Gunnar Biniasch Interview

Kiteboarding Exercises now brings you a series of interviews with professional kiteboarders from around the globe.

The interviews are about kiteboarding, lifestyle and of course training. Do they use personal trainers? Do they workout out? How do they stay in shape to be a top athlete? Learn more about how it is to a pro kiteboarder and what level kiteboarding is at compared to other sports, where personal trainers and sports specific training is natural part of staying on top of their game. In sports like football, basketball, baseball, tennis, swimming, etc, fitness is they only way to be all the athlete can be. Training gives a top athlete the last 5% they need, to (maybe) beat the others. Theoretically it's the same for kiteboarding, but is it all so the case?

Gunnar Biniasch, Flysurfer

We talked to Gunnar after he had surgery on his back. Read his blog here: Click

- How are you? Are you optimistic about the future and your riding?

I am feeling great now.  After suffering with sciatica for 6 months it feel great to be pain free again.  Now that I am back training on the Water I feel very optimistic about my future.

- How did you get injured? And what was injured?

I am only guessing, but this is how I think it happened.  I was testing kites back in November and I landed a very powered Blind Judge very fast and hard.  The next day I woke up with sciatica in my left leg.  I have always had bad posture (Kyphosis lordosis) so my lumbar has always been a bit weak. 

The CT scan revealed a severe herniated disc between my L5 and S1 vertebra. 75% of the disc fluid including the nucleus pulposus had leaked out and was obliterating the nerve root to my left leg.  I have never seen any doctor so surprised and worried.  They operated on me the next day.  They were amazed that I was still walking upright and said that my nerve could have been severed at any time.

- What went through your mind, when you found out that surgery was needed? Where you scared of not being able to kite at PKRA level or similar again?

I was really blown away when the diagnosis came back from the CT scan. I was not expecting the damage to be that bad.  I had suffered with the pain for 6 months and always assumed that it was something small and easily fixed.  I was still kiting. I had just taken part at the Olympic Format Trials in Santander (Ok I was in a lot of pain and had a lot of Help from Mike Gebhart without whom I would not have been able to get on the water during that week).  

After the doc told be to get on the 1st plane back to Germany and go straight to the hospital I pretty much thought that my career was over.  I was thinking "I'm 34  years old and now I will never be able to kite again"  I was also really afraid of what would happen if the surgery went wrong.  The list of things that can go wrong on that waiver form are really scary.  But it was surgery or risk losing movement and feeling in my leg.  

- What has the doctor told you about the future and recovery?

The surgeon was pretty sure that I would make a full recovery.  I have really strong back muscles and good health, so with hard work and patience it will be 100% by the end of the year.

- Can you tell us in a few words, what your recovery has been like since you woke up after surgery? What have you been doing? 

The first week after I woke up was hard.  I was not allowed to stand up for the first 2 days.  After that I was only allowed to walk very short distances.  

After that I improved pretty fast.  I was walking confidently after 2 weeks and was already more flexible that my Physiotherapist after 3 weeks,  I was allowed to fly back to Fuerteventura 4 weeks after the surgery.

After I got back I started going to the Gym to continue my rehab.  I have a bunch of exercises to strengthen my core and to work on the damaged sciatic nerve.  I also do 30 minutes on the Cross-Trainer machine a day as I am not allowed to jog of ride a bike.   

 - who has been helping you? and what kind of rehab have you been doing?

I am lucky to have a wonderful Girlfriend. She is a personal trainer and has been making sure I don't slack off of do things wrong.  She has also been using Kinesio Tapes to help my recovery along.  

I also have a great Physiotherapist  taking care of me.  I visit her 3 times a week.

- How often are you going to the gym now to do your rehab?

I go to the gym 3 days in a row and take 1 day off.  I do my core exercises every day.

- What motivates you to work hard at a full recovery?

I have lots of motivations this year.  First is that I have a daughter on the way and I want to be healthy for her.  

I also have to goal to get into the German National Sailing Team as Kiteboard Racing just became olympic.

Also I am addicted to Kiting and can't really handle being off the water for too long. 

- Do you think your back problems will effect your riding in any way?

I have pretty much given up on the idea of doing unhooked stuff anymore.  I have no more fluid in the disc they operated on, so i don't want to risk hard landings anymore.  

So far that is the only thing that will be changing in my riding.  Racing, Wave riding and Oldschool don't have super hard landings so I should be ok.

- What kind of injuries have you had in the past?

Thats a long list.  Here are the big ones:

2002:  2 Broken Ribs plus punctured lung

2006:  Torn Abdominal Muscle Fiber

2007:  Torn Meniscus, ACL and PCL left Knee

- You have already been on the water a couple of times now. How many days after your surgery, did you go out on the water with a kite?

I risked it after 2 months.  The docs and physio where not really happy., but understood that I needed to try.

- I know from talking to you, that you are using a seat harness. That's a very good idea since the force of a crash will go to your hips/groins and not your back like it would with a waist harness. Do you have other good tips for kiteboarders in your situation?

First of all, if you have a lot of back pain, get it properly checked out.  I waited 6 months and tried every alternative treatment I could find and convinced myself I had everything but a herniated disc.  I would have been in serious trouble had the nerve been severed.  Get an CT scan as soon as you can and get a second opinion.

Try to stay fit.  Even though I was in pain, I still did everything to stay fit if it did not hurt. In the long run it helped my recovery go faster as I had not lost too much muscle mass.

- What are your plans for 2012 now?

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