Depending on the conditions, I can be unhooked in-flight and have found my right forearm will get sore after an hour or two. Switching my front hand grip on the boom from overhand to underhand helps a lot. But thought about doing exercises for my grip. Local fitness club does not have anything for grip strengthening, so bought a flexor grip strengthener (top, Captain of Crush #1, I added leather covers) and what I found from reading the manual is that it is important to also strengthen the extensor muscles in the hand using a rubber band (bottom). When I started using the rubber band to do extensor exercises (bottom), after the flexor exercises (top), I could feel a little pain in my right forearm. So the hand extensor muscles were out of balance with the flexor muscles and that was part of my problem. The CoC #1 is designed for low reps, 3 x 10, they make another line for high reps called Zenith with smooth contoured handles, but the manual said low reps at high strain are better for building strength than high reps at low strain, so the Zenith are designed for warming up for the CoC, I am not that into it so sticking with the CoC but may use a tennis ball or something to warm first as recommended.

And you need to use the right CoC (top pic), the #1 seems about right for me and was recommended by the IronMind categories for the different CoC's based on my hand usage (sports). And I just want a gripper to keep my forearms in shape when not out on the water, not looking to go Popeye! But the hand extensions were key, I have only been doing 2 x 5 flexor reps per hand with the #1 CoC followed by 1 x 10 extensors reps and after the second day the lingering pain in my right forearm has gone away! Now IronMind sells extensor bands, but I save the blue rubber bands used to hold broccoli heads together, and that is what I use for the extensors, a single band works good for me, but could double up at some point if needed.

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DavidJohn said..

Thanks DavidJohn, lots on Amazon some in all metal with autostart, will think about it, the CoC grip trainer mimics what I do windfoiling, but the gyro ball looks fun.

captains of crush #1 aint for the faint hearted. Well done Sand

me with hair

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thedoor said..
captains of crush #1 aint for the faint hearted. Well done Sand

me with hair

Yeah, good intro., thanks thedoor! like the squeeze ball, and been thinking about the gyro trainer, saw some nice all metal ones on Amazon. I actually tore both side ligaments, middle knuckle, on a ring finger last year during a crash, 3 months later feeling pretty good but likely happened due to weak finger muscles.

Found a squeeze ball the right size and softness for me, 6" diameter ball from Walmart $5.

Not to hi jack thread, but along the lines of "grip".
Anyone ever use a tacky "grip spray" on the boom that wont eat the foam ?. When my hands and boom are dry, It's harder to hold on. If either are wet I'm fine. But I'm now goog enough where I dont crash too often and my hands and boom are dry most of the time. For now, I reach down and wipe my hands on any wet surface to regain grip.

Thanks
Matt

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WsurfAustin said..
Not to hi jack thread, but along the lines of "grip".
Anyone ever use a tacky "grip spray" on the boom that wont eat the foam ?. When my hands and boom are dry, It's harder to hold on. If either are wet I'm fine. But I'm now goog enough where I dont crash too often and my hands and boom are dry most of the time. For now, I reach down and wipe my hands on any wet surface to regain grip.

Thanks
Matt

Anything tacky will not be kind to your wet hands. Learned the hard way with some tape residue on a boom a long time ago.

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WsurfAustin said..
Not to hi jack thread, but along the lines of "grip".
Anyone ever use a tacky "grip spray" on the boom that wont eat the foam ?. When my hands and boom are dry, It's harder to hold on. If either are wet I'm fine. But I'm now goog enough where I dont crash too often and my hands and boom are dry most of the time. For now, I reach down and wipe my hands on any wet surface to regain grip.

Thanks
Matt

WsurfAustin, Why not post it as a standalone question, will get more responses.

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Sandman1221 said..

thedoor said..
captains of crush #1 aint for the faint hearted. Well done Sand

me with hair

Yeah, good intro., thanks thedoor! like the squeeze ball, and been thinking about the gyro trainer, saw some nice all metal ones on Amazon. I actually tore both side ligaments, middle knuckle, on a ring finger last year during a crash, 3 months later feeling pretty good but likely happened due to weak finger muscles.

Found a squeeze ball the right size and softness for me, 6" diameter ball from Walmart $5.

The last issue I had was with my right hand, there was a minor reoccurring spasm below the pinkie in the palm of my hand, there was a tender spot that I massaged but it did not go away. After using the squeeze ball several times it stopped and has not returned, was really digging my fingers into the ball.

Got the ball because of thedoor's video, so big thanks to thedoor, it was a minor spasm but irritating all the same.

Pull and chin ups, trains the grip and shoulders at the same time. Doorframe bars are cheap.

I usually start off my season with easy short sessions, around 1.5 hours if the wind holds.
After about 15 sessions, I can go over 2 hours, but never exceed 3.
Hook in more often early in the season, you can go for it more when you're tuned in later.
We average about 140 days a year.

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Grantmac said..
Pull and chin ups, trains the grip and shoulders at the same time. Doorframe bars are cheap.

Got it Grantmac, thanks.

For years I have used a rowing machine (cheap hydraulic home version) and free weight exercises to increase forearm strength.

But to my surprise I found that stand up paddling is much more effective for me. Maybe because I would normally do SUP paddling for at least 45 mins with moderate stress on the forearms whereas my rowing machine and free weight exercises have shorter durations with higher intensity.

Whether it's SUP paddling or something else, for me it seems that longer sessions with low intensity endurance type training has the best effect on building forearm strength (endurance) for longer sailing sessions.

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Watatait said..
For years I have used a rowing machine (cheap hydraulic home version) and free weight exercises to increase forearm strength.

But to my surprise I found that stand up paddling is much more effective for me. Maybe because I would normally do SUP paddling for at least 45 mins with moderate stress on the forearms whereas my rowing machine and free weight exercises have shorter durations with higher intensity.

Whether it's SUP paddling or something else, for me it seems that longer sessions with low intensity endurance type training has the best effect on building forearm strength (endurance) for longer sailing sessions.

Interesting Watatait, thanks for that info., I do kayak for long sessions and swim too, stay away from SUPing because it can affect the lower back due to the rotation of the spine/disks. But with all that exercise can still get a sore forearm. Thinking of getting a grip trainer that would allow for higher reps, like 30-50, versus the 5 that I do on the CoC #1.

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Watatait said..
For years I have used a rowing machine (cheap hydraulic home version) and free weight exercises to increase forearm strength.

But to my surprise I found that stand up paddling is much more effective for me. Maybe because I would normally do SUP paddling for at least 45 mins with moderate stress on the forearms whereas my rowing machine and free weight exercises have shorter durations with higher intensity.

Whether it's SUP paddling or something else, for me it seems that longer sessions with low intensity endurance type training has the best effect on building forearm strength (endurance) for longer sailing sessions.

Its a good point about specificity of training. I think a combo of high tension low rep training and something more endurance based is probably the way to go.

Hi,
Personally, I would get a set of resistance bands. A broom stick, bar etc same diameter as boom, with bands connected to a fixed point, u can pretty much as much resistance as you want, if u want more,stand on half a balance ball. About as close as u can get.

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TinktheStink said..
Hi,
Personally, I would get a set of resistance bands. A broom stick, bar etc same diameter as boom, with bands connected to a fixed point, u can pretty much as much resistance as you want, if u want more,stand on half a balance ball. About as close as u can get.

I was doing exercises at the gym on a bar that connected to a cable, height of cable position could be adjusted, put the whole stack on it 150 lbs and then would lean out just like windsurfing (but no harness lines of course) holding onto the bar that was positioned at boom height, Did not have a forearm problem when I was doing those regularly, will have to go back to doing them, basically what you described TinktheStink, thanks.

What ? No masturbation jokes ???

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Richiefish said..
What ? No masturbation jokes ???

Okay, I'll start. What's the difference between pink and purple ???...............................The grip!....

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Richiefish said..

Richiefish said..
What ? No masturbation jokes ???

Okay, I'll start. What's the difference between pink and purple ???...............................The grip!....

Thanks for the laugh Richiefish!