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
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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.
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