Everything I Know About Hiking Benches

By Doug

Pam was not pleased with my short response to a recent question about how I use my hiking bench. So, here's everything I know about getting in shape using a hiking bench.

After winning the 1997 Laser Master Worlds, I was training with my friend Martin and felt really strong. I asked him how my form looked and to my surprise he said, "Crappy, you're dragging your butt." I thought, "How can this be? I just ended the longest winning streak in Laser Worlds history and my form is crappy?" Thus began a transformation that has changed the way I sail in a breeze.

Above a certain wind speed (for me about 15 knots), how smart you are and how fast you are become irrelevant. This is because sailing a Laser in a breeze is all about how strong you are. Without this strength, all of the tactics, boatspeed, boat handling, knowing the rules, a great start, and everything else that you work on are wasted.

The vast majority of major events are sailed on the ocean. If you live on the ocean and sail regularly, then you're lucky because sailing is the best way to get in shape. Duh. But it's interesting that many of the top sailors in Sydney still train on hiking benches. If you're like me and live hundreds of miles from the ocean or cannot sail regularly, you need to find another way to get into shape. And the most relevant, efficient way to get into shape is with a hiking bench.

When I was 25 and living in Albury, Australia (try to find that on the map!) I built my first hiking bench. Its design was from well-known books on Laser sailing.

When I moved back to Canada this was the only piece of 'furniture' that I brought back with me. It was fairly easy to use and getting up to 30-40 minutes was not a problem by just hanging:

In 1980, I tore the meniscus in my right knee and had to use crutches until my surgery. It was really painful to do anything... except hike! You see, the hiking form from using this bench was hanging, and this was actually pulling my knee joint apart, so there was no pain.

Fast forward to the 1993 Worlds in New Zealand. The Kiwi's and Nik Burfoot in particular had reinvented hiking, from loose hiking straps to tight, and from the strap on their feet to the strap on their toes. I watched Nik sail and he should have won the Worlds except for a tactical mistake on the last leg of the last race. But this hiking style was such an improvement that it became fashionable to 'hike on your toes' like a Kiwi. This was really hard to do, and there were reports of injuries by people who did not have the strength or technique to really do this properly. I tried it and quickly decided that this was not for me.

Fast forward to 1997 when Martin burst my bubble. I went out and bought some 2" x 6" lumber and started playing with different layouts. The goal was to find a position where my body was flat and my butt didn't drag. After checking the dimensions of a Laser, this is what I came up with:

Looks pretty simple, doesn't it? Well I was in for a big surprise. The first time I used it, I could barely do 30 seconds!! From 40 minutes to 30 seconds? You have got to be kidding!! And if my body was not completely rigid, it would be on the ground. This was difficult!

What I had actually done was recreate the Kiwi's hiking position that is not really about hiking on my toes but rather hiking so that my legs are more connected to the deck of my Laser. So rather than just hang there and let the waves slop me around, I was locked in and connected so that my Laser felt like an extension of my body. It was an awesome feeling of control!

But there was a minor problem - I had to train a whole new set of muscles. Building up from 30 seconds to 1 minute, then 2 minutes, and eventually to 10 minutes took many months. The way I did it was to hike for 10 minutes a day in as many sessions as it took to reach my goal of 10 minutes. And when I finally made it in one session, I felt very fast on the water in a breeze.

So, after this very long preamble, this is how I train on my hiking bench that costs about $20 to build:

• If you look closely, I have not rounded the corners because I want my Laser to feel more comfortable than my training.
• For the same reason, my design has a mainsheet to hang on to but I do not use it.
• And for the same reason, I do not wear hiking pants.
• I start by stretching my hip flexors (see the end of this video). This protects my lower back.
• Doing sit-ups feels very realistic but I do as few and possible because I don't want to wear out my back.
• Instead, I touch alternate shoulders on the ground as many times as possible to simulate punching my Laser though the wave. When I get tired, I sit up to take a rest.
• At no time does my butt touch the ground because my legs are always flexed.
• Loud music helps dull the pain - something like In A Gadda Da Vida.
• I end by stretching my hip flexors again.

2008 Olympic gold medalist Paul Goodison practices on a bench that turns out to have a similar design that can be purchased. Here's how this translates to form on the water:

And here's 2012 Olympic gold medalist Tom Slingsby's similar form:

Notice that neither Paul or Tom are hiking on their toes. I think that the real benefit from the Kiwi's way of hiking was not hiking on your toes but rather having a much tighter strap so that you butt is higher and you're locked into your boat.

So now you know as much about hiking benches as I do.