GT FIT?

[Ben Thomson]

[Dan Konig]

Good read Ben, thanks for posting.

If you are able to post some guides or recommendations also that would be great.

I'm particularly keen to hear about using core to reduce stress on shoulders - as my shoulders (and wrist, and elbow) are finished from years of muay thai in the past, and sometimes give me grief.

Dan

[Ricky Lim]

Great read Ben. May I ask what you do for a living?

My last trip, I pop for five days with a sore shoulder, funny that my arm was better after. I think I could be a mental issue 
On a serious note, very helpful information to remind us what we should be doing before a big trip.

Ricky

[Ben Thomson]

Glad you like it gents    I'm a strength and conditioning Coach.

[andreas pichler]

hi there great read
can u recommend a couple of good exercises or i training progam to get ,gt fit <
best training would be gt fishing ,but unfortunally i cant do that but wanna go on a trip and dont suffer to hard

[Lars Nielsen]

Ok, if no one else wants to be specific, I will. 


If you want to improve your GT fitness, you might build your workouts around the following exercises. I suggest youtubing each of them until you understand how they are performed right:

Deadlifts:Squats: Equally important in overall strength building. There is some overlap to the deadlift (so do not do these two on the same day) but with more thigh involvement. If your fighting technique is right, you use your legs a lot, so this exercise is indispensable.

Seated rows: Trains your lower back, upper back and biceps. This builds raw pulling power.

Pullovers (machine pullovers or dumbbell pullovers): Builds casting power, upper back and core strength.

Ab crunches: Good abs help stabilizing fight stance. Forget about sit-ups, they mainly train your hip flexors and is generally pretty useless. What you need to build a strong core is different variations of crunches.

Back extensions:
Other tips to improve GT fishing stamina:

YOU NEED CASTING PRACTICE!: If you build a lot of strength with weight training, using that power to explosively cast huge lures will put you in a world of pain: You have the strength to basically rip your joints and ligaments apart. So strength training must be combined with lots of casting training.

Casting style:Fighting style:You do not always have to keep the rod tip up:Use a lumbar support belt:
Pick the right fight belt: Know your limitations:

[Mark Harris]

Very good stuff Lars and well done for taking so much time on that reply.

The only thing I would add to that is some specific forearm exercises.  I think forearms are important when fighting a fish.  Basic wrist curls do the job well and are so easy to do. I sometimes do these whilst watching television! 

Those spring loaded compression things that Badminton players use to strengthen forearms and wrists are also good and very, very easy to use - reps of 30 whilst watching the TV or reading an internet article

[Martin Gundersen]

Good reading here
Thx to Ben and Lars

[Peter Olesen]

Well done, Lars.

Deadlift is KING!

In addition to the casting technique described by Lars, there is a good explanation here by a (long casting) carp fisher:
Carp Fishing - Free Spirit Casting Long Range

The set up is different of course but I think it can be used.

Since you are no longer a "lateral" caster you should be extremely aware of people sneaking behind your back! Dan Wulf mentioned this in a thread not so long ago.

Best regards,
Peter

[Al Morrison]

Excellent write up Ben and great follow up by Lars. I'd like to add that due to other back complications (arthirits) i'm already a chiropractors dream, but have used a cross training machine extensively for a year to get core strength back and improve overall fitness. I've been doing shoulder and back exercises also, but the single piece of kit that has helped most has been the cross trainer and three days of using a WV 80XH with large baits has just proved it worked. Sadly i didnt have the problem of fighting huge fish. I also use a lumbar belt with a low slung gimbal belt off it, mine is Pelagique. I know in an earlier thread about fighting techniques i mentioned a woman called Marsha Bierman, who has caught grander marlin using 80 lb stand up gear. I believe Marsha stands about 5 ft tall and weighs about the same as the fish some of you blokes catch !! Whilst i admit that the gear and fish are different, she is a perfect example of form over force, exactly what Ben describes. Like many anglers here i also have to choose my gear accordingly, and occasinally scale down lures or switch to a big stick bait as it is easier to work. I guess like many sports its the occasional angler who suffers most, due to lack of "match fitness". I now take my heavy gear down to the local river for a casting practice and intend to keep that up as a form of GT fitness training. Thanks guys.