Staying Fit while Cruising
Ahoy!
A good exercise program is designed to stimulate your heart, keep your blood oxygen level high, lubricate your flexibility, and insure your balancing ability. Everything you need to accomplish this you can see on the floor in this picture, which are exercise devices I've chosen for our boat! They can be stored in a small area, yet provide hearty workouts.
Starting with the 0.8 inch thick anti-fatigue mat, which I use for one foot balancing routines, it provides a soft surface for "marching in place" exercises, and a base for our twisting disc.
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Priced from $9 to $25 on Amazon, twisting discs are designed to give you an aerobic and flexibility workout in a small area, like on our back deck.
While you can twist on any hard surface, the most comfortable and stable is when the twisting disk is placed on an anti-fatigue mat.
Last, to preserve leg strength, the portable stair stepper you see here does the trick. Shallow steps are all you need for a brisk, up-hill walk that can be done at any time, whether cruising or tied to the dock. It is very sturdy, but it, too, can also be placed on the anti-fatigue mat.
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No matter where I am, I try to exercise at least once an hour for between 5 and 10 minutes. Yes, taking a long walk is nice, but working out for short times throughout the day generate exercise snacks that are reported to be very effective.
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According to the Washington Post, exercise snacks "can improve metabolic health, raise endurance and stave off some of the undesirable changes in our muscles that otherwise occur when we sit too long." With that in mind, my little onboard gym will help keep Phil and I physically active during our planned long summer cruises.
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May the tides be with you!
First Mate, Karen Little
April 23, 2023
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