Often ranked among the ten most challenging waves in the world, the renowned Fiji wave 'Cloudbreak' boasts fast, barreling lefts over a shallow reef. It’s one of those breaks you truly just have to see to believe. I always dreamed to ride this wave and in 2019 on my 30th birthday I booked myself a last minute trip to Fiji to chase a swell with Camille Juban (you can read the full story here).
A few days before traveling, I had injured my back landing jumps. It was not the best timing feeling my lumbar discs aching as I embarked on a 30 hour flight journey that will be followed by countless hours of very technical light wind windsurfing. So I came up with a routine that I religiously executed twice a day. This routine got me through one of the most intense weeks of my life! I created this sequence of targeted movements to prepare myself for the unique challenge of windsurfing Cloudbreak. It is now one of my go-to's for myself and the athletes I train.
The Fiji Routine works great as a "morning loosen up", an evening cool down, an after traveling "get rid of the stiffness" or an "I sat for too long now my back hurts" session. Based on a combination of stretches and spine movements, this routine will help you to believe in your body's ability to heal itself when you give it some love!
This routine for me makes the difference between still being fresh and feeling good in my body when sailing a few days in a row in intense places like Pozo or limping my way to the beach groaning that X body part hurts and that I'm destroyed ^^ such a good body reset when you do it at least once a day, it's 20 minutes well spent!