Category: Tantrum Evolution

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Landing that next trick is all in your head…

Scientists used to believe, and indeed some of the older neurologists still do believe, we are born with a fixed number of brain cells and with time, these slowly die, never to be replaced.

The rate of death is increased as we do things such as bang our head against things, drink too much and get punched in the face….or generally treat them badly!

However…

We now know differently, the brain in constantly creating new neurones in the hippocampus in a process called neurogenesis.

Why is this good news for us kitesurfers?

Neurones are essential when it comes to laying down pathways for learning new skills. Hence when we’re learning a new trick it’s the ability of our neurones to create new pathways and then isolate that pathway to the point where it becomes a superhighway that will determine how successful we are.

Once a new neuron is created in the hippocampus it moves out to find it’s place in the brain. It may take 4 to 6 weeks before the neurone is fully integrated into the brain and during this time they are very vulnerable.

To protect them we need to ensure they get the correct nutrients, whilst avoiding toxins that will kill them and then sheath them in a substance called myelin.

Myelin insulates the pathway, protecting it from damage but also speeding up transmission time and accuracy of the signal.

Hence to be fully effective learning any new trick we need to not only boost the rate of neurogenesis but increase the survival rate of the new neurones which are created by ensuring they are nurtured properly and there are enough natural resources available to create the myelin needed to sheath them.

The way to do this?

On a very simple level avoid toxins, improve your diet, avoid stress and depression, exercise (ie go kiting!), have fun, expose your self to a healthy environment, plenty of good quality sunlight, good (fluoride free) water and most awesomely…sex!.

The good news is that by doing these things right we can increase the speed of neurogenesis by a factor of 5!

In fact kitesurfing itself will stimulate this process of neurogenesis, any new and novel activity encourages the brain to produce new neurones and kitesurfing certainly qualifies. So the next time you hit the water just remind yourself, you’re actually making yourself more intelligent when you do!

Get our FREE 4 Week Kitesurf Specific Workout, designed by kitesurfers, for kitesurfers…

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Is There A Perfect Diet For Kitesurfers…?

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Improve your kitesurfing when there’s no wind

Is there a perfect diet for kitesurfers…

Probably not.

But…

that doesn’t mean there isn’t a perfect diet for you as a kitesurfer…

Confused?

Let me explain…

Just how we all look different on the outside, we are even more different on the inside. Our bio chemical individuality means that we all have very different needs when it comes to diet.

This is why you see so many different diets all claiming to be the one perfect human diet…they probably are for the person pushing that particular diet, but may well, quite literally, kill the next person to come and try them…the next person who is biochemically very different to the one for whom the diet worked.

Dietary needs also change naturally with age and lifestyle changes, it seems obvious that a triathlete will have very different dietary needs to a couch potato but what’s not so obvious are all the much smaller dietary differences that exist between these 2 opposite ends of the scale.

Simply put…

You have to find the right diet for you.

Great…but how to do this?

By figuring out what works for you.

An easy starting point is your ancestry, people from certain regions generally tend to tolerate certain food groups better than others for example:

  • Northern European will probably do better on a diet higher in fish
  • Mexicans, Hispanics, Chinese generally require more folate-rich foods such as leafy greens.
  • Japanese & Continental Europeans do better when consuming diets higher in starch
  • Those of Northern European descent are more likely to be lactose tolerant.

Of course these are very generic guidelines and there’s huge amounts of variation within these populations….take it for what it is a starting point.

If you want to go into more detail, then a genetic test will not only give you in depth ancestry data but can also highlight certain genetic factors which influence what you should be putting on your plate.

Factors such as if you have a MTHFR or an APOE-4 genetic mutation which might mean you want to eat more folate and muscle meat or cut down on saturated fat respectively.

On top of this you can run food sensitivity tests which will tell you which foods to avoid. These are becoming increasingly more accurate over time and while not cheap, adhering to the results and eliminating the recommended foods can shift the dial enormously for many people.

You could also run a detailed gut/microbiome test to see if you have any underlying issues, such as IBS, leaky gut or underlying parasites.

This test will also go a long way to identifying the specific bacteria (good or bad) present in your gut which can help us identify which foods to include to encourage the good bacteria to thrive whilst starving out the ones we don’t want.

All this might sound like a lot of work and to be fair it is, however once you dial in the unique diet that works for you, high performance becomes child’s play. Mysterious, often apparently incurable conditions simply disappear, aches and pains vanish, sleep dials in, learning improves and you have all the energy you need to rip it up like a boss every time you hit the water!

Check out out kitesurfing case study, “How You Can Massively Improve Your Kitesurfing, Even If There’s No Wind.”

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Kitesurf Injury Prevention Workout – Phase 1

The most important element of fitness for us as kitesurfers is to have a body that will not get injured. This also provides a foundation for us to later build the specific kitesurf strength and fitness we will need.

Below is the basic routine I use for myself and all my clients to build a body made of iron!

Building Lean Muscle

This phase is designed to prepare you for strength building…why do we need strength as kitesurfers? Well the idea here is to prevent injury, we are NOT trying to build strength for strength’s sake, instead everything we will be doing over the next few weeks has a distinct purpose – To stop us getting injured down the line.

Recommended time in this phase: 6 – 12 weeks.
Less time needed for those in fairly good shape, more for those of a frailer disposition.

Workout frequency: 3 times a week Monday, Wednesday, Friday – alternating sets A & B

Set A

  • Dead Lift – Start at 3 sets of 8 reps – Goal: 3 sets of 20 reps.
  • Curl & Press – Start at 3 sets of 5 reps – Goal: 3 sets of 12 reps.
  • Progression Push Ups (wall, knee, standard raised foot) – Start at 3 sets of 6 reps – Goal: 3 sets of 12 reps.

Set B

  • Air Squat – Start at 3 sets of 10 reps – Goal: 3 sets of 20 reps.
  • Split Squats (regular with weights) – Start at 3 sets of 8 reps – Goal: 3 sets of 15 reps.
  • Overhead Squat – Start at 3 sets of 8 reps – Goal: 3 sets of 12 reps.

Once the goal state is reached in any exercise raise the weight.

Weights Used

I love kettle bells…simply because they’re easy and versatile and recommend you use them for these exercises, dumbbells can be used I would recommend the fixed weight types as you’ll be moving them fast and don’t want bits flying off the ends!

Women

  • Less than 140 pounds: 4 kg & 8 kg
  • More than 140 pounds: 6 kg & 8 kg
  • Athletic of any size: 6 kg & 12 kg

Men

  • Less than 180 pounds: 6 kg & 12 kg
  • More than 180 pounds: 8 kg & 16 kg
  • Athletic of any size: 12 kg & 20 kg