All exercises for the feet:
Your feet don't just carry you your whole life. In windsurfing, they are also the link between man and machine - i.e. the board. They take every blow, have to bend in all directions, create a stable connection with a lot of force and yet sensitively load the board for every turn. If your feet are not healthy and hurt, then you are putting the wrong amount of weight on them, which can lead to misalignments in your entire musculoskeletal system. You won't be able to transfer the power generated by your sail to the board and will therefore have a harder time planing and gliding.
The idea of a foot workout was brought to life at last year's surf festival following suggestions from various pros. No foot or ankle can withstand hard landings and extreme twists in the straps in the long term. But even if you don't jump a double air culo, you can do something good for your feet with the following exercises.
Unfortunately, we all wear shoes far too often. Especially when the wetsuit is swapped for a business suit, the feet are constricted - if the shoes are too narrow - and adapt to them in the long term. Kinked, thick toes, as shown in the picture with the left foot, lead to incorrect loads and the resulting problems. These exercises should help you to become a little more aware of your feet and give you the mobility in your ankle joint to avoid ending your next catapult with a torn ligament in your foot.
FIT FOR SURFING is the name of the programme that personal trainer Sascha Lange launched at the end of December. In his programme, he uploads new workouts every week that address the weak points and challenges of windsurfers. Sascha himself has been windsurfing for over 25 years and brings all his coaching expertise to the programme. He knows how to get in shape for the start of the season. And he really takes care of every part of the training programme. In addition to workouts for strength, endurance, foot, mobility, recovery and balance board, the programme even includes guided meditations especially for surfers. The whole thing costs 30 euros a month as standard, but with the promo code SURF15 you get a whopping 15 per cent discount. As you can cancel your subscription on a monthly basis, there's no big risk if you don't like it after all.
You can find the programme at: langepersonaltraining.de/fit-for-surfing
Find trigger points
Use measured pressure to find trigger points between the ball of the foot and the heel. Don't just roll back and forth. Once you have found a point, puncture it with the tennis ball to loosen the adhesions in the fascia. The tennis ball is ideal to start with as it is large and soft. Later on, you can switch to a smaller and harder ball. A golf ball would be my choice as it punctures more precisely. Take the tension out of the foot and imagine that the foot absorbs the tennis ball completely.
With your toes against your hand
Place your hand flat on your toes and press against them with your toes as hard as you can. Use your hand to regulate the pressure. You will also feel the tension in your shins. You will benefit from this exercise if you really cling to your foot straps at high speed.
Swipe from left to right
Sit on a ledge with your feet hanging in the air from your ankles. Place your hands on your knees. Now move your feet like a windscreen wiper - from left to right, but not as quickly. It's all about control and conscious awareness. How mobile are your feet? And at what point does your knee join in the movement? You can feel this through your hands. This is particularly about creating awareness in order to re-establish the connection between your brain and your feet that may have been lost.
Large circles
Place your fingers between your toes, hold your heel in place with your other hand and start circling your feet - just before your heel moves with you. Once anti-clockwise and once clockwise. After long days on the water (and on your feet in general), you will release tension. This is wellness for your feet!
Stretching
Place a tennis ball under your toes and push your knee - as well as your upper body - over your toes. You will immediately feel the stretch under your foot that goes up into your calf. I deliberately chose a tennis ball because it gives a little and can adapt. Stretch not only from your big toe, but also from your little toe. You will probably need a little counter-pressure from your hand, otherwise the tennis ball will slip away.
Mobility Test
Test your own progress as follows: How many toes can touch at the same time with your legs stretched out? Always compare this with your own mobility - at the beginning and in the present. Comparisons with others are not appropriate, as every body is different.
Warm-up
Before you hit the water, warm up your ankles ideally by doing large circles with your upper body in a deep squat position. Keep your feet touching the floor the whole time. This not only warms up your entire ankles, it also improves mobility in your hips - as well as your coordination and sense of balance. If the heels come off the floor in this deep squat, then there is a lack of mobility in the ankle joint. But don't worry, everyone is built differently and has different ranges of motion. Simply choose a wider stance. This will open up your pelvis and allow you to warm up your ankles perfectly.
Hero Pose
Sitting on your heels can be quite uncomfortable. But if you regularly sit in the Hero Pose, you will soon feel how the ligaments adapt and you will become more and more mobile.
Strengthen ankle joints
The ankle ligaments also deserve special attention to ensure that they do justice to both your ability on the water and the conditions. I use a Loop Band from Blackroll - but the exercise is also worth doing if you don't have your resistance band with you. In the first step, tilt your feet as far as possible onto the outer edge of your feet. Then flatten them back onto the floor and rise as high as possible onto your toes. My tip: Repeat these two movements in combination ten times with 20-second breaks before starting the second of three sets.
Ankle Mobility
Take a deep lunge and place a weight on your knee. This helps to mobilise the ankle. Make sure that the knee is pushed straight over the toes in a line. The knee should not tilt inwards. For additional support, use a resistance band and place it directly over the instep. If you now put real tension on the band, it will pull the lower leg bone backwards and give the ankle joint more space. It is important that the heel remains permanently on the floor. If you do this exercise regularly, your ankles will allow tighter jibes and more radical turns because you can actually play more with your body weight.
