| Austin's Top 5 Tips for Staying Injury Free |
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- 1. There is nothing like time in the gym. The best way to stay on the water is by exercising off of the water. Lifting weights helps strengthen all the muscles in your body that keep your ligaments from tearing.
- 2. Stretch, stretch, and stretch. My personal favorite way to do this yoga, especially hot yoga, because classes like these force you to stretch for at least an hour at a time. Stretching on your own is also very beneficial right before and right after you ride. Stretching before you ride gets you loosened up and helps the blood start to flow. Stretching afterwards helps your muscles rebuild quicker and prevents cramps.
- 3. Warm up properly. This is especially important during winter. If you jump in the lake cold turkey and start going straight into your tricks, your body is more subject to injury from a fall. Good warm up techniques include: lunges, squats, pushups, kicks, or anything else you can do on the back of a boat. Start stretching and warming up at least 5 min before you ride so you have time for the blood to start flowing.
- 4. Get on a supplement. Wakeboarding is not natural for the body. Compared to something like swimming, it is a hybrid of man's human ability and man's technology. Wakeboarders and wakeskaters endure a lot of extra wear and tear, and therefore it is necessary to make up for it with a lot of extra supplements. Your body is going to need more vitamins and minerals than just from a healthy diet. The best supplement is Monavie. It has a high antioxidant berry found in the Amazon called the acai berry. It is also mixed with glucosamine to help lubricate your joints, which is essential as a watersports enthusiast. Drinking protein after you ride is also important to help rebuild your muscles.
- 5. The final tip to stay injury free is to be smart on the water. If you are trying a new trick and you keep falling really hard, or come repeatedly close to falling really hard, take a break from it. If your brain starts to get ahead of your body, don't be afraid to slow it down and wait a day before you try the trick again.
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| Andrew Adkinson's Tips for Contests |
- 1. Ride a ton of contests, a ton of them. You're not going to do well on your first one and you're probably not going to do well on your 15th one. For every competition I win I ride 15 or 20 of them.
- 2. Have fun with it. It is a little stressful on the starting dock, but once your feet hit the water, just remember its wakeboarding and have fun with it. It's also a great time to get to catch up with your friends that you don't always get to see, so don't take it for granted.
- 3. Take the wins with the losses. You're not going to win them all but you're also not going to lose them all. Don't let the losses get you down, get right back up and keep going for it.
- 4. Learn from each one. Use each contest as a learning experience. If you see that a bunch of your buddies are going out there and landing backside 5's, maybe its an incentive for you to go out and learn it.
- 5. Don't be in my heat. I like my job as a professional wakeboarder, and the easier it is for me to make it to finals, the better. Or, if you do happen to be in my heat I'd really appreciate it if you fell once or twice.
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| Emily Copeland Durham's Tips for Girls |
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- Always remember to have fun.
- Don't be intimidated by other guys or other girls. Everybody had to start somewhere, so don't let people who are better than you intimidate you. Instead, use it as motivation to catch up to them.
- Learn how to fall. Falling is ok, and it's part of the learning experience. Everyone falls, that's ok, it is getting back up and trying it again that is important.
- Don't be scared to get back on the board. Everyone falls down at some point, and some hurt more than others. Get the fear out of your brain and get back up and try it again.
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