How we Stay Fit While Living on a Boat

One thing that is a constant struggle while living and traveling on a boat is how to stay fit! We try our very best to do some sort of workout everyday. However, when we are traveling to new places everyday it is hard to ensure that we will make landfall before it gets dark and if we do will there be a safe appropriate place to work out. Here are a few ways we stay active while living a crazy lifestyle:

Gym: When we are home for an extended period of time we will renew our gym memberships at Crossfit Palm Beach. This is a great way to get in the weights that we miss out on while traveling and it also doubles as a hot shower.

Working out at Crossfit Palm Beach

BeachFit Workout Example:

AMRAP (As Many Round As Possible) In 24 minutes 

200 meter ROW

100 meter Over Head plate carry

40 seconds of Side plank on each side

30 seconds Battle rope

20 meter sled push

10 Alt. Side Med Ball tosses

Crossfit Workout Example:

3 X 6 Min AMRAPs (As Many Rounds As Possible )

Buy-In: 400 M Run

2 Strict Ring Pull ups 

4 Burpees

8 Russian Kettle Bell Swings 

*3 Mins Rest Between AMRAPs

We are super lucky that our gym posts their weekly workouts online so when we are running low on creativity we can get ideas from the workouts that are posted.

Boat workouts: If we know we are going to be on the move for the entire day we will try to do a work out on the boat while underway. We throw in a mix of situps, pushups, squats, stationary lunges, and burpees.

Billy completing a boat workout

Example:

1 butterfly situp 1 squat 1 push up 1 burpee

After every round we increase each rep by 1 until we get to 10 reps of each excercise

10 butterfly situps 10 squats 10 push ups 10 burpees

After we reach round number 10 we reverse the order and decrease the reps in each round

9 butterfly situps 9 squats 9 push ups 9 burpees

Until we get back to one rep of each excercise

1 butterfly situp 1 squat 1 push up 1 burpee

When the variety of movements are limited by space and equipment creativity is extremely important to keep the workouts difficult yet still fun.

Paddling in the Bahamas

Paddle: Paddling during our travels is a great way to see hard to get to places and is also a great workout. Paddling is a full body workout and if we pick up the speed we get in some good cardio. If the weather is right while underway we also have a system worked out where one of us drives the boat while the other one paddles next to it. If you do not have a paddleboard I am sure you have a dinghy! Lift up the engine and row to your next location:)

Rowing Workout

Land workouts: When we find a nature trail or nice beach, we use it. We will do some short runs with a mix of body weight exercises. If we happen to be around some beautiful water we will add some swimming after the run.

Box Jumps on Sea Walls

Example:

Run about 400 yards 

30 squats 

10 pushups (Sierra) 20 pushups (Billy)

Swim 400 yards 

20 lunges 

Repeat for 5 rounds 

We have found that setting a time dedicated to working out whether it be in the morning or evening makes putting it off harder. It is also important to utilize what you have and get creative. When we get to a new place we try to look for objects that can enhance our work outs. A big rock can add weight while squatting, a nice ledge can be a great place to do box jumps or stepups, and beautiful blue Bahamian water can double as an endless swimming pool.

I hope this helps give you some ideas on what workouts to do in restricted places. If you have any ideas on other exercises we can do or a way to get in more weights comment below! Thanks:)

Sierra