Italian Clinic Day Two

By Doug

A little delayed in posting this due to a detour of broken ribs, the Split Worlds, traveling back home and then getting caught up ...

On the second day of our clinic in Italy before the Worlds, Mark Bethwaite and I talked about something that very few sailors do - stretch before and after sailing. I put my routine here, and the following pictures are how a top Great Grand Master does his. If you prefer, Pam was also taking a video that you can see at the bottom. We took these on Roberto and Christine's balcony overlooking Lake Garda... such a beautiful home!

And here's the same routine with the video that Pam took:

Sailor Down!

by Pam 

'Sailor down! Sailor down!" And about 10 or 15 minutes later, he was dead. 

Dear, dear, lovable, wonderous, full of surprises, Peter Stephinson. You know, the foiling Laser guy a/k/a the Australian GGM Laser National Champion a/k/a the guy who fell out of his boat and finished a race at the Kingston Laser Master Worlds while simultaneously driving and hanging onto the stern.

Well, Peter decided he would race in both the Radial and Standard fleets this year at the Laser Master Worlds in Mexico. But, things didn't go as planned. He finished the practice race and ... well, that was the end of his World's competition. 

So here's what happened ... and by the way, Peter is very much alive, having died for a few minutes but the Powers That Be sent him back. Having been born again on Mexican soil, he is now considered a Mexican citizen and says he'll be applying for his Mexican passport soon.

We talked with Peter, I mean Pedro, today who was still feeling a bit weak but he wanted everyone to know he was okay and, more importantly, he wants to share what happened. He's an inventor, researcher and explorer at heart and he learned a lesson he wants everyone to know about.

First of all, he didn't have a history of heart problems but a brother and some good mates who had heart problems motivated him to see a heart specialist for a full workup and he was pronounced healthy. He's fit and if you've ever been around Peter, he's always cracking jokes and laughing and has the best attitude and just goes with the flow. Not a candidate for a heart attack ... and yet.

Practice race for the Radial Masters in Mexico and he finished the race and had a dull ache in the center of his chest, said it felt like his chest had been bruised. He wasn't pleased with his performance in the race and decided he'd better get in some more practice so he headed back upwind by himself. His plan was to just go to the top mark and then reach back to the club at a better angle. By the time he got to the top mark, the wind had picked up to 20+ knots but the pain was gone. He headed back to the club and lined up in the queue for take out but had started to feel badly again and knew something was wrong. He decided to relax and stay calm and wait patiently.

A female sailor in front of him noticed he didn't look too hot and offered to let him go ahead of her. Being the gentleman that he is, he insisted she go first. The sailor asked multiple times but he kept insisting on waiting his turn. Finally, he got his boat on the trolly and he simply couldn't get it out of the water and told the young fellow helping at the ramp that he was going to have to pull his trolly all the way up to the boat yard, where he had a prime position right next to the club. When they reached his destination, he was feeling fairly weak and just laid down on the ground. One of the American gals close to him jokingly called out "sailor down" which got the attention of Andy, the local organizer. Bless his heart, Andy took the comment seriously. Peter inquired about an ambulance but it was out on a call so he told Peter they would have to walk a couple of blocks to the emergency clinic. They got about 100 yards and Peter could go no further. Andy got a taxi and Peter jumped in, still in his wet sailing gear except for his life jacket and off they went.

At the clinic, they got his shirt off and got all the wires hooked up on him and then they started tugging at his boots and getting his hiking pants off. As the pants came off, remember they have a bit of compression to them, Peter told the doctor he was feeling tingling in his hands. The doctor told him he wasn't surprised since he was currently having a heart attack. And Peter lost consciousness and remembers nothing more. He flat lined and was dead for three and a half minutes. They had to use the paddles on him a couple of times but they got him back, he had surgery to put in a stent and was put on a ventilator and into a medically induced coma for 24 hours.  Pedro woke up in the hospital, no clothes, no wallet, no iPhone or access to his contacts. 

Pedro most certainly would not be here today if not for Andy and being in the emergency clinic the moment he had his heart attack. In hindsight, and this is what he wants everyone to know, he calculated that he had about an hour and a half warning before having a heart attack. The dull pain in the center of his chest was the early warning sign. Something he shouldn’t have ignored. Instead of going upwind by himself in an increasing breeze, he should have called for immediate assistance and gotten to a hospital straight away. The hiking pants, he theorizes, provided compression which gave him a little extra time to get to help because the moment they came off, things went south immediately.

Pedro was in good spirits when we talked this evening and his family is with him. Well actually, they were at the mid-week festivities at the club and his fantastic travel insurance is void if he leaves the hospital for the night so he called us instead. Once he gets clearance to travel, although he would like to stay for a while in Mexico and enjoy his new home country, he was overruled and will be skipping this Worlds and heading back to Australia ... most definitely a winner!

Looking good Pedro

Update: Robert Scheidt with Pedro just before heading back home to Sydney.

My Quest for Fitness

By Doug

Someone once told me that Lasers were never designed for people over 35, but he was clearly wrong. So, how long can we competitively sail a Laser if we stay fit and avoid injuries? And what what kind of exercises would be needed? And who would know ... 
 

By Peter Seidenberg

I am 78 now, going on 79 in November, and I still sail the Laser competitively and with some success, albeit preferring the smaller Radial rig because it is more suitable to my weight of 160 pounds. The Radial is also becoming more and more popular with ever increasing fleet sizes for meaningful competition at regattas. Admittedly, the Radial is a bit easier to handle, already on shore with stepping the mast and, of course, on the water with having more control over the boat on windy downwind legs. Upwind, however, the Radial still requires full-out hiking, just like the Standard, only that ones efforts result in less healing, and therefore in better upwind speed and more sailing enjoyment.

Of course, to sail the Laser competitively requires fitness, and the higher the fitness level – the better the sailing results. This simple formula is my incentive to work on my fitness. As we all know, without an incentive, good fitness intentions generally evaporate.

Since the fitness requirement for our sport is multifaceted, I gear my work on my fitness accordingly, doing various exercises generally for one hour every morning in my basement gym. I rotate some of the exercises to allow my muscles and joints to recover. My versatile workout station helps me to do a variety of exercises. They consist of:

• 5-minute stationary bike rides for warm-up,
• 15-minute yoga stretches for flexibility,
• sit-ups on my hiking bench for core strength,
• bench presses for shoulder strength,
• reverse sit-ups for lower back strength,
• lateral pull-downs for shoulder strength,
• leg-raises for knee and quadriceps muscle strength,
• butterfly pulls for shoulder strength,
• wall-sits for knee and hip strength, and
• arm curls for bicep strength.

Aside from my morning exercises, I attend a yoga class once a week throughout the year and ride my mountain bike in the summer twice or three times a week. While doing all these exercises, however, I am mindful of the saying that everything should be done in moderation. I pace myself to avoid injury and set-backs as a result.

Whenever possible, however, I sail my Laser, since I believe in the saying that nothing beats time in the boat. On weekends in the summer I go to as many regattas as I can, and there are plenty of them along the New England east coast. I also take part in Tuesday nights practice sailing in the Newport area whenever it is on the agenda.

I am really lucky and happy that my sport and passion gives me the incentive to work on my fitness, and I intend to continue for as long as I can.


Update: Peter's training worked again - he won the 2016 Master Worlds in the Legends category (75+). 

The Big Reveal - Poland Syndrome

by Pam

Fasten your seatbelts because I'm going to reveal Doug's biggest, deepest, darkest secret … he has Poland Syndrome. Dave (from Houston) go ahead and hit the delete key unless you've always wondered why Doug's shirts fit funny, why he's been walking with a limp for several years, and why he's faster on one tack than the other.

Poland Syndrome (PS) is a rare birth defect with varying degrees of severity and didn't even have a name until 1962 (when Doug was 12). This blog post does a great job of explaining it and showing pictures which are very similar to Doug. Doug has a mild case in that he is only missing his entire left pectoral muscle (sternal and clavicular head), has a smaller and weaker left arm and has mildly limited left arm rotation. Think about that for a second … how many things do you do when sailing that requires the use of your pectoral muscle? Pulling in the main, pulling on and releasing every sail control, steering, getting on the centerboard to right a capsized boat, launching a dolly, stepping the mast, loading and unloading a boat from a trailer. It's a fairly comprehensive list.

Having PS has meant that Doug has a lifetime of experience in accepting that he is physically incapable of doing some things in the same way as others and must therefore think outside the box and look for ways to adapt and overcome. Since Doug is a two time Laser Masters' World Champion and the only US sailor to have ever won both a Master and Grand Master World Championship, I'd say that he's adapted and overcome quite well. Hopefully, that statement will come off as encouraging to those with this condition and not as bragging.

I'm writing about this for a few reasons. First, and foremost, I’m seeking input for a specific issue from anyone in the medical field or with personal experience with this condition. Secondly, it's to provide a means of reaching out and connecting with others with this condition who, like Doug, have only recently learned the name of what they have and why they are different.

From my research, it appears that most people hide this condition and have never been officially diagnosed. Throughout Doug's lifetime, until several years ago, most doctors have simply looked at his chest and said 'well how about that' completely stumped as to what they were seeing. Doug learned the name of this when I started doing research and then he confirmed it with his doctor when he had his left rotator cuff issue a couple of years ago.

Three notable athletes with this syndrome, two of which, have the rarer left pectoral muscle missing as opposed to the more common right, are: 1) French boxing, Olympic silver and bronze medalist, Jérôme Thomas; 2) Spanish Formula 1, two-time World Champion, Fernando Alonso; and 3) American golfer, PGA Tour winner, Bryce Molder. I've seen pictures on the Internet of Jérôme and Fernando without their shirts and it appears they have some muscle tissue (clavicular head) which Doug does not have.

I first learned about this shortly after meeting Doug when he was trying to encourage me in sailing. I'm fairly petite and was convinced that I was not strong enough to sail a Laser (I'd only tried a full rig) so he challenged me to an arm wrestling match with my strongest left arm. With a small effort, I beat him and was convinced he let me win only to learn that he had not. That's just how weak his left arm is. So, for all those sailors over the years who have come to his aid when they noticed him struggling to step a mast in a breeze, lift a boat onto a trailer, drag his dolly out of the water after a windy series, get back on the docks after falling in the water, or right a capsized boat … he genuinely needed and appreciated the helping hand.

After Hyères, and watching Doug struggle in those conditions … and after he had lost 30 pounds a few years ago when doing the food combining I had suggested ... and after he has been unable to put any weight back on for years now, I felt compelled to take matters into my own hands. Armed with the knowledge from one college weight lifting class, my trusty book, "Strong Women Stay Young" and my nifty Internet research skills, I've taken on the task of becoming his personal trainer. After all, very few doctors or trainers know anything about PS and its limitations, so why not jump in and see what I can do.

This is where I need input (ideas, personal experience, anatomy knowledge, etc.). My goal is to add about 10 to 15 pounds of muscle primarily to Doug's upper body in time for the Worlds in Canada in June 2015 (don't laugh). Because he has always been lopsided, he has avoided doing any upper body exercises except for arm strength because he didn't want to emphasize the lopsidedness. So, my task is to figure out which muscles are there and build the heck out of them and, so far, they're building pretty fast since he's never worked them before.

I started with measurements of everything and an evaluation of physical movement. Doug is 64 years old and never knew he had limited rotation of his left arm until I had him go through the motions (without weights) of two lifts using proper form. Sure enough, the left side has restricted movement. I'm not going to post pictures of Doug without his shirt but this image is very similar to what Doug looks like with his arm raised. I'm most concerned about that stringy tendon looking thing that connects his arm to his body. That part is exactly like what Doug has.

In two weeks, using only two slow lifting exercises targeted for his shoulders and back with 10 and 15 pound weights, we've improved his posture, added 1 inch to his chest measurement and 3 inches to his shoulder/chest circumference measurement. Clearly, building muscle isn't going to be a problem despite his age but doing it slowly and without injury is going to be the challenge.

Ideas anyone?

Rotator Cuffs

By Doug

With only one exception, every time I've injured myself sailing has been when I've skipped my stretching routine, so I do this religiously. For me's it's cheap insurance. 

I discovered the one injury exception when I had trouble with one stretch - the one where I bend over, grab my hands behind my back, and then try to lift them over my head. It's a yoga move I've done for 20 years and this one time there was a sharp pain in my left shoulder. An MRI showed a partial tear in my rotator cuff. 

The strange thing about this injury is that you may not feel it at the time but it's very painful later. I had a pretty good idea of how I tore it. Rounding a bottom mark in a breeze, I'd pull on the vang and cunningham by leaning back as hard as I could and I'm sure I just pulled it out of the socket.

I've heard from fellow Laser sailors who have had surgery to repair the tear and without exception they have all talked about the pain and the long recovery time. Sailing a Laser in a breeze has a lot to do with pain management, so when a world-class Laser sailor talks about pain, it must hurt.

I was scheduled for surgery at the end of 2013 but cancelled it with the hope that there was a better solution. Sure enough, Pam found a series of exercises that looked promising.

The first step was using ice initially and the second was heat and massage to increase the blood circulation. For this, I used an industrial-strength vibrator every day for months. The next step was really basic exercises that were trivial compared to regular sailing, so I did not bother. But there was another reason - my shoulder no longer hurt.

A word of caution: I'm not a doctor, I only had a partial tear, and this is what has worked for me. I share this with you because I avoided the pain and lengthy recovery time of surgery and was able to sail in a breeze at Hyères without incident. Here are the other steps I use to protect my shoulders.

• I've increased the purchase on my cunningham to 10:1 so that it's much easier get it tight.
• When I pull on a control, I pull with my arm muscles flexed and not just by leaning back.
• A exercise I did for years was tricep dips. These are apparently really hard on my rotator cuffs, so I don't do them any more.

No More Back Pain

by Pam

Pass the ibuprofen please!

Regardless of age or the boat sailed, alot sailors have back problems of some sort. Many a Laser sailor has had to take a break from or part ways with their Laser because of their back.

Doug has been sailing a Laser since 1977 (37 years) and he doesn't complain of back problems. He is an exception. He eats right, exercises, doesn't carry extra weight and always stretches before sailing.

I rarely eat right, genetics blessed me with a fast metabolism such that I could eat whatever I wanted and not gain weight (until age 50) and if exercise didn't come in the form of fun and games, I wanted no part of it. Starting in my 20s I had minor back problems that I ignored. In my 30s I had back problems that I medicated and in my 40s I had back surgery. In my 50s, I pay attention to anything and everything that might make a difference as I now know that all of my problems were 100% predictable and preventable.

This is worth paying attention to: 

If someone is currently experiencing back problems, give this 30 day challenge a try and let me know if it works:

Am I Too Old For This?

by Pam

A friend recently asked me if I thought that she might be too old for sailing? It’s a recurring theme I’ve seen lately. A recent post by Broadly Reaching wondered if the Laser was still for him. Tillerman recently pronounced that he’s come full circle and traveling to regattas has lost its appeal. The post contained a comment with a copy of a recent rant on the Sailing Anarchy forum of a sailor who was tired of the entire ‘Regatta Rat Race.’

If you sail long enough, at some point, maybe several, you will likely ask yourself if you’re too old for this boat, this wind, the traveling, the regatta routine, or, worse, sailing altogether. If you’re asking the question, then the short answer is, YES, you’re too old for it. After all, you wouldn’t be asking the question if you didn’t already feel too old for it. I live with a man who is a daily reminder that asking if you’re too old for something is the wrong question.

The real question is do you want to feel too old for it? Because really, it’s a slippery slope. If you give in, before long you have a long list of things you’re too old for and life becomes boring, your body goes to hell and your mind to mush. Nobody, and I mean nobody wants to feel too old for something, unless, of course, it’s a stupid, self destructive something.

It is an undisputed fact that the weather conditions at the back of the fleet are far worse than the weather conditions at the front. It’s hotter, colder, windier, choppier, shiftier, wetter, dryer, calmer and it’s no where near as much fun. The statistics must show that the largest percentage of sailors that leave a particular class or the sport of sailing come from the back or middle of the fleet and not the front. Doug always says that being fit makes sailing a lot easier and a lot more enjoyable. I mean, really, who enjoys a good ass-kicking?

Well Doug is off traveling for various regattas. I’m at home in the hot Texas summer and the lawn had to be mowed. We cancelled our mowers last year and got a reel mower because Doug wanted the workout to keep him fit for sailing. A reel mower has no motor and is the old fashioned push mower. It’s a strength and cardio workout all in one and you have to have a little momentum to even get it to cut. We have a big corner lot with slopes. I’ve watched Doug run back and forth mowing the lawn. Heck, I’ve even talked with him on the phone while he’s mowed the entire lawn. How hard can it be, right? Well, I spent the entire day alternating between pushing that dang mower, laying in the grass panting like a dog and crawling into the house to get into the air conditioning. If it doesn’t kill me first, I know it will be good for me but if he ever tries to take away my electric weed-eater/edger, I’m calling a lawyer.

Doug is a little over a decade older than me in years. After today, I’d guess he’s at least two decades younger than me in health and fitness. I don’t think I’ve ever heard Doug ask if he’s too old for sailing. I, on the other hand … am going to have to mow that damn lawn once or twice more before Doug gets back. I might be too old to be a homeowner, but I’m definitely not too old for sailing. And if that man keeps traveling and I keep mowing, you probably won't ever hear me asking if I'm too old for something again. I bet he planned this.

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.

Lasers for Longevity

by Pam

I've reached the age where I'm receiving newsletters and advertisements for retirement, long term health care and life insurance. A recent newsletter contained a statistic that stopped me in my tracks:

70% of the US population will need some kind of chronic illness care by the time they are 65 years old.

Holy crap!  70% By 65!  So, obviously I'm asking myself if Doug and I are going to be in the 30% or 70%?

You'd think that by sailing a Laser, we'd have a really decent shot at being in the 30%. After all, it's like owning your own personal gym. A day of racing is like doing a strength, endurance and flexibility workout all at the same time. But on top of that, you get this amazing cerebral workout as well. The Laser is even better than having a personal trainer because it can reward and thrill you about a workout in a way that no trainer could but it will also punish and motivate you for not staying in shape. How could being a Laser sailor not land you in the 30%?

Doug is US Sailing's Area F Coordinator for the Singlehanded Championship. And since Doug enjoys paperwork as much as he enjoys watching sailing from shore with a blindfold on, this organizational task has fallen to me. So, I started doing some research to find out what kind of Laser activity we have in Area F. Area F is the largest sailing area in the US and encompasses all or part of 4 Laser Districts. Participation, although up from the last few years, it is way down from earlier years and way down from its potential. I wonder why?

Laser sailing is such excellent insurance for living a long and healthy life. Why are the numbers going down? Why is the obesity rate in the US increasing? Why are so many sailors switching to bigger, less active boats, and why, every year, do these sailors look bigger and less healthy than they were the year before? If you only gain 3 pounds a year, in 5 years you will be 15 pounds overweight. Why choose a lifestyle (and boat) that will likely land you in the 70%? I don't get it.

The change in Laser sailing activity among the Masters in Laser District 15 sort of loosely looks a little like the 70% / 30% thing going on with health in the US. If you look at the number of Laser Masters who are still actively sailing and compare it to the same group's participation numbers of 10 years ago, the shocking 70% by 65 statistic starts to look uncomfortably realistic. The real kicker is that it may very well be your choice on whether you land in the 70% or 30%. Chronic illness care or Laser sailing? Hmmm.

Unfortunately, there are those Laser sailors that find themselves in the 70%. Did they not sail enough? Was it just plain old genetics? Do they feel cheated? Or are they grateful for the memories? Doug recently talked with an old Laser sailing friend in his 80s who is suffering from Alzheimer's. He remembered Doug when they spoke and told him he'd been out sailing his Laser the weekend before. He hadn't. While I'm sure the experience is not much fun for his wife, at least, in his mind, the guy is still enjoying sailing. Even if he doesn't cheat the nursing home, in his mind, he may still die on his Laser. That can't be all bad.

Never Give Up

by Pam

This video went viral in May.  I'm not sure if it has hit the sailing world but it's worth watching and deciding if it will help your sailing fitness.  DDP Yoga ... it ain't your mama's yoga.

An Ounce of Prevention

by Pam

It’s day 2 of a windy regatta series, the alarm goes off in the morning, you reach over to turn it off and your body talks to you.  In your younger days, it’s an awareness that you had a really good workout the day before.  But as you get older, the previous day’s effect feels more like a punishment.  You realize that you aren’t young any more and you begin to wonder how many more years you can keep this up.  You decide to get in better shape for next time or maybe you start to accept that age might be catching up with you.

Since my late 30s, I’ve been waking up on day 2 feeling like the older sailor.  Doug, however, at 61, wakes up feeling like the younger sailor. So, what’s the difference?  No question, he has good genes as his parents are still alive and his father has outlived my mother by 30 years and counting.  But, I’m not exactly in bad shape, so why do I wake up feeling older than him and he wakes up feeling much younger than me?

Back some 20 years ago, Doug began doing one very simple thing just before hitting the water and he does it with religious consistency - he stretches.  He’s noted over the years that virtually no one else does this.  It hardly seems like this could make the difference but it does give new meaning to phrase 'an ounce of prevention.’

In his 30s and 40s Doug had a stiff back and pulled muscles like everyone else and he was actually told in his 20s that he needed back surgery (which he never had).  His stretching routine takes less than 5 minutes and the only time Doug feels his age has been on the rare occasion  when he didn't stretch.  He calls it cheap insurance.

So, do you want to feel older or younger when you wake up?  The difference may very well be 5 minutes.

Make Your Own Hiking Bench

Laser World Champion Nick Thompson

Designed by Doug Peckover
Diagram prepared by Brad Moulton
Permissions of use given to the Laser Training Center, Cabarete

Lots more hiking stuff can be read here.