Fitness tips imrpove your surfing
There are a couple of physical aspects that are crucial to surfing and this is what we are going to focus on .
(a) Arms (for paddling)
(b) Abs (the stronger your stomach the faster you are at surfing)
(c) Legs (want to really rip you need Powerful legs)
(d) Lungs (from big wave guyz to newbies holing your breathe can be pretty important espically if you mess up and get held down)
Okay before we start on one of the individual sections a note on cross training.
You are not always going to be able to surf so try and cross train a little bit. The fitter your body is the better surfer you will be become plus the fact that chicks will dig you and you'll get all the health benefits as well. Try these sports as well as surfing.
Swimming: Obivously swimming will help your surfing try and practise in the sea rather than the pool as this will get you in tune with the ocean and prepare you for surfing.
Running: Still the best exercise out there . I know for some of you it's a pain but it's the best way to a healthy fit heart.Try to do it out the beach as the sand will give you legs a better workout and there will also be less impact in the joints in the soft sand. Run on the compact sand near the water
Arms
If you want to have strong arms buy a set of dumbells. These can be used to work out your entire upper boddy as well as you arms. You can buy a 2nd hand for nothing and they will help a great deal.
Here are some workouts you can do with dumbells and weights to improre your upper body and paddling.
(1)The dumbell row: Pick up one dumbell in you left or right hand. Lean forward and support yourself on your free hand. Keep your back straight. Dont let your shoulders hang down Slowly pull the dumbell upwards, keeping your arm close to your body. Change sides after every set. Use a weight your are comfortable with useually a 5kg dumbell should work for most people. Do as many sets as you can. Do this exercise 3x a week.
(2)Lying triceps extension: This one is excellant for paddling. Try do this with a light weight and do like 300 reps as you want your muscle to be fitter so you can paddle longer. Do this 2x a week and then 1 day with heavier weight to build muscle say choose a weight that you can only do 15 reps on. Heres how to do this exercise. Lie on a weight bench(or anything so that your arms can move freely behind your head) and raise a light barbell over your chest(keeping your back straigh). The lower the bar down behind your head in a semi-circular motion, until your upper arms are parallel to the ground.
(3)Front shoulder press:You will need a pair of dumbells in both hands again to the same as above 2x with lighter weight and 1 day with heavier.This exercise is good for working you upper body and shoulder for better paddling. Sit with your back sraight and slowly liift the dumbells upwards until the bars almost touch each other. Start with your palms facing inward, then when your upper arms reach the level of your shoulders, rotate you palms forward.
Final note: Okay i know a lot of you out there won't own weights or have accsess to a gym. Maybe you just find weight yo much hassle . Well an excellant exercise for paddling and one you can do alone or with the weights programm is press up. Do a certaion amount every night. Set yorself a goal say 50 a night for first 2 weeks then build on it. If you are a beginner surfer it really helps to have a done a bit of work on your arms as you will be doing a lot of paddling. As alwyaz the best exercise to work your paddling muscles is actually geting out there and surf. So go out and surf every day!!!
Abs
The stronger your stomach the faster you are at surfing. The most successful atheletes realize the importance of stong abdominal muscles. The surfer who is faster stronger and lighter can credit strong abs. Surfing requires the usage of every ab muscles 90% of the time your out in the water. The source of power doesn't come from you legs, arms and back; instead it comes from the center of your body. The next time you surf, concentrate on how much you use yor abs. Before you set your bottom turn and before you initiate a cutback, the first muscles that you'll use are your abs. If you concentrate on strenghting this force, your surfing will be faster and more powerful than you can imagine.
So how do you accomplish this, young grasshopper? Just pay attention to the master and i will guide uoi.
1. Start with 50 reps on your lower abs.
2. Follow with 50 reps on your upper abs.
3. The do 60 reps of the oblique sit ups on each side.
Do this every other day and each time increase your reps by 10. You will eventually work your way up to 200 reps on your lower abs and 200 on your upper. Additionaly you will work up to 300 on each side. And there you have it. You will be doing 1000 crunches a day like a champ.
How to do do each cruch
Lower abs. Place your hands under neath your ass while lying down straight. The left your body up. You should feel the pressure on your lower abs.
Upper abs. Place the soles of your feet togeter while lying down flat. your Knees should be raised and legs sticking out to the side. PLace you hands behind you head interlocking them and bring your body upward. You should feel the pressure on your upper abs.
Note: Lower and upper abs work together to provide a power boost for faster turns. They are key in providing speed and power in your bottom turns and carves. Lower and upper abs are also great for rollercosting down the line. They are very important for generating speed.
oblique sit ups: Lie on your side lift your leg not on the ground up in the air. Place your arm which is closest to the ground across your abs. The move your body upwards you should feel the pressure on your side abs.
Legs
Your legs are course important to your surfing. The best exercise for them is actually surfing but here are a couple of easy to do exercise yo improve their fitness.
Run: runnning will help build up all your legs muscles. Try to run on the beach where possibel.
Cavles situp: Get up on an object higher than the ground say a chair and let your feet hand over the edge with only your toes on the edge try and raise yourself using only your feet and claves you should really feel the burn on the back of you legs.
Sideways lunge: Place a barbell on your shoulders and grip it broadly. Then, while keeping your back straight, holding your chest out and pulling your stomach in, take a step forwards(slightly skweing towards the right). Hold that position breifly, then go back. Change sides after every set
Toe raises: Sit with your knees bent, place a weight on your toes (keeping your back straight). Slowly raise your toes hold that postion for a second, the lower them down again in a controlled fashion.
Lungs
When you duck dive, or get held down you have to be able to hold your breathe. Surfing is a dangerous activity sometimes and to ensure you safety you want to have strong lungs so you can handle being under water for a amount of time.
Swimming: If you have accees to a pool practise swimming under water. Do 25m lenghts under water. Also just practise holding your breathe by going under water and timming yourself.
Hold you breathe outside: Time yourself. See how long you can hold your breath for and try to improce that.
Disclaimer: You do all stuff entirly at your own risk offshore does not accept any responisblity be careful doing weight, surfing etc.
