The Water People Workout: Part 1

 Fresh off of Water People 2019 in Puerto Rico, the Water People Team has collaborated to bring you the Water People Workout. Each one of the team members, Alex Llinas, Jeff Briley, Aaron Vitali and Julie Briley, ND have their own expertise and wealth of experiences they draw from in creating this fitness program. Workouts like this are the basis for how they stay fit on and off the water throughout the season.  

Add this workout to your fitness program and join us February 22-27, 2020 in Rincon, Puerto Rico to put your energy to good use paddlesurfing, freedive breath and safety training, flatwater stand up paddleboarding, learning about nutrition, daily yoga and so much more. 

Breathing Yourself Up To Perform: Let Your Diaphragm Do the Work w/ Alex Llinas @saltyfreediver

Breathing up is an important technique used in freediving to prepare your body for the physical demands of holding your breath. Utilizing your diaphragm allows your body to streamline the process of providing oxygen to your blood for your body to metabolize. It also reduces your heart rate and relaxes your muscles. Breathing up actually has benefits across most physical activities, the more oxygen (aka fuel) we can deliver to our body this way, the better the performance will be during any physical activity/training.  During the Water People experience we’ll challenge ourselves to hold our breath for up to 3 minutes but here are some skills you can use at home to give yourself an advantage on the breathing front. 

In through the nose, out through the mouth.  Since you don’t often wear dive masks while working out, we’ll be able to use our noses to bring air into our lungs to fuel our muscles.  Not only is it the most efficient and natural way to breath but breathing in through your nose has multiple benefits. A couple of which are air temperature regulation and nitric oxide production, the important gas responsible for vasoregulation that can lead to increased perfusion of oxygen in the blood.

Before you jump right into the Water People Workout, breath up with us. Take a large breath in through your nose. Without puffing up your chest, allow the diaphragm to manage your breath. If you need extra help keeping your chest still, try placing one of your hands on your chest and the other on your belly. As you inhale allow the air to go deeper into your lungs by keeping your chest hand from rising and letting your belly hand blow up like a balloon. At the top of your breath, let the air out through your mouth with a whistling sound created through a small space you make between the bottom of your upper teeth and your bottom lip. This will slow the exhale and restrict the airflow a bit. Make sure that you ARE NOT forcibly exhaling, but rather letting the air escape your lungs while creating resistance either with your lips or your tongue.  Make each exhale last 10 seconds and each inhale last 2 seconds. 

Please remember, this is not hyperventilation, so if you feel lightheaded at any time, return to your regular breathing pattern immediately. 
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Water People Yoga Warmup w/ Aaron Vitali @aaronvitali

Downward Facing Dog - This one is a yoga staple. Aim for full extension through the spine focusing and solid grounding through the feet and hands. You should feel this one throughout the calves, hamstrings, and shoulders. For a deeper stretch, press through the hands, focusing on the scapulas (shoulder blades).



Upward Facing Dog or Cobra- This is a powerful lower lumber stretch. Make sure to ground yourself with your hands lengthen through the length of the spine, focusing on dropping shoulders away from your head and pinching the scapulas together. Warms up the spine and gets the blood flowing!



Extended Side Angle Pose - This is a great hip opener as well as a shoulder warm up. One forearm against the bent knee will help open the hips while the other arm is lengthening the side and the intercostal muscles and shoulder.



Yogi Squat - Sitting in this for a few minutes breathing deeply will open your hips like nothing else. It is important to maintain a straight spine. Hands in a position of gratitude will allow your elbows to push open your knees as needed for a deeper stretch. This is good for ligaments around knees to open and stretch allowing for good blood flow.

Check out "The Water People Workout: Part 2" next week for fitness training movements from Cascadia SUP Head Coach and Sea.E.O. Jeff Briley and recovery nutrition insight from naturopathic doctor, Julie Briley!

Join the Water People Team February 22-27th, 2020 for the next Water People experience in the Rincon, Puerto Rico. Daily yoga sessions, flatwater SUP, paddlesurfing, freediving breath and safety training and in-depth nutrition sessions are the core of this experience where fun, culture, food, an epic luxury villa and awesome people are just the bonuses.  Book your spot by placing your deposit before June 1st, 2019 to take advantage of “Early Bird” pricing. To learn more head to https://www.cascadiasup.com/water-people.html