Surf Conditioning Between Sessions
Surf Conditioning Between Sessions improves capabilities and length of surf sessions. It is terrible to get tired on great days when you want to surf longer. The waves are just what you like, but the pop up is failing because you are tired. This is when you wish you had better conditioning.
Professionals train out of the water every day. They surf and they train. This combination builds capabilities and endurance. If they are in a surf contest, they can’t afford to be tired for the finals. For us laymen, the finals are the big waves we have been waiting for or the great conditions that come along occasionally.
Surf Conditioning for the Beginner and Intermediate Surfer
Surfing is a full body sport. It demands upper body strength, lower body strength, core, flexibility, and stamina. That is a lot to ask of someone who has been sedentary. Most of my new surf students have been mostly sedentary and having a routine of running or swimming still lacks the full body conditioning necessary for surfing.
Weight lifting can fill most of the strength and flexibility requirements and then the weight lifter needs to add aerobics. Yoga and gymnastics include the flexibility and some of the strength requirements but might need more surf specific muscles and aerobics. Running and biking are a start at aerobics, but surfing is like swimming intervals in which fast paddling is necessary to catch waves and the intervals are tiring.
Surfing is not like other board sports. Snowboarders, wake boarders, skiers, and skateboarders flock to surfing hoping their skills transfer and excited about learning another board sport. The first difference is only surfing requires you to get up from a prone position. This makes all the difference. With other board sports, there is balance before movement begins. With surfing, you begin stable and move through the instable to stand up and must find stable again.
Good Exercises for Strength and Balance
There are some specific exercises that provide surfing strength, flexibility and balance. Every surf coach recommends pushups, squats, and deadlifts. These provided upper body strength, leg and core strength, and flexibility for hamstrings, buttocks and lower back. Add burpies for a little more flexibility. Add derivatives of these basic exercises for more defined strength, flexibility and balance. A good link for 27 exercises is listed below.
Aerobics are necessary for the endurance and recovery. Nothing builds stamina like paddling, but not everyone can get in the water every day. Peak conditioning erodes after a few days. One student who had surfed every day in Hawaii while working remotely stopped on her return to the U.S. and in a few months found she had no stamina. It comes back quickly, but its painful.
Cable pulls are great for upper body strength and paddling stamina. Weights to build the shoulders, back, chest, and arms all help. One doesn’t need to build the bulk of a serious weight lifter, one wants to build lean muscles that aren’t heavier in the water. Lots of reps with mid range weights (40% to 60% of your one lift capacity) is a good range. I use a 35 pound plate for squats and deadlifts with 25 reps whereas in the gym my one lift capacity is over 100 pounds.
Build patiently. Include rest. Don’t over stress your muscles. Include good nutrition. Losing weight along the way is helpful for most people in this pandemic era. Of course the small habits of eliminating sugar, minimizing alcohol, and getting good sleep all help the body build to full strength.
27 Great Exercises for Surfing
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
For Surf Lessons in Oceanside, see the Home Page
Visit me on Instagram
For getting in better shape for surfing see GetFittoSurf.com
Sign up for weekly Tips on Losing Weight, Health, and Fitness Newsletter
See my new Health and Lifestyle website Markap Health and Lifestyle
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?
Buy on Amazon in Kindle or Paperback. $2.99 or $6.92
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.
Buy E Book on Amazon for $6.99
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
Buy the Paperback on Amazon for $6.95
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.
