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ittiandro
Joined: 22 Nov 2009
Posts: 294
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 Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2016 3:10 pm Post subject: Waist harness painful on the abdomen |
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I’m sure I ‘m going against windsurfing’s Holy Scriptures, but please bear with me.
I have been windsurfing for quite a few years , always trusting my arms when holding the boom. Never used a harness and I always uphaul. Kind of Flintstone , but I still enjoy windsurfing..
Lately, out of curiosity and just in case winds pick up beyond my arms strength , I finally decided to try a harness, a waist harness to be precise.
It turned out to be such a pain ( not exactly in the neck, much below..) that I went back to shore and threw it back in the car, after which I had a perfect sailing day, with the usual winds I’m accustomed to ( 15-18 knts, perhaps more with gusts).
Leaving aside the first obvious reason, my inexperience with the harness, which catapulted me a few times, even though I read the instructions from a variety of web sites, I think the more serious problem is an anatomical one: I have some belly ( but then my size, 38, is a far cry from being overweight , let alone obese) and when I get back onto the board after falling and begin standing up from the crouched position in order to uphaul, the harness cuts badly into my abdomen, which is not only very uncomfortable, but also kind of painful.
Usually, without the harness, the transition from the crouched position to standing and uphauling is easy, fast and painless, as it should be, but with the harness I feel in a painful straight jacket.
The size of the harness is O.K. : it is more streamlined and less intrusive than others I have tried at the store and the salesman said it is O.K for my size. I think that a much narrower harness, like the waist belt some weight lifters wear, about 5 “ wide, would be better, but I don’t see any around. Sure there must be a reason, but I don’t see a way out, other than going on a diet or continuing without a harness.
I heard that in the past there were also chest harnesses available, which might have been better for me. Any comments or suggestions?
Thanks
Ittiandro |
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swchandler
Joined: 08 Nov 1993
Posts: 10588
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| Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2016 3:35 pm Post subject: |
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| You need to try a seat harness, particularly a more streamlined one which doesn't have much padded material above the waist. No stress at all on the back or abdomen. I've been using them exclusively since they came out in mid to late 80s. Also, if you compare price versus waist harnesses, they're arguably half the price. |
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KGB-NP
Joined: 25 Jul 2001
Posts: 2856
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| Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2016 3:55 pm Post subject: |
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38" waste line and hardly overweight / obese is an oxymoron.
I would think the wide waste harness would spread out the load over a great enough area for this not to be an issue. A narrower harness would only concentrate that load over a smaller area.
Some have moved to an oversized harness that will slip down a bit once you hook in. This prevents that suffocating crushing feeling. I had the similiar experience prior to loosing 30 pounds. (I never thought I was over weight either) |
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cgoudie1
Joined: 10 Apr 2006
Posts: 2599
Location: Killer Sturgeon Cove
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| Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2016 4:27 pm Post subject: Re: Waist harness painful on the abdomen |
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Yep, you should try a seat harness, they are not my favorite, but
Waist harnesses do give people with a belly some discomfort.
You should consider learning to waterstart also. Gives you more TOW,
and uses less energy that uphauling, so you can get even more TOW.
The wind will never pick up beyond your arms strength if you're rigged right,
but you will have vastly longer sailing times and more TOW with harness
use.
.02
-Craig
| ittiandro wrote: | I’m sure I ‘m going against windsurfing’s Holy
Scriptures, but please bear with me.
I have been windsurfing for quite a few years , always trusting my arms when holding the boom. Never used a harness and I always uphaul. Kind of Flintstone , but I still enjoy windsurfing..
Lately, out of curiosity and just in case winds pick up beyond my arms strength , I finally decided to try a harness, a waist harness to be precise.
It turned out to be such a pain ( not exactly in the neck, much below..) that I went back to shore and threw it back in the car, after which I had a perfect sailing day, with the usual winds I’m accustomed to ( 15-18 knts, perhaps more with gusts).
Leaving aside the first obvious reason, my inexperience with the harness, which catapulted me a few times, even though I read the instructions from a variety of web sites, I think the more serious problem is an anatomical one: I have some belly ( but then my size, 38, is a far cry from being overweight , let alone obese) and when I get back onto the board after falling and begin standing up from the crouched position in order to uphaul, the harness cuts badly into my abdomen, which is not only very uncomfortable, but also kind of painful.
Usually, without the harness, the transition from the crouched position to standing and uphauling is easy, fast and painless, as it should be, but with the harness I feel in a painful straight jacket.
The size of the harness is O.K. : it is more streamlined and less intrusive than others I have tried at the store and the salesman said it is O.K for my size. I think that a much narrower harness, like the waist belt some weight lifters wear, about 5 “ wide, would be better, but I don’t see any around. Sure there must be a reason, but I don’t see a way out, other than going on a diet or continuing without a harness.
I heard that in the past there were also chest harnesses available, which might have been better for me. Any comments or suggestions?
Thanks
Ittiandro |
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ittiandro
Joined: 22 Nov 2009
Posts: 294
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| Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2016 5:01 pm Post subject: |
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| NP wrote: | 38" waste line and hardly overweight / obese is an oxymoron.
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If you use the word oxymoron in the "canonical " sense of contradiction in terms, there is not much of an oxymoron here : at 5'10", 84 kg and with a rather muscular build I may be slightly overweight, alright, but far from obese and far from justifying the employment of the the term "oxymoron" in the way I depict myself . I am not 30 lbs overweight!
I have seen really fat people around, doing windsurfing and other sports, , some with beer bellies looking like hot air balloons.
Thanks God, compared to them, I may well look anemic, even with a 38" waist ,but at 74 I can't complain : my doctor told me that if everybody were in such a good health as me, she would be ...out of business, but, I must say, I manage myself pretty well , in terms of diet and exercise.
I'd love to shed shed 10-12 lbs and go back to the 36" waist size of only a few years ago, but with the metabolism of my age it is a hard task, next to impossible, even if I eat 3 times less than when I was a slim 27 yrs , 67 kg youth. ..
But, as the Ecclesiaste says" There is a season for seeding and a season for harvesting.etc etc. For one thing, my season for seeding is well gone and I don't know if I'll be around to harvest. In the meantime the only thing I harvest are the weeds while windsurfing, which is kind of an obnoxious harvesting, but at least I am still around..
Take care
Ittiandro |
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KGB-NP
Joined: 25 Jul 2001
Posts: 2856
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| Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2016 6:07 pm Post subject: |
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Sailing at 74! Good stuff and full props!
Last edited by KGB-NP on Sun Sep 18, 2016 7:08 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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U2U2U2
Joined: 06 Jul 2001
Posts: 5467
Location: Shipsterns Bluff, Tasmania. Colorado
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gvogelsang
Joined: 09 Nov 1988
Posts: 435
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| Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2016 7:57 pm Post subject: |
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Seat harness.
I have a 37" waist, and the seat harness is the only way to go.
I had a chest harness way back a long time ago. You don't want to go there; it causes chest constriction in strong winds. that is the last thing that you need. |
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westadamsvets
Joined: 10 Aug 2006
Posts: 64
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| Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2016 2:27 am Post subject: |
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+ Seat Harness
Just make sure your harness lines are long enough. |
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joethewindsufa
Joined: 10 Oct 2010
Posts: 1190
Location: Montréal
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| Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2016 5:27 am Post subject: |
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as i wrote in an e-mail to the OP
seat harness and two sets of lines
one really long and another to where you really wanna go ...
(and my waist/waste is at least 40  )
this was back in 2009 on my first shortboard - musta bin 38 back then 
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