Associate Editor Aileen Mack joined Dockwalk in July 2018. She is a graduate of the University of Florida with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. If she’s not at a concert or coffee shop, she is lost in a book, movie or a YouTube rabbit hole. Email Aileen at aileen@dockwalk.com.
There’s no magical training plan, workout, or diet that works for everyone. For yacht crew, the long, busy days, moving ports often, and little space or equipment on board to train can make it even more difficult to find a training program that works. Chief Stewardess Gaby Welch and Chief Officer Chris (CJ) Welch of M/Y Deniki have been working on board yachts for almost a decade and experienced the difficulty firsthand. But over the years, they’ve developed a program that works for them and they’re now sharing it with fellow yacht crew.
The book, Crew Fit Training Guide, features a fitness program created with crew in mind, along with nutrition tips and simple recipes. It was released on June 7 via the Hula Wellness website, which was founded by them as well to sell high-quality wellness products.
The book has been a labor of love, but they’re both extremely pleased with the results and are excited for friends and colleagues on other boats to be able to benefit from their program as well. “Any yacht crew can download a variety of different workout apps, but time and time again they fail and a huge part of that is because the trainer hasn’t considered the restrictions of yachting life,” Gaby says. “Our program will give structure to your training, achievable results in a short time frame, and flexibility to the training program.”
While they’ve been working on the program for years, about six months ago is when they decided to start putting pen to paper. Because they both still work full time on board, finding the time after hours to work on the book proved to be a challenge, but they wanted to test each program with a variety of people to make sure it worked for a wide-ranging audience.
“We have worked hard to combine the latest research in sports science with yacht crews’ specific needs; from this, we have created an eight-week program (three full-body workouts a week), which uses simple equipment, small spaces, and is flexible to time constraints,” Gaby says. “In addition, we provide nutrition tips specific to the yachting environment, recipes (that won’t get you in the chef’s bad books), and the opportunity to become part of our online community, where you can get motivation from fellow enthusiasts, tips, tricks, and one-on-one advice for our personal trainers.”
For several years now, Gaby and Chris have been sharing workout videos and tips tailored to yachting crew on their Instagram @healthandfitnessretreat, which is based on the same principles that are in the book. Crew Fit Training Guide brings many new programs, but they will be making short how-to videos to demonstrate each exercise from the book and show users how to progress to the next level.
“We have seen how well it can work and the fantastic results it can produce,” she says. “We decided to create the ebook so that everyone could enjoy the benefits we have.”
During their winter period, they offered boot camps to their crew and in exchange, they were able to start work an hour later. Gaby notes the benefits of training were huge, especially for team cohesion.
“We really came together as a group. We were working an hour less, but productivity was so much higher because the crew started the day fresh and energized,” she says. “The crew knew they had training the next morning so mid-week drinking [was] almost non-existent, which in itself had huge benefits, and then, of course, people became fitter!” Now, three months into their season, everyone is remaining fit and active.
The ebook is on sale on hulawellness.com, and there will be a special ebook and HULA Loops package with fitness equipment to complement the training program. Crewmembers can receive a 10 percent discount on any items purchased from their website by using the code “YACHTCREW21” at checkout.