Physical Conditioning for Suring Beginners

Physical conditioning for surfing beginners may be important for success. Occasionally, I have a student who engages in no physical activities and maybe never has. Surfing is one of the most demanding full body recreations.

Three aspects are important. A student needs some upper body and core strength to get from a lying down position on the surf board to standing up. Power to weight ratio is a term that says you need enough strength to lift your weight.

A second aspect is flexibility. Lying on the board, the student does a push up and then brings their rear foot under their butt and places it flat so they can stand up on it as they lift their hands and move the front foot to the nose. If a student is not flexible, they cannot perform this step. Can you touch the floor without bending your knees?

A final aspect is stamina. Surfing is all about paddling. How long could you swim in a pool? Normal aerobic exercises prepares students for exertion and recovery. When students can no longer recover from the exertion, they are pretty much done.

Training for Surfing

Normal to overweight body masses can usually learn to surf. When a student reaches obese, they are most likely to heavy to learn. Many students don’t think they are overweight. You can Google body mass index. It is a common term used by the medical profession and all health trainers. It is dividing your weight in grams by height in centimeters and arriving at a number. Up to 25 is normal weight, up to 30 is overweight, over 30 is obese, and over 40 is severely obese.

Strength training for surfing can be as simple as push ups and burpies. Push ups build the upper body and burpies build great lower back flexibility. Doing them every day will lead to excellent conditioning for surfing.

Aerobics is elevating the heart rate for reasonable periods of times. Most health officials will give you a pass for 20 minutes of reasonable exercise that takes your heart beat above 100 depending on your conditioning. You might want to consult a doctor to see if you are fit for aerobics.

Any exercise classes like yoga, stretching, dancing or gymnastics will do wonders for your body’s flexibility and performance for surfing. People who say they have bad backs, knees, hips, or shoulders, may be too impaired.

A great exercise program is great for surfing or any recreation. Surfing is a great way to get fit and many new students say they see why so many surfers are lean.

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