Martin Stengele is a sports teacher and sports mentoring coach and will be the first German solo rower to take part in the toughest rowing race in the world, the ‘Worlds Toughest Row’. The route goes from La Gomera to Antigua, through the middle of the Atlantic Ocean - all alone. In this story, Martin tells us what everyday life is like, how to plan such an endeavour and what role sleep plays.

What does a day at sea look like?

Martin: ‘First of all, I had a DNA-based sleep analysis done to find out what type of sleeper I am. This then determines whether I start rowing early in the morning or row longer in the evening. As a rule, I will prepare breakfast and all my meals in the morning and then row all day, with short breaks in between, of course. In the evening, I'll probably fall into bed exhausted.

How important is sleep for the Challenge?

Martin: ‘Sleep is very important and is underestimated by most rowers. As a solo rower, I sleep longer at night because I row longer during the day. The better I sleep, the more energy I can draw from my night's sleep, the more energy I have during the day’. And he adds: ‘In the long run, every little bit of extra sleep adds up over the whole distance.’

A night on a rowing boat

Martin: ‘It won't be as cosy as at home, if only because of the waves. When it's stormy, you roll back and forth. That's quite a challenge. If there's another boat nearby, I'm warned and have to interrupt my sleep to avoid a collision. So it's a slightly different sleeping experience to what most people are used to.

How does SAMINA support you?

Martin: ‘I get a customised Lokosana® grounding topper on my mattress to ground me at night. Together with Prof Amann-Jennson, we thought that grounding myself at night is an additional way to recharge my batteries at night so that I can row even longer. Every little bit counts!’

Good luck!

We wish Martin all the best and every success in this bold challenge and are proud to be able to help him sleep. More than 90% of physical and mental recovery takes place at night while we sleep. Every little improvement we can make here makes a big difference down the track.

Martin's journey can be followed on his website: https://martin-stengele.de/rudern-fuers-leben/