2016 PWA Wave Vice World Champion Alex Mussolini has a secret to his success. Motivated by the advent of his thirties, he decided to get serious about his fitness. He shares with us his experience of the benefits of his training regime and how it has helped improve his windsurfing.

I started fitness training two years ago along with my wife when I hit thirty. I go most mornings, training in the gym or sometimes running. Before that when I was younger I never really thought about my body, I just windsurfed for exercise. When I hit thirty it was a milestone age and I felt I needed that extra strength to help fight off injuries. As the years pass by it takes a lot longer to recover from any small injuries. In the past if I fought through a really long double elimination then the next day I could barely move! Now, after two years of training, the next day after a double elimination I feel like I could keep going full power. I have never been the best in single eliminations but very good in doubles, so I’m hoping this extra strength and fitness will help me even more, let’s see!

CROSSFIT
Living in Tenerife, it is not always windy, so now I have my exercise program as a new passion to focus on. I started with running but after a while my knees were suffering from the impact. I was getting a bit of pain. Then my wife told me about CrossFit, which is a type of fitness regime developed by a guy called Greg Glassman. There are many different workouts and they are all based on functional movements, reflecting the best practices of gymnastics, rowing, running and weight lifting. I recently did my first CrossFit competition, which was quite fun and a big change from what we do in windsurfing. All the exercises are in the gym – running, pull ups, ring workouts and muscle-ups. It is not only about weight lifting and getting super strong and heavy. You do a big variety of exercise so your body does not lose flexibility. Within three months the difference was amazing. I could sail much longer and even if I stayed out for hours, the very next day I could keep sailing full power. CrossFit really takes your body to the limit and when you think you are destroyed you keep going! It is a punishment and really helps while I am competing. When I feel my arms are getting very tired, I think ok, in CrossFit class they take me to much further limits, so you can keep going and going!

STRONGER
When I started I was lifting 60 kilos of deadlift from the ground, now I can lift 155 kilos. This big step up took quite a bit of time. You need a person to guide you so as not to start jumping up the weights too fast, otherwise you will get injured. It took me two years to go from 60 to 155, moving up the weights like this you have to be patient and take your time. I do it because I am not always windsurfing these days. I need to keep my body moving now I am getting older and it helps me prevent injuries. One of the exercises I can do with CrossFit is to jump straight up onto a box from standstill; I have done 1.2 metres. That is from straight standing and up like a cat. I am not the best jumper on the PWA, but this helps me to get more lift off out of a small ramp.

SAILING STRENGTH
A lot of the exercises have definitely helped improve my sailing. I have a lot more power and feel a lot more flexible. My style before was a bit soft but now I can do all the tricks I had before but with more strength and power. I have more spray in the turns, throw bigger airs and can jump higher! I don’t seem to get hurt as much also. Since I started I’ve gained six kilos, I used to be 68 kilos and now I vary between 72 and 74! In the gym they check where the weight is coming from and right now I have about 14% body fat, which is ok. I don’t want to be too skinny. Most of the weight I have put on is all muscle. Yesterday I was sailing a 78L board and it felt smaller than it used to, so I think for Sylt I will need to ride a slightly bigger board. Before 78 was a big board, but now I feel I might need an 82L as my big board. In Pozo and high winds I normally use a 70L.

MENTAL SIDE
The CrossFit has also helped me mentally. When I feel really low at an event I think about all my training over the whole winter just for this moment! It helped me a lot last year, in Sylt for sure the extra endurance helped me to take the victory!

There are many workouts that are really tough and I always think that I won’t be able to finish them in time. If I make them in a decent time then I feel really satisfied. I also did a triathlon last year but took it easy as I don’t want to get injured for my windsurfing. I need to save some energy, I am not a machine. I am not sure if it would have made a difference for Köster in Tenerife last year when he got the cramp in the double elimination. His main strength is his power and he lost that. That was in the heat after he beat me! I am not sure exactly why he got that cramp; I don’t know what he eats or how hard he trains. He is young and I don’t think he goes to the gym, like I used to be!

I don’t have any special diet. I like to live my life happy. If I see cake, I want to eat it! I do CrossFit to be happy and do something else other than windsurfing. It helps me stay fitter but I would not call it my second sport! Windsurfing is my number one, two and three sport!

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