Skydiving for health and fitness?

[UKFSChick 0]

I've been asked to do a write-up for an article for the non-skydiving media on the possible benefits of skydiving as a health and fitness pursuit.

I know from experience that at a certain level skydiving can really help work your upper body, and a high degree of flexibility and stamina is required.

Does anyone have any links/ hard facts and /or anecdotal evidence (that I could possibly even quote if you don't mind?) on how skydiving has been of benefit in these areas?

Personally I think that any physical pursuit is much, much easier to stick to (and see the benefits of) when you really love it - like skydiving :) And it's less boring than the gym.

Thoughts and comments greatly appreciated- or PM me if you'd rather.

Cheers,
Emma

[tdog 0]

My coach after Christmas suggested I slim down a bit... This caused me to hire a personal trainer and go to the gym 3X a week. So, skydiving is the end goal, not the tool for this... It went something like this: "Look, you are 6'3 with long arms an legs. You have the surface area of a world champion - you just need to trim down." At 205 pounds, I am not even that big - but Craig Girard is a toothpick next to me...

I know that holding rears for a few minutes on a long spot works out my upper body.

I know flying a hour a day in the tunnel works my core strength - I feel it all over, not in one muscle group.

I know flying works out balance and reaction times.

That is me...

[riggerrob 562]

Doing 8 tandems per day helps strengthen arm muscles.

[Dougiefresh 0]

Skydiving is the best thing I've ever done for my mental health. There's no pill or potion or drug made that can make me feel the way I do after a day of jumping.

And 4-way combat is definitely an all-over workout. I'll bet being an instructor tires you out pretty well, too. Muscling people into place while fighting a 120 mph wind is not easy.

Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. --Douglas Adams

[MrBounce 0]

I'd say that skydiving is the reason to be fit. Its the reson that I've started going back to gym and am trying to lose weight. I'm 6'4" and 215lbs so I fall like a brick. Oh and losing weight will make my landings a lot easier on me too
In the meantime I'm training in order to be able to get the most out of an hour in the windtunnel and training camps without feeling like I've been worked over by 3 bikers with baseball bats.

Gavin

Gavin

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. If you don't take it out and use it, its going to rust.

[simplyputsi 0]

I can tell you I work out 5 days a week and am never sore. When I spend a day or two jumping and PACKING i'm sore as can be. I keep telling myself that I'm just gonna pack my parachute to stay in shape.
It's new and isn't the easiest thing to handle, I'm sure after some break in I won't find it as much of a work out.

Skymama's #2 stalker -

[altichick 1]

y'know when I look around the average DZ... I'm not seeing athletes in their prime ... course, I blame the beer at the end of the day
Mental health benefits - hell yeah - see how happy we are when the weather's good

I agree with the poster who said skydiving is a good reason to be fit... but in terms of getting you fit... I don't think you can compare it to 'real' exercise!

edited to add

Don't sweat the petty things... and don't pet the sweaty things!

[Dolph 0]

I gather you'd have to look for the hardcore jumpers. To get something out of exercise, it needs to be regular and frequent.

No question that doing say 10-14 jumps a day is physically and mentall exhausting. If you only do it once a month, I doubt it does much for your overall fitness.

Mental health is a whole other dimension. I think skydiving does a lot of good there.

[Orange1 0]

Like some of the posters above, I have started to exercise to get fit for jumping. Heck, I even stopped smoking

The tandem masters on our DZ look in pretty good shape.

Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

[ZigZagMarquis 8]

Well... I'd say its pretty safe to say you cannot skydive yourself fit... but as a mental health benifit, I'd agree with that and if it motivates you to exercise elsewise, that's good... but at the same time... I've probably done a lot more 12oz curles at the end of the day at the DZ then I would have otherwise...

[Hawkins121 0]

I have had anxiety problems and skydiving has helped with them quite a bit. After jumping there is no tension left in my shoulders and i feel great.

[HydroGuy 0]

Other than packing, I don't think skydiving has much to do with physical fitness. Being in shape, flexible etc will make you a better skydiver, but skydiving itself isn't going to do much for you (unless you land out far away every jump and jog back).

Get in - Get off - Get away....repeat as neccessary

[kelpdiver 2]

Quote

No question that doing say 10-14 jumps a day is physically and mentall exhausting. If you only do it once a month, I doubt it does much for your overall fitness.

I think those guys are too busy jumping to bother with silly things like eating. And they're probably out of money to do so anyway! (Also, only one of the DZs around the bay area has real food options within walking distance)

Skydiving is pretty much anaerobic activity, and very short lived. No one weight lifts for 10 minutes a day to get fit. Packing adds, but probably more for someone like me who takes 20-30 minutes instead of 10-15.

[timbarrett 0]

Emma,
I consulted my S.O. who is in the fitness business. After the initially simplistic response that it is a sport you need to be fit for but isn't going to make you fit, she came up with the following more thorough analysis; it makes sense to argue the following (in terms of the language of the fitness industry)...

1) Core stability. Arguably skydiving, especially tunnel training, requires the optimal combination of stability with mobility. Think of the work required of the abdominal and back muscles to maintain level control while yet maintaining the stability of the body core. That core body work is conducted a) against constant and significant resistance and b) has to be within the controllable range of motion - one of the key elements, for example, of Pilates

2) Propreoceptive (please check spelling) skills. This relates to awareness of where the parts of your body are. These are elements/goals of, for example, Pilates, Alexander Technique and yoga. You can't fly well if you are unaware of the position of you non-visible limbs, the straightness of your spine, etc.

3) Kinesthetic awareness. Linked to 2) this is awareness of how your body parts and alignment move throughout the activity. Maintaining core stability and body alignment while engaging in any activity is enhanced by the awareness developed by skydiving.

4) Stabilizer muscles. All the micro level adjustments in body position mean that a huge range of smaller muscle groups are worked by skydiving. For example if you pump iron in the gym you can surely trash your trapezius muscles but will you also give as good a work out to the other smaller muscles around the neck?..not judging by how mine felt after Saturday night in the tunnel anyway!

5) You can't pick up any fitness publication without reading about Mind-Body linkage as a key element/goal. Learning how to move your body; our brain's awareness of that movement is a capability that we lose if we don't use it - and as we get older. In other words, Skydiving keeps you young!

6) Stress manangement. Mentioned by some of the other posters in this, this is clearly a key element in most fitness activity. We all know how the word "Door" can wipe out all other petty concerns in your life!

Anyway..hope this helps. PM me if you need any of these points expanded by my "consultant".
Tim
P.S. I had a great time in the tunnel

"Work hard, play hard and don't whinge"

[Travman 6]

I use skydiving as a personal motivator to keep myself at a high level of fitness.

[bob.dino 0]

Ditto. Except the 'high level' bit .

[DanglesOZQld 0]

Never been to the gym and have not altered in weight more than plus or minus 8 kilograms in around 20 years.

I think that skydiving definitely helps (have been doing it professionally for the last five years and in general since '93). Moreso I think your health depends on what you do as far as general activity and what you eat. My diet basically sucks but if I was overweight would not eat except for one meal a day - totally wrong in all respects. I hear all these people complaining about feeling hungry after a few hours and wonder how.

Marriage as well as single life have taught me a lot of different things. Certainly when single and not having the wish to cook something I could go without anything of a night easily.

I busted my femur in September last year by the way and still have not gained more than 5 kilos even though most of the day consists of going mental inside the walls of the place I currently reside in.

Go figure...........

-Dangles. BSBD!!!

"A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

[skykittykat 0]

Skydiving is an outside sport and induces adrenaline, hence boosts endorphins which makes people happy. Mentally, skydiving is a fantastic sport.

As for the "working out" aspect, the tunnel would have more benefits.

Flying in the tunnel for any lenght of time works the arms, shoulders, lower back and upper back muscles. It can also give a pretty good cardio workout - if you do fast rw flying with 2 mins in and 2 mins out for an hour - a total of 1/2 hour total body workout. Put in some hand tag and that is worth 2 hours in the gym - not only are you flying your body, but you are having fun, which, to go back to the endorphin thing...

I hope that all makes sense.

I apologise for not being eloquent, so if you need clarification, please PM!!!!

Liz

[twibbles 0]

I think i must be the only one here using skydiving as a motivation to gain weight. I'm a skinny bastard, 5'7 and 120ish pounds, so i've learnt to dive really well. I can't gain weight unless i exercise and a body fat ratio of something ridicuously small. Trying to gain some weight so i can lose the weight belt some of the time and some strength so i can shoot 60 shots out a 40lb bow without killing my arm.

Eugene




.

"In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of
people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."

[dontbounce 0]

I did my first tandem a week ago. I was right at the limit (229.999 LBS). I am not a lardass, just a strapping lad with a few "soft spots". Since then, I quit smoking, and I am going 10 miles per day on the treadmill. In the last 7 days, I have lost 7 pounds (223.6 this morning). I want to try to get down to about 190 (gaunt for my frame).

Before I tried crack (i mean skydiving) I smoked a pack and a half a day, and couldnt even get out of bed without getting winded. Since then, I am on a 900 calorie/day diet, I can run 3 miles non stop, and I quit smoking. I guess the real question here is, which came first, the chicken or the egg?

I never imagined that I could even go 10 miles on a treadmill. Since I have set my mind to skydiving, I have pushed myself beyond the limits of my endurance, and the entire time, all I could think of was getting back there, and being in free fall.



The adreneline rush of having death rush at me at 120mph was just what I needed to break me out of my cycle. I spent the next few days pondering my experience, and I think now that it was the best thing that ever happened to me.

You probably dont need to be overly fit to do this, but I think that since my body and my mind are the only things keeping me alive, I treat them a lot better now.

[somebodynew 0]

I think that no article would be complete without the very important aspect of emotional/spiritual health benefits of the sport of skydiving being mentioned. I have only done 2 tandems but I plan to begin AFF training in the spring. I have a very stressful job and I cannot express the incredible impact those 2 jumps had on me - and my job performance - and how much I'm looking forward to learning this discipline.

I used to cry, now I hold my head up high..
and you see me, somebody new...

[NoRules 0]

I think everyone's made great points about the mental health benefits. Skydiving is one of the few sports that is a full day event. While you're obviously not jumping the whole day, you're definitely not sitting in front of your couch watching tv and munching on food. While skydiving doesn't directly make you more healthy, it puts you in an environment where cell phones and email and couches and tv's don't fit... and I think that helps a lot.

~ * Life Has No Rules * ~

[Skykat108 0]

Well.. for people who work at DZ's it's definately a work out.

I started working at my DZ last april... since then I have lost 50 lbs.

Running around doing manifest, and catching tandems makes ya lose weight!

[micro 0]

Quote

I did my first tandem a week ago. I was right at the limit (229.999 LBS). I am not a lardass, just a strapping lad with a few "soft spots". Since then, I quit smoking, and I am going 10 miles per day on the treadmill. In the last 7 days, I have lost 7 pounds (223.6 this morning). I want to try to get down to about 190 (gaunt for my frame).

Before I tried crack (i mean skydiving) I smoked a pack and a half a day, and couldnt even get out of bed without getting winded. Since then, I am on a 900 calorie/day diet, I can run 3 miles non stop, and I quit smoking. I guess the real question here is, which came first, the chicken or the egg?

I never imagined that I could even go 10 miles on a treadmill. Since I have set my mind to skydiving, I have pushed myself beyond the limits of my endurance, and the entire time, all I could think of was getting back there, and being in free fall.



The adreneline rush of having death rush at me at 120mph was just what I needed to break me out of my cycle. I spent the next few days pondering my experience, and I think now that it was the best thing that ever happened to me.

You probably dont need to be overly fit to do this, but I think that since my body and my mind are the only things keeping me alive, I treat them a lot better now.

I just wanted to say congratulations! Keep up the good work!

That's very inspiring!

I miss Lee.
And JP.
And Chris. And...

[bob.dino 0]

That's damn good going. Keep it up

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