Weight Training & Skydiving

[two40 0]

hi all

i'm a newb and need some advice please.

5 years ago i began my AFF and stopped 5 jumps in. there was 3 things that contributed to me giving up. 1 was i running out of money, 2 was a death at my dz on the weekend of my planned 6th jump and 3 was my 5th jump. i don't know if i was having a bad day or what but i found out that manouvering in freefall took a fair bit of strength which i don't have much of. it might have been my perception but there is obviously lots of resistance up there in freefall right?

i'm fairly weak and skinny at 130 odd pounds. i forget my height but i'm around 166 from memory. anyway, i'm really keen to get back in to it and i don't want to feel limited in regards to my strength.

what kind of weight training, which muscle groups, are of most benifit so i can concentrate on developing them?

cheers

[recovercrachead 0]

90% mental, 10% physical. Do normal training but work on your stomack and legs. Do this for a couple of months, u will THINK your stronger and you will be a better skydiver.

Track high, Pull LOW!!!

[leapdog 0]

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90% mental, 10% physical. Do normal training but work on your stomack and legs. Do this for a couple of months, u will THINK your stronger and you will be a better skydiver.

I agree with the percentages. In free fall try to be relaxed and don't fight the wind even someone who is very strong can get worn out.

The advice I have for working out is. I work out my arms doing pull ups and abs doing crunches.

Gunnery Sergeant of Marines
"I would like it if I were challenged mentally at my job and not feel like I'm mentally challenged." - Co-worker

[Akey 0]

It is the little things that help out in putting on muscle, and i agree that it can be done thorugh own body weight excercise. I'm not sure exactly what would be needed for skydiving (if any really, although i'm not the best person to ask on this) but as a good strength work out, try this:

Everyday, spend 20 mins doing the following you can build your way up to this), like do half or 1/4 of this and add 5 more every week)

3X50 chinnies=hands behind head so shoulders stick out, legs flat on floor, do a 'sit-up' so right elbow touches left knee (which is also brought up. thus body bends in the middle) before doing the same for left elbow and left knee.

3X50 pressups (again, to be worked up to, could start at 3x10 or something)

3X50 Squats (again can be started at 3X20 or something)

3X (some comfortable figure) pull ups if you have a bar could also be done, (but not after pressups).. Just remember that clasping the bar with hands over the bar or under it works different muscle groups so do both.


You can also spend some time down the gym etc if you want to put on larger muscle, but Allen Wells (olympic sprinter) won golds just doing this regime, and he looks pretty big!

I don't work out for skydiving, i do it for rugby, but if i didn't play rugby, i still would, more than anything just to avoid injury if i were to have a hard landing/opening, although i'm not sure if it would be nessessary.

Edit: Oh and be sure to go for regular (3-4 x per week) 20min+ running, cycling etc. so as not to put strain on your heart.

Work it into your lifestyle ,wake up 20 min early, do a body weight regime, go for a 25 min run in the evening for example, or even alternate between days. 30 min decent excersise a day is really good going.

[icevideot 0]

The air we fly in behaves like a fluid but we are only deflecting the fluid and not swimming in it. Very little "strength" is needed if you learn to relax and work with the flow. Of course as someone else points out, if you get very tense and try to keep your body extremely rigid you will get exhausted. You will also feel unstable because the relative wind is not smooth. If you relax then your feet and hands will move around slightly in the wind but your body remains stable. If you are rigid this motion translates to your core and you will feel like you are buffeting and are powerless to stop it. This is why so many new jumpers report being more stable after their student jumps are behind them than during AFF. We cannot force the air to do anything but we can direct it.

That being said, being active and healthy will make you feel more in control of all aspects of your life. Some of the best flyers I know really enjoy yoga. Anyone who doesn't think yoga is a means to condition the body should try it.

"... this ain't a Nerf world."

[riggerrob 558]

i don't know if i was having a bad day or what but i found out that manouvering in freefall took a fair bit of strength which i don't have much of. it might have been my perception but there is obviously lots of resistance up there in freefall right?

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Funny, I have never noticed much resistance in freefall. High speed air feels more like water to me .. but water that only presses on one side of my body.
If you feel weak and believe that some sort of strengthening program will help improve your skydiving, you are probably right.

Any general conditioning program will improve your skydiving. The type of program is less important than the question of how many times per week you exercise.
For example - after herniating a disc in my spine - I lay around the first winter, feeling sorry for myself. I was not nearly strong enough to skydive that summer.

The second winter, I swam laps (20 or 30 minutes) three times per week and did a bit of cross-country skiing. Swimming was a great way to rebuild core (torso) muscles without jarring my fragile disc. Swimming also lifted my morale tremendously!

The third winter, I attended aerobic dance classes three times a week and got back into good enough shape to get back to skydiving on a regular basis.

Another poster touched on the notion of aerobic exercise (i.e. walking, dancing, running, bicycling, etc.). Aerobic exercise helps with endurance, but more important, it helps maintain a clear head in the thin air at exit altitude (10,000 to 14,000 feet). To quote a former member of the Canadian National 8-way Team: "Lots of smokers start team try-outs, but few are accepted because they usually brain-lock on the second or third point."
That is because smoking deprives the brain of valuable oxygen, similar to the oxygen deprivation caused by weak lungs.

[billvon 2,434]

>manouvering in freefall took a fair bit of strength . . .

At your level, it really doesn't. Flexibility is a LOT more important than strength, even in competitive 4-way. Stretching is going to give you a much more visible improvement than weight training. Weight training may help when it comes to adding weight to your shoulders; this will help with your fall rate.

[MagicGuy 0]

two40, I'm 5'8 130 pounds, so I am a small guy as well. I think what your problem is, as someone else pointed out, is that you are not relaxed. It may feel like you are, but I thought I was relaxed, and couldn't figure out why I couldn't stop potato chipping. Turns out I was just tensed up.

Getting some tunnel time will really help you out. I know it has been a huge help for me. Jumping with a coach that you are comfortable with might help you out, too.

I haven't run into any strength issues at my size, so hopefully it's just a matter of relaxing for you.

Good luck!

[two40 0]

thanks for your replies. my impression before even going for a jump was that strength shouldn't be that imparative to the sport so i was surprised at the time. i guess i might have been too rigid and with good reason, i was falling towards the earth very fast.

i will report how i go after a few jumps. hopefully it is just a matter of getting comfortable up there.

[icevideot 0]

I know... there you are minding your own business and out of nowhere....someone threw a planet at you!!!

Interesting thing about relaxing. You can't force yourself to do it. You have to redirect that energy somewhere else. Thinking about your breathing helps most people. So next time just relax and breathe and I am sure your instructors can get you through this. Remember this is fun and don't psych yourself out. You will be fine.

"... this ain't a Nerf world."

[kallend 1,648]

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thanks for your replies. my impression before even going for a jump was that strength shouldn't be that imparative to the sport so i was surprised at the time. i guess i might have been too rigid and with good reason, i was falling towards the earth very fast.

i will report how i go after a few jumps. hopefully it is just a matter of getting comfortable up there.

I think cardiovascular condition is more relevant than strength.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[stayhigh 2]

when you fly you don't really need muscle strength, but if you wanna play with front and if you have big canopy you might need some strength to pull it down..

Bernie Sanders for President 2016

[icevideot 0]

lol, plenty of time for that stuff later.

"... this ain't a Nerf world."

[Scoop 0]

Perhaps spending some time (maybe 10 mins) in a wind tunnel will help you feel more comfortable in freefall. Its a good safe environement for you to practice basic stability, control and movement. For me, going in a wind tunnel and learning to just relax and arch was like someone switching on the light, the next time I was in the air for real I felt so much more comfortable with it all.

Addressing the question, I don't find the exercises strenuous, I agree might be your tense and fighting with yourself rather than the air.

Good luck and let us know how you get on!

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[two40 0]

wind tunnel sounds like a great idea but i'm not sure if there are any in Sydney. i'll ask around the DZ.

[UDSkyJunkie 0]

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i'm fairly weak and skinny at 130 odd pounds. i forget my height but i'm around 166 from memory. anyway, i'm really keen to get back in to it and i don't want to feel limited in regards to my strength.

When I started jumping, I was 125, 5'7" (about 170), so almost exactly your size, and not particularly strong. Strength was never a problem. Flexibility, being relaxed in freefall, and adaptation to the unfamiliar environment get you a lot further.

When you've got 5 jumps, jumping is exhausting on all levels. I remember my frist jump... I was wired for an hour or two, and then I crashed as if I'd come off a cocaine high! By the end of the day I could hardly move or think. Today, I can bust out 8 dives and be ready to go do 8 more. This has more to do with a relative lack of anxiety, smaller adrenaline spike, familiarity with the environment, ect than strength.

That being said... I've been going to the gym for 2 years, I've I'm now very strong for my small size. I'm a 4-way guy, and the added strength has helped me noticably on exits and during prep work (creeping, at the mock-up, tunnel flying...).

It would be almost impossible to pick out muscle groups that have had the most benefit. The better all-around shape you're in, the easier it will be.

"Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

[two40 0]

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When you've got 5 jumps, jumping is exhausting on all levels. I remember my frist jump... I was wired for an hour or two, and then I crashed as if I'd come off a cocaine high! By the end of the day I could hardly move or think.

i recall my first jump vividly. i was so wired i went back up for a second jump asap. for the next few days i was buzzing but the surprising thing was i was hurting real bad. i mean every single muscle and to be honest it felt like my bones were hurting. i was a walking wreck. have to admit i was really out of shape at the time.

[UDSkyJunkie 0]

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i recall my first jump vividly. i was so wired i went back up for a second jump asap. for the next few days i was buzzing but the surprising thing was i was hurting real bad. i mean every single muscle and to be honest it felt like my bones were hurting. i was a walking wreck. have to admit i was really out of shape at the time.

I promise it will get better, even if you're still out of shape. The amount of anxiety and adrenaline in your body is so high during your first dozen jumps that it just takes everything out of you. By the time you've got 50 jumps you'll look back at this and laugh.

When I had about 150 jumps I did my first 4-way meet. Up at like 6:00 am, 6 jumps in one day, creeping, dirt dive, mockup, trying to wrap my mind around the dive pool, pressure to perform, emotional ups and downs... by the end of that day I felt about like I did the day of my first jump. But imagine how much more actual energy went into that day!

The best thing you can do for yourself is to increase your endurance... running, cycling, midget-tossing, whatever. Things like yoga are good too... flexibility will reduce a lot of your end of the day aches, and mental calmness will vastly reduce the exhaustion.

good luck to you!

"Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

[two40 0]

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Things like yoga are good too... flexibility will reduce a lot of your end of the day aches, and mental calmness will vastly reduce the exhaustion.

good luck to you!

funny you mention that but this morning i borrowed a yoga dvd and had my first session. that stuff is pretty hard. it highlights how unflexible a person can be.

thanks for your words, it's encouraging.