Surfing Waves

Ive been surfing for about 9 months, you could still call me a beginner. This fall I'm moving to college and the nearest breaks are going to require a bit more effort on my part to get to. In the meantime, I want to improve my surf on land. I was looking for anything that could improve balance, stamina, paddling power, etc. Anything that will help when I'm out surfing!

I do have access to UCLA's pools and gyms(which also has a rockwall if that would help any). I was also thinking of an Indo board but I'm not sure if its a good investment.

Anyone have specific routines and exercises they do when you're out of the water?

Its no secret, but swimming is the best. Some longer swims plus sprints, maybe practice some underwater swimming or just swimming without breathing for 10secs (to replicate the 'paddle paddle, pop up, fall, underwater' tradition of surfing).

Otherwise anything that helps out with some aerobic fitness - running, cycling etc - but no need to go overboard, 20min reasonable intensity will do, or HIIT exercises. Remembering paddling is most aerobic rather than strength/anaerobic.

In the gym a general full body workout will help everyone. The problem with surfing is that almost every muscle is used, so focusing on one or the other can be counter productive. That said, in paddling you use your lats and (to a lesser extent) shoulders, so pull ups and rows are a good place to start. Your glutes and core are also important, for balance and turning.

Rockclimbing is good as an alternative/supplement to the gym.

I would say stretching but if you are just starting college then you are probably still pretty flexible. Nonetheless, dont ignore it or foam rolling etc.

Sounds good! I'm getting a bike before I head out so I'm sure that will help.

Thanks And any other advice is greatly appreciated!

Im still a newbie myself so take what i say with a pinch of salt, but have been experimenting with land exercise's and stretches to increase my paddle & pop up strength as well as my flexibility.

Plyometric push ups - Basically explosive push ups. Push up explosively make sure there is some space between your hands and the ground. they will increase the strength in your shoulders and back if done correctly. greatly helping paddle strength and pop up. ( from my experiance over the past couple of months ) they are an amazing mass builder.

Planks - Self explanatory

sit up - alot of paddling is down to your core, a strong core will keep a stable board which equals more efficient paddling. More efficient paddling = less energy expended.

Salute the sun - Yoga stretches that do really well for flexibility and lower back pain.

bi-cep curls - paddling strength

dumb bell shruds - trap / shoulder strength

Some confirmation from the pros on the above would be great so i know aswell that i am headed down the right path!

Peazz - a pretty good routine. I would just add that you dont have any 'pulling' exercises, so add in pull ups/rows (these are very important especially for those who sit at a desk all day hunched over). These also work the tricep, which is probably more important for paddling than biceps, plus the lats which are your main paddling muscle.

Not a big fan of sit ups and planks are of limited value after a while (if you can hold one for 60seconds in good form, then any longer is of minimal benefit). But there are plenty of core exercises around, I prefer the 'anti rotation' style and farmers walk to sit ups but its a personal thing.

Dont forget leg work, especially the posterior chain (muscles on your back side) - so hamstrings, glutes. As you are young again its probably not so much an issue if you do a bit of running and sports and stuff, but for desk sitters its important. Although legs arent that important in surfing, they should be included in every routine.

At the end of the day, the routine should have vertical push and pull (eg shoulder press and pull ups), horizontal push/pull (push ups/rows), legs and core. Nothing too complicated.

I should add - if you are longboarding and having to do turtle rolls, a bit of grip strength can come in handy. Pulling exercises without using wrist bands will probably be enough (eg do rows and pull ups) but you can add in other grip work if its an issue

Hey DTC,

I Injured my back last year doing deadlifts, I am only just starting to recover and occasionally get some lower back pain and also sometimes in the top of my thighs. After a good couple days surf session i feel super loose and hardly any pain.

I am a web designer so most of my time is spent at the desk or at my pc cross legged.

What body weight exercise's can i down for my legs / lower back? the more active im getting, the more im doing and the more im pushing through any pain i do have, the better its getting.

A good weight exercise routine would be to do squats, dead lifts & overhead press. Simple, quick, effective & will exercise your whole body. Check out something like 5 3 1 for a routine.

Other work I like doing is a good kettlebell routine or something like barbell complexes as this mixes up a bit of cardio as well.

If You have one a longboard skate board. I have found it has been very helpful in teaching me how to turn better it lets you kind of get the weight transfer of turning more of a reflex than a thought out process. next for pop ups I would recommend as all pushups I have a at home workout routine that focuses allot on balance and bodily control with some strength building. Third for paddling swim Sprints and like 1000m Split the 2 if I’m swimming From what I have been told I’m advanced but my routine is 250m warm up 1000m try and complete in 8-12 mins then from there I do 10 sets of 50 On the 45. Meaning every 45 seconds I am starting another 50 if I complete my 50 at 43 seconds I am now sprinting as hard as I can for my next 50 in 2 seconds. then I do another thousand than a 250 warm down. If that routine is too much tone down the distance to the correct amount for you. So when I’m not surfing MWFI do strength building balance training. TTH I do swimming. When I have the time IF the Conditions are too windy to surf sometimes I DGAF and just go surf but if I Don’t I ride my longboard to the pool swim and then Ride back practicing my turns both ways. hope that helps Mahalo.

peazz wrote:Hey DTC,

I Injured my back last year doing deadlifts, I am only just starting to recover and occasionally get some lower back pain and also sometimes in the top of my thighs. After a good couple days surf session i feel super loose and hardly any pain.

I am a web designer so most of my time is spent at the desk or at my pc cross legged.

What body weight exercise's can i down for my legs / lower back? the more active im getting, the more im doing and the more im pushing through any pain i do have, the better its getting.

Well, with the provisos that I'm not a health professional, get your injury checked out, pain is your body saying something is wrong, not something to fight through and assuming you had a disc rather than muscle injury....

For a back injury, and I have had one (two actually) as well, the key is to minimise compressive forces on your spine - that is, making your spine bear too much weight. So heavy back squats etc are out until you feel ok.

The best alternative is single (unilateral) leg work, which includes lunges (including raised rear foot), step ups (just stepping up onto a higher level), pistol squats (huh, if you can do them), single leg romanian deadlifts (good for balance as well), just pushing things (push a car... or just a weight along the floor, or if you want to get fancy a tire with a harness and pull it across the oval). You should be able to use light weights during all of these and also look at goblet squats. Glute ham raises if you have the equipment (you need to be able to wedge your feet).

Plus something I think extremely useful are TRX exercises (google 'trx leg exercises'). For TRX, if you are working out at home, its a really worthwhile purchase. The original ones cost about $200 but I prefer single straps (ie you have two straps with the ring at the end). If you google 'TRX alternatives' you can find some cheaper options. You can do a lot of TRX exercises with just a rope to hold onto eg single leg squats. The benefit of TRX style exercises is that they are all body weight and you need minimal equipment and they dont cause back issues. Sure you wont get powerlifter strong doing them, but you can get a pretty good workout.

Dont forget your glutes - bridges, clams and so forth.

The best thing is to read up, there is a heap of info around. I suggest the following: Tony Gentilcore, Nick Tuminello, Stuart McGill (back doctor), Bret Contreras, Harold Gibbons and Eric Cressey. Not everything they say/do will be relevant, but between them you can come up with a lot of information and understand what you are doing and why. And if you go the TRX route, then there are heaps of websites.

Finally, working on a computer creates a hunched thoracic (upper) spine. Surfing is actually a great way to prevent this, but its also important to keep the spine mobile. Sitting all day also causes glute weakness and tight hip flexors. It might take a few years to be noticeable, but it happens to everyone. So start early with glutes and hip flexor stretching.

Good luck - whether or not it helps your surfing I dont know, but I'm a firm believer that doing any exercise is worthwhile.

If you want the Exercises i do also involve the TRX if anyone is interested feel free to PM me or ask here.

dtc,

Thanks for the tips above, ill check out names u threw up

The lower back ache from time to time is not stopping me surfing and personally i wont let it im only 25 and alot of surfing years ahead of me.. best to strengthen the core and muscles that were damaged slowly.

going to try this tonight!

Yeah, very nice tips. TRX exercises are awesome.
Generally, I do exercises for stability like dead bugs, hollow rocks, box jumps and overhead squats. This strengthens the core.
There is one exercise I like most: kayaking with barbell. I have a lot more core and back musculature now!

All of the above are great recommendations. I'd also suggest burpees or pop-ups in your routine and investing in a Carver skateboard with the C7 trucks...

These are some of the workouts or land exercises that you can do to improve you surfing skills Russian Twist, Split Squat Twist, Stability Ball Balance Chop and Stability Ball Push-Up

Workout is not a bad thing but it wont improve your surfing, indo board, skate boarding would help a bit but you have to understand surfing is a very technical activity, get technical dvd and books and repeat each step of each basic move (for exemple a bottom turn has at least 3 stages) and visualize. Watch a footage of Fanning in small waves (a great technician imo) and analyse it. If you are a young beginer getting more muscles should not be your priority, stretching and studying surfing technics should.

Nice thread resurrection xD

Open car door, or get off bike, stretch by taking surfboard off racks.
Do the full set of rubber yoga asanas , taking off clothes and putting on wetsuit.
Deep bends with forward friction in circular motion, applying wax.
Walking purposefully down beach.
Finally one last thing ending land portion of exercises direct leap into surf.

Sorry for posting, nice forum.

Don't be sorry Towel circus, it's a forum please feel free to continue contributing.
What you said this thread and the others is valid, and more observations just add to the mix.
From reading your posts I think you have a lot to offer the forum, keep posting and laughing with us

I get quite touchy sometimes, dont worry about that.