Power Kite Forum

kiting - good for the body?

bassboi - 28-3-2010 at 01:29 AM

i am wondering... what kinds of physical gain you get from kiting. i hear some of you talking about how when you fly at certain times, ya'll arms are wrecked after 10 minutes sometimes of static flying

nocando - 28-3-2010 at 04:01 AM

is very good for all round gains, shoulders arms, abs, butt, legs

and flying is fun

Kamikuza - 28-3-2010 at 04:23 AM

Good for your body? Not really :lol: ask AJ especially!
Good for health? Well it's a workout ... but I consider it a bonus to a regular workout.

rocfighter - 28-3-2010 at 04:42 AM

I certainly would never attend a gym to work out. But I would fly a power kite every day if the weather would cooperate. And as Nocando says it is a work out. I flew yesterday in almost no wind with a PL C-quad4.3 and I feel it today.
THANKS BBREX :singing:

bobalooie57 - 28-3-2010 at 05:32 AM

Hey roc, congrats on the C-quad score! You've probably got some of the last ones being used! I got a great workout yesterday with my 7M NPW9, Rasta's Fury, in 8-10, some gusts in the 15 range, mostly static, wind direction wasn't quite right for much buggying. I'm hoping it's doing more good than damage, it's hard to tell, I get pretty sore sometimes, but heck, I'm gettin old, too! Going to the horse track at Maple Ridge in Lowville today, wind is supposed to be 20-25 from the S, so I ought to get screaming on the close turn with the 2M Beamer. :lol:

BigMikesKites - 28-3-2010 at 06:23 AM

I used to wear a body bugg (counts calories burned) and I can tell you this. Walking 3 miles burns about 330 calories.

Flying a Power Kite on handles for an hour (about the same time) burns over 500 calories. It increases slightly for larger kites. Decreases slightly for DePower kites.

Hardrock - 28-3-2010 at 06:52 AM

I'll do some reading on that bodybugg, looks interesting form what I just researched.

WELDNGOD - 28-3-2010 at 07:15 AM

great ,until ya wipe on a landboard at 40 mph.:crazy:

AD72 - 28-3-2010 at 08:50 AM

I have found it helps stretch out the back and makes me stand up straighter. The traction kite actually puts the back in traction.
It is good for the body as long as bad OBEs are not involved.

Hardrock - 28-3-2010 at 11:25 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by rocfighter
I flew yesterday in almost no wind with a PL C-quad4.3 and I feel it today.
THANKS BBREX :singing:


I'm feeling it also all across the upper back.

clintopher - 28-3-2010 at 02:21 PM

I've kiteboarded with lower back pain at the begging of the session and pain free by the end of the session. Of course, if you bust your tail all bets are off. LOL.

rocfighter - 28-3-2010 at 05:37 PM

I think the only way I would wipe out on a board at 50 would be because I forgot I didn't know how to board!!!!:lol:

imjimbo - 28-3-2010 at 06:33 PM

12 mths ago i was near 100 kg. i have not changed my diet at all except i cut 99% of the grog out only to have the occasional social 1-2 now instead of the nightly 6-10. i used to hurt after every kiting session and could only do it 1 -2 times a week or it would wreck me.

now i weigh in around 78 kgs lost 2 pant sizes and kite when ever the wind lets me ( i even take a kite in the truck for the lunch static fly). so about 5 - 10 times a week at a min of about an hour (except the lunch sessions) .. before i copuld only buggie for an hour now i usually run out of daylight and want to keep going...

cutting the grog has allowed me to spend big on kites and equiptment (the new s2 sysmic arrives soon) i feel heaps better the missus is attracted to me again ive lost the gut gained energy . this is not just due to the grog its both no grog and flying heaps ... flying gives me a great cardio work out and does wonders toning the muscles....

bassboi - 28-3-2010 at 07:57 PM

Yeah that's mostly what I was getting at -- Using kiting as a workout. I didn't want to start explaining one of the main reason why I want to kite, other than it being so damned fun.

I was born with an extra vertebrae in my lower back - which causes masses amounts of pain in certain things I do. I was told my my ex girlfriends' mother that if I were to work out my back muscles, the pain would probably gradually disappear. We'll see - UPS just scanned my Twister II for loading on the truck. I'm so excited, I can barely contain myself, as well as control myself from buying a stunt kite. I think I'm already addicted to the wind without even having a power kite!

Last year, I was flying a tarp. Yeah. A big 25' x 20' piece of plastic with ropes attached to it. That was a blast, scudding on my butt from my driveway to the other side of my yard. Rather dangerous, but it was awesome.

I hope to do more with this :)

rocfighter - 29-3-2010 at 04:12 AM

WOW your lucky you didn't end up talking to a lion, tinman, and scarecrow in OZ !!!!

BeamerBob - 29-3-2010 at 07:16 AM

I've lost and kept off about 25 lbs since I started kiting. I had a thread way back about "buggy abs" too. Kiting has reshaped my body for the better.

Jaymz - 29-3-2010 at 07:57 PM

Been flying depower hooked in for the past 6 months, so I decide it's time to go back to where I started...the NPW5 4.8 on handles.
What a great workout static flying and then with the buggy in semisoft sand. Drenched in sweat and wiped out after an hour....and it was cold (40). Still feeling it in the shoulders.
Legs got a workout too doing the 1.5 mile walk of shame back to the car after the wind changed from W to SW. lol.
I find it hard to believe the NPW5 has upwind ability. I'll wait for Susans video and learn from the master.
Sure beats the gym. :thumbup:

shaggs2riches - 29-3-2010 at 08:50 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by BeamerBob
I've lost and kept off about 25 lbs since I started kiting. I had a thread way back about "buggy abs" too. Kiting has reshaped my body for the better.


Yeah I was amazed how much my abs ached two days later after my first buggy ride last weekend. Actually my everything hurt :smilegrin:
If there were an actual consistant level of wind, I bet I would have lost 30lbs since I started kiting last fall. (prays to the wind gods)

Drewculous - 30-3-2010 at 07:07 AM

i'll vouch for kiting keeping the weight off!! for sure... during the summer when i fly daily, my arms and shoulders bulk/tone up, and my gut trims down.... its only bad for ya when you are doing something you shouldnt anyway :thumbup:

flash - 30-3-2010 at 07:08 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by imjimbo
....
cutting the grog has allowed me to spend big on kites and equiptment (the new s2 sysmic arrives soon) i feel heaps better the missus is attracted to me again ive lost the gut gained energy . this is not just due to the grog its both no grog and flying heaps ... flying gives me a great cardio work out and does wonders toning the muscles....


So what you are saying is kiting makes you fit, makes you attractive to the opposite sex, AND it's fun!?!? man.. be careful telling other guys that, otherwise everyone will want to fly, and us girls are going to be even fewer! :) lol

Nah, I totally agree flying is a full body workout, especially if it is a mix of static and depower. After three days in a row of flying, some of it a 5m beamer in no wind (read I worked it to keep it up) and totaling up probably 10 hours on the field, i feel more spent physically then I have ever after working out in a gym. I was one of those that prescribed to the work on this muscle group and that while at the gym, well kiting kinda takes everything and works it all at the same time. A much better, and more natural way to get in your workout. Not only cardio (esp if you are landboarding or chasing kites ha ha) but weight lifting, stretching, (mmhmmm!) and general muscle use. Man... I hate saying that this is one of the benefits to kiting, the fact that it is one hell of a ride is enough for me!

If all of us saying that it is a workout isn't enough, just flip through some photos of kiteboarders (us snowkiters/land folks like to be clothed while going fast) Most of those guys don't do much else but kite.

Alright, back to the field to get some time in on the new kite before hitting NABX!!!

nocando - 1-4-2010 at 04:23 PM

Hows all those dummies out there in the big wide world, who spend heaps on diets and gym membership.

And us lot, all we do is buy another kite, and get fitter still.

Flying:thumbup:

Houston AirHead - 1-4-2010 at 07:33 PM

to really get the most out of a long static session,

drink your whey protine,

get a good whey isolate, i recommend ON 100% whey double choco.

low calorie / high protine/ and bcaa content

makes you ripped.

Knolee - 2-4-2010 at 10:21 AM

Its good for the soul

bassboi - 2-4-2010 at 10:35 AM

well, i think i have concluded my own question. this is definately a whole body work out, even more than i thought!

i'm still sore 2 days after taking the twister out for it's maiden flight. my abdominal muscles were burning on the walk back to my friends house, then my legs felt like jello the next day. today, my legs are still sore, however, i've been stretching alot, and I think I'm going to have to stretch more before I fly again.

Today is entirely too windy of a day to even attempt to fly... 20mph winds gusting to 30mph. I'll be gone, probably end up a few towns over, heh.

nocando - 2-4-2010 at 11:32 PM

bassboi sounds like you should give up static flying a rest and try a bug.

nocando - 3-4-2010 at 06:23 PM

had a good buggy session yesterday, good aches today arms shoulders legs abs

Waiting for wind :spin:

windpoacher - 17-4-2010 at 10:26 PM

:wee: YES, GOOD FOR THE BODY! :crazy: :crazy: MOST OF THE TIME:bigok:

nocando - 18-4-2010 at 04:29 AM

Sir I beg to differ , mayhap you come have session static or in the bug, then we will see

:wee:

Bladerunner - 18-4-2010 at 07:15 AM

People suggest that because I kite and I ride a bike to work then walk and climb ladders all day I am in some kind of good shape !

NOT !!!!!!! :rolleyes:

I only ride about 12 bocks and I'm lucky if I kite twice in a week. I rarely ever get my heart rate up for any prolonged period and my lungs are shot from smoking.

Flying works certian muscles but I'm not sure it makes you an athlete ????


I think my greatest reward from kiting has been emotional !
I turned to it at a time of depression and it was just the " pill " ! The whole world goes away in the middle of the perfect session !
I think I have met some of the nicest people in my whole life in this sport as well. :singing: