FitSugar

Ride the Wake: Wakeboarding

FitSugar — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 09:30:00 -0700

Wakeboarding is like snowboarding on water. If you have experience with surfing, water skiing, snowboarding, or skateboarding, you'll have to try wakeboarding. It's one of those sports that you can really get into if you like to work on cool tricks. Why is it called "wakeboarding?" The wake is the wave that the motorboat's engine kicks up behind the boat as the boat moves forward. It's a little rockier than still lake water, and that's what makes it fun to ride.

Basically it's a lot like water skiing, where a rider gets towed behind a motorboat, but instead of facing forward, the rider is sideways. This is a little bit obvious because of its name, but another major difference is you ride on a board not a pair of skis. This makes doing flips and spins easier since both your feet are attached to the board (instead of being separated on 2 skis). People don't really do tricks on water skis unless they're using trick skis that are shorter and have no fins.

All you need is a big open lake, a motorboat, a life jacket, a tow line (the rope you hold onto), a wakeboard, a driver, and someone else in the boat to watch the rider. This person's job is very important - they let the driver know if the rider has let go of the tow line, and point out where they are floating in the water (sometimes it's tough to see the bobbing person).

You don't have to have any water skiing experience in order to wakeboard, just like you don't have to ski before you snowboard. I definitely recommend taking a lesson so you can learn some basic skills, like getting up since this can be the hardest part. Like with everything, practice is the key.

You've got to check out this video of a woman using a trampoline to practice her wakeboard tricks, so

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Safety Tips for Water Skiing

FitSugar — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 11:00:00 -0700

I am so psyched for the warm weather. It's not quite time to slip on those water skis since the water temperature is still rather nippy, but it's a good time to start getting excited about it.

Water skiing is an exciting and challenging sport. All it takes is a motor boat, someone to drive the boat, an extra person in the boat to watch the skier, a life jacket, a pair of water skis, and a tow line (the rope you hold onto). It requires a love of speed and the water, tons of upper and lower body strength, and delicate balance to stay up. Once you get going, nothing compares to the exhilarating feeling of flying through the air and riding on the water. It gives new meaning to the word fast!

If you've never tried it before, I definitely recommend having a private instructor show you how, since there are a few risks involved with this sport. I have some strong suggestions for how to ski and boat safely. Want to see them? Then read more

Always have an observer in the boat - the driver doesn't count.
Always wear your life jacket, even if you know how to swim.
Always water ski in calm water - a big lake is perfect.
Stay clear of congested areas, with no other boats or swimmers around.
Never water ski in the dark - it is both dangerous AND illegal.

With all that said, don't be discouraged if it takes you a while to stand up. You've got to bend your knees into your chest, keep your arms straight, lean back slightly, let the boat pull you, and then stand up. Once you figure it all out, you'll be loving this new sport.

Hey check this out - my friend Giggle found a water skiing squirrel! Good thing that lady was there to catch little Twiggy since he wasn't wearing a life jacket!

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Check Your Face

FitSugar — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 11:00:00 -0800

One of the great challenges of Pilates is relaxing the muscles that don't need to be working. Undue tensions around the body can interfere with your ability to work the muscles you are trying to strengthen. The set of muscles that most people have a hard time relaxing is their face. It seems that majority of people, my clients anyway, think they can do a roll up (an exercise close to a full sit up) by just tensing their jaw. The same holds true for one-legged bicep curls on a BOSU, which is a serious challenge, but clenching your jaw is in no way going to help you access your core. In fact, tensing your face, be it your jaw, brow, or forehead, activates the muscles in your neck and shoulders, and this unwanted tension can lead to injuries. So next time you are working out, check your face. If it is tense, relax it. I find deep sighs or "motor boat mouth" help get that job done.

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