps)
• One legged bridge and leg lift (25 reps each side)
• One arm triceps push up (25 reps each side)
• Straight leg crunches (50 reps)
• Side crunches (25 reps each side)

Rest 1 minute then repeat for 1 more set

One legged pushup with leg extended out to side

This workout took me about 40 minutes to complete. What made it really challenging was not just the exercises themselves but doing the exercises on a moving boat! Even though we did not have big waves, the water was not like glass either so having an uneven moving ground underneath me while doing these movements made it all the more ‘fun’!