Many people take surf lessons without wondering How Fit Do Surfers Have to Be? They are always surprised by the physical demands. Unlike running, swimming, or biking, surfing is a full body sport. It taxes the cardiovascular system. It tests stamina.
Anyone active daily can usually make it through an hour lesson. At one and a half hours most everyone starts feeling the fatigue. It certainly is about the paddling. Even swimmers get tired from the paddling. Pushing up on the surfboard and falling off take their toll. Walking the surfboard back to the waves, which beginners do, necessitates effort. And nerves probably affect most people as their adrenaline eventually fades.
The Basics of Surfing Fitness
Iron Man participants train hard for months. They often say that in spite of their conditioning, the weight work often sustains them when their muscles have fatigued. Muscles use glucose for energy and an athlete has often trained his body to burn fat for fuel once the carbohydrates are gone. A normal body only stores about 900 calories of carbohydrates. The more the muscles have been trained, the more glucose a body will store.
Muscle fatigue first sets in due to paddling. The other factors of trying to ride the board and walking back through the waves also take their toll. The whole task is easier if a new surfer also has flexibility. Getting on the surfboard is like a dance where several body parts and all the muscles have to coordinate and move smoothly together.
One of the issues confronting new surf students is they have not been learning new physical movements as a regular practice and their brain and body do not coordinate well. This causes more stand up problems and accelerates fatigue. I have found an apex student is a 14 year old girl who is loaded with classes learning gymnastics, soccer, volleyball, dance etc. Their body is a learning machine.
The coordinated movements of popping up can be practiced in the living room before or between lessons and sessions. The body learns the surf specific timing and builds the surf specific muscles. The pop up comes in between catching waves and riding the surfboard. Catching waves requires learning the timing and riding the surfboard requires understanding the correct stance on the surfboard.
Surf specific exercises can create the flexibility and strength needed for surfing. Aerobics can begin to train the cardiovascular system for surge effort and recovery. A swimmer should practice sprints in the water if only for ten feet to get the idea of catching a wave. I have to tell swimmers you are not swimming the 500 meter event but a 25 yard dash. Strokes have to be short, deep, and strong.
Learning the techniques and having the strength and flexibility might seem like overwhelming demands. They are. Not everyone surfs on their fist venture. They might have to take what they learned and understand their shortcomings and practice out of the water before returning. I have a few books (below) that talk about fitness and techniques that can be good guides in this venture. I have not mentioned nutrition which could be important for overweight people who need to be lighter and stronger at the same time to be successful.
Read Other Posts:
Beginner Surfers Learn on Soft Tops
5 Steps to Improve Surfing Performance
3 Ways to Catch Real Surfing Waves
Training to Ride the Surfing Short Board
Short Board Surfing Techniques
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The Surfers Life
Why do surfers surf? What is it about the culture that attracts and holds millions of people in the world? Why is the culture growing and how has it infiltrated our world with clothing, music, fitness, and stoke?
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The New Surfing Trilogy. 3 books in 1 E-Book
Lose weight, get fit, and learn to surf. All in one concise summary of 3 books, Combines The 3 Week Plan, Get Fit to Surf, and Learn to Surf Guide.
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The Perfect Start for losing weight and getting fit is the E Book The 3 Week Plan
Buy on Kindle for $2.99 or Paperback for $6.95
Get my new book Get Fit to Surf
Its time to get back in shape. This book discusses strength, flexibility, stamina, and nutritional needs for getting in shape and losing weight. It is the great guide to get back to fitness for all your recreational desires. If you can surf, you can do most anything.
Buy on Kindle for $2.99 or Paperback on Amazon for $6.95
Get the Learn to Surf Guide Course in Kindle, Paperback or Audio
A great 29 page course on the fundamentals of catching waves, doing beginner and advanced pop ups, riding real waves, how to do maneuvers on real waves, which surfboards to ride, and how to progress. Great for lesson preparation, after lesson review, or learning on your own.
Kindle price $2.99 on Amazon. Paperback price $6.95 on Amazon. Audio download price $6.95
Everybody Can Surf
To read a great book for getting in shape to surf or getting in better surfing shape, read my new book Everybody Can Surf, a Health, Fitness, Nutrition, and Surfing Adventure
Description:
Get healthy and fit to surf or set a goal of surfing to improve weight, fitness, nutrition, and health. This guide by a surf instructor/health coach/personal trainer gives the short version of how to lose weight, get strong, build stamina, develop nutrition, and learn to surf. Surfing is a lifestyle enjoyed by millions and so is fitness. Fitness creates opportunities to enjoy life through lots of different kinds of recreation. No need to stand on the sidelines while others are having a great time. Start your program to health with easy steps and progress at your own pace. That is the secret to maintaining a lifestyle. Do it at your pace. This book will start you on the path.
Buy the E book on Amazon for $2.99
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Seniors Get Fit to Surf
Description:
Seniors often ask if it is too late to learn to surf. Age is functional not chronological. If people have been exercising and maintaining body strength, surfing can be accomplished. If people have not been exercising, then getting in shape to surf could be a life changing move. Learn how to develop strength, flexibility, and stamina to learn surfing. If you are in surf shape, you could pursue most any recreation.
Buy the E-book on Amazon for $2.99
Buy the Paperback on Amazon for $6.95
Read a Book in the Markap Series
Self-Leadership, Happiness, Start Now.
Start Now is the process of losing weight, building strength and stamina, developing cardio fitness for surfing, recreation and health. Buy the E-book on Amazon for $2.99 and the Paperback for $6.95. Get into surf shape, start a new lifestyle, and enjoy life at a new level of health.
Happ
Build Immunity in this Covid Era
The new Omicron variants can often sidestep the anti-bodies in vaccinations. This is when we need to have a strong immunity system. This is when people with underlying conditions like obesity or chronic metabolic disorders like diabetes become vulnerable.
Developing good health habits will help your immune system. The main components would be to attain a healthy weight. Eat healthy. Exercise, Get adequate sleep. Mitigate stress. Drink half your body weight in water oz (a 200-pound person drinks 100 oz.) Consider supplements for the nutrients you may not consume in your daily diet.
One of my favorites is the Rishi mushroom. It has been chronicled in Chinese medicine for thousands of years. It supports the major systems. It fights viruses, bacteria, allergies, and inflammation. I get a compilation of 5 reishi mushrooms extracted and combined into one powder. You can get a discount as my client with this link.
This is a short statement that says it all:
- Reishi: Reishi is arguably the most important and most revered herb used by Asian people throughout history to promote radiant health, longevity and a more centered state of mind. It is known to be among the most protective herbs in the world. Reishi may help improve immunological, neurological, metabolic, hepatic and vascular protection, among other functions.
