Overweight people can surf. People learn that size is not necessarily as big a problem as the time they spent not exercising. Surfing is physically very demanding and a full body sport.
Surfing requires upper body strength, leg strength, core strength, flexibility, and stamina. Surfers may talk about power to weight ratio as the strength needed to get your body standing on the surfboard.
Fundamentals of Surfing for Overweight People
Beginner surfers start in foam waves near the shore. They roll over on their surfboard and start paddling to catch a wave. When the wave is close, they execute a pop up and ride to the beach.
Surfing is about timing and rhythm. I give my students a count for the pop up. They have to be patient to paddle long enough to catch the wave and then smoothly execute 5 steps in a sequence to pop up. Students are a little anxious about the ocean and learning a new sport. I ask them to say the count out loud to block their thoughts and create focus .
The first technique is rolling over on the surfboard correctly. The surfer holds the surfboard with the top side facing their chest. Then they roll over throwing their feet up at the tail so their body is straight as a pencil and they are in the exact center of the surfboard. If the surfer is off to one side or out of balance, they can’t catch the wave.
The surfer wants to accelerate to get in front of the foam wave. This takes the average surfer three or four strong paddles. You paddle with your forearms in the water, not just your hands. You have to paddle evenly with both arms. So many surfers paddle harder with one and turn the surfboard sideways into the wave.
Once the nose comes up and the board is plaining, the surfer puts his hands on the board in a man’s pushup position. Then he pushes up and places his back foot on the surfboard flat so he can stand up on it. Then he stands raising his hands and places the other foot near the nose. Try this in your living room.
While doing it he counts, paddle, stop (placing hands on board), push, back foot, stand, front foot. This count out loud can also slow a racing mind. Counting in your head does not help.
The right posture on the surfboard is feet shoulder width apart. Hips and shoulders square to the front. Weight equal on both legs. Knees flexed. The board will go straight without work.
The Over Weight Surfers Difficulties
First, many have trouble rolling onto the board in a balanced position. This prevents them from catching the wave. Sometimes too much belly or body weight makes balancing on a 9′ and 24 inch wide difficult. This is a high volume surf board.
Secondly, many have trouble pushing their upper body off the board. They lack upper body strength that could be improved with pushups. Thirdly, the biggest problem is getting the back foot under their butt and standing on it. This requires flexibility and leg strength not to mention core strength.
The final issue can be stamina. After the student has made several attempts, they get tired because they do not have cardiovascular fitness. Paddling is tiring and so are failed attempts. It also becomes discouraging.
Overweight surfers may have to combine losing weight and getting in shape. The best exercise for strength and flexibility are squats. Do them at first without weights and then slowly add weights. Dead lifts are equal and work the same muscles. They both build flexibility for the pop up.
Pushups, bench presses, and cable pulls can build upper body and paddling strength. Jumping on the treadmill or doing aerobics like biking, swimming, or stair climbing can help recovery in the water.
If you haven’t been exercising, you may need to start slow. Start with walking 10 minutes a day and try to build to 30 minutes and then an hour. Everything else can progress from there. A good nutrition program with long term goals will be most successful. Sometimes a doctor, a clinic, or a commercial weight loss firm like Nutri-Systems makes it easier or necessary.
Set a long term goal of getting healthy and fit with surfing as the ultimate reward.
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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