What Elements Of Fitness Are Important For Kitesurfing?
October 1, 2009 
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The popularity of kitesurfing has seen staggering growth recently. It is actually growing faster than any other water sport according to the governing body for kitesurfing. It is also one of the fastest growing extreme sports in general, and it seems people are ditching their snowboards in favour of kites, as snowboarding growth has recently been overtaken by this great sport . If you want to take up the activity however, you’re body better be in pretty good condition. Here are the elements that should be high on your priority list.
- Upper Body Strength. This is often considered one of the most vital fitness elements that you need to develop. The majority of effort in the sport comes from the muscles of the upper body and so these are required to be developed in order to properly control yourself and the kite. Your “deltoids” or shoulder muscles are the main ones that need developing. These are responsible for a lot of the movements and are also stabilising muscles. Also focus on the pectoral muscles and those of the upper back
- Core Strength. As your body tends to be pulled in lots of different directions and is under large amounts of force, you need to be able to stabilise it and have sufficient core muscle tone. A core stability ball is a very useful piece of equipment to use to develop core strength. You may also have to add extra weights to your core stability exercises in order to truly match the kind of forces you will face in the when in the water. Often the kite will want to pull you in a direction you do not want to go so it will be your developed core strength that will let you remain planted
- Aerobic Fitness. Although you might not associate the sport with aerobic fitness, your lungs and heart will need to be in shape. Due to fact various muscles will be working incredibly hard, they will be demanding ever increasing volumes of oxygen and they will be churning out more and more CO2 and lactic acid. You will get tired pretty quickly if your heart and lungs are not up to the job and cannot provide the muscles with oxygen and remove waste products rapidly. Jogging or cycling are ideal methods for enhancing your CV (heart and lungs) system.
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