How Much Fitness is Needed for Surfing?
Many people contemplating surfing wonder How Much Fitness is Needed for Surfing. Surfing is one of the more demanding physical sports. Advanced surfers are very fit, but even beginners have to have a ground level of fitness.
Surfing requires upper body, lower body, and core strength plus stamina. It is difficult to learn if the surfer is overweight. The surfer has to lift their upper and lower body off the surfboard. If the surfer has been gaining weight and not exercising which usually go together, the feat becomes challenging.
The Best Exercises
The best exercises to prepare and improve are squats, dead lifts, and pushups. The exercises can be done without weights. The first two create flexibility in the hamstrings, buttocks and lower back. This flexibility is needed to get the feet under the body on the surfboard to stand up.
I see beginner surfers struggling to push their upper body off the surfboard to get their first foot on the board. Losing weight and doing pushups helps this motion. Then surfers have to put a foot under their butt flat on the board to stand and release their hands from the board. It takes flexibility to get the foot flat on the board in the beginner popup.
Stamina is Important
Stamina is necessary for the effort and recovery. Beginners in my classes start in shallow water and catch foam waves. Then they walk out and ride another. This happens 30-40 times in a lesson. Students need the stamina to last and recover after each ride. Aerobics build the cardiovascular fitness for oxygen uptake. Aerobic exercises and weight training or floor exercises can build glucose stores in the muscles for longer exercise.
Once the surfer takes his first lessons and begins to paddle out for waves, he learns how much effort the paddling requires. Sessions last as long as surfers can paddle. When they are tired, they are finished for the session. Paddling is the best exercise, but all the above can make a big difference in building stamina for paddling.
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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