Science Behind The Fight: Part 5
The Stance 1: Muscle Groups
By: The Angler
When talking about fishing stance and muscle groups, we talk about big game fishing where the fish can easily tire the angler out. On my first big game fishing trip I fought and landed my first sailfish and then my hands turned into blubber. I took some time to recover before going for my next fish. When I say time, I meant like half an hour before deciding on taking on the next sail.
[ When we use our arms to pick up something heavy, say for example a 20kg dumbbell off a waist high rack; the first muscle to feel the strain is our bicep… ]
I have taken many an angler out on their first big game trip. I have seen seasoned anglers cry while fighting the gladiator, I have anglers give up the fight halfway and hand the rod on to another angler or to me to continue the fight, and I have anglers forget how to fight a fish (in shock) while picking up the rod to fight. This article is aimed at addressing the issue of lactic buildup during the fight.
Your fighting stance is important. It helps you safe energy or burn more.
When fighting a sailfish, marlin, tuna, giant trevally, etc. conserving energy is super important. We cannot fight them the way we play in a freshwater ponds or lakes for freshwater fishes. These hard fighting monsters are no joke. They fight really hard, giving all they got, and sometimes even “cheat” (giant trevally) and push you into a stalemate. Experience of course comes into play. But one very important part of fishing big game is stance.
In this issue let us take a look at the parts of an angler’s body that is most affected by the strain put on by a hard fighting monster big game fish during the battle…
Muscle groups that come into play when fighting a fish.
Arms and shoulders
When we use our arms to pick up something heavy, say for example a 20kg dumbbell off a waist high rack; the first muscle to feel the strain is our bicep. Next will be the forearm of the hand holding on to the dumbbell. The strain on both the bicep and forearm goes away only when the hand is straightened with the dumbbell hanging downwards. Now, the pressure moves to the shoulders of which is shared with the trapezius.
Lower back
Another group of muscles affected is the back, especially the lower back. The lower back will feel sore as it needs to take on the frontal or outward pressure put onto the upper parts of the body, while the back muscle fights to go in the direct opposite direction of said pressure. This pressure will transfer to the lower back which gets the brunt of it.
Abdominals
The abdominals are the core. If you have got a strong core, you’ll be ok. If your core is not strong, you will feel your abdominal muscle getting worked on. But the abdominal muscles can take a beating and recover fast enough for your next fight. The bruising on the abdomen by the rod’s bud on the other hand is another story. Tip, always use a fighting belt.
Legs
The legs are affected at a lesser amount but the two main muscle affected are the quadriceps and calves. They help you to maintain balance during the fight. But because they are less affected by the pressure. So, I would not worry too much about legs, but they are important during the fight. How you stand will definitely play a role in energy conservation.
With elbows bent, pressure is focused on the biceps. This will cause lactic acid buildup in the biceps; not a good thing.
moving the energy to the legs helps conserve more energy.
Of course other muscle groups too come into play, but the effects on them during the fight is not as much. In fact, you probably will not even feel them getting worked out. With all these affected muscle groups in mind, your stance when fighting a powerful game fish is important. Lactic acid build up is very real and it can affect your fight. In the next issue we will look at proper stance to conserve energy during the fight.
