Surfing Exercises for Fitness
Many new and intermediate surfers want to know Surfing Exercises for Fitness. It becomes clear to everyone who begins or ventures into the water with a surfboard that you can always be more fit. In fact, it becomes clear that fitness is one of the necessary paths to progress.
Surfing demands upper body and lower body strength. It demands flexibility. Finally, stamina determines how long you can practice or surf. If you want to paddle to the outside and surf real waves on a big day, fitness is a minimum requirement.
Surfing Exercises to Improve Fitness
Surfing is a full body sport. That means that we have to exercise to build muscle and eat properly to feed growth and recovery. Building muscle increases stamina. Muscles grow and retain more glucose so that the next time they are exercised they can exercise longer or more intensely.
Surfers don’t aim to build bulk. They want lean so they are not heavier in the water. Surfboards sink under weight so paddling is easier if your weight is not too heavy for the volume of your surfboard. Surfers want lean. Building muscle through repetition creates the desired effect.
Weight, duration, and intensity can be increased as fitness improves. Intensity can be added to any exercise with more speed, short bursts of energy, and shorter recovery times between exertions. So this model can be used for weight training, running, biking, treadmills, swimming, and hiking.
Basic exercises for surfing include squats, deadlifts, burpies, pushups, planks, chest presses, and most exercises with cables. These build muscle and flexibility. Aerobics improve both stamina and recovery. Stretching is important to improve maneuverability and prevent injury.
Advanced surfers will get into plyometrics for increased power. Exercises like jumping on to a short wall from a standing position. Any exercises that exercise one leg at a time like one legged squats or leaning over like an airplane balanced on one leg improves strength.
Properly feeding the muscles before and after exercise is important. Muscles need fuel for building. They also need rest. It is important not to over exercise because muscles build during rest. Exercises that include lots of reps with minimum weights compared to total one lift capacity or are slow but long don’t need as much recovery time.
Balancing the exercise routines and combining them with water time will create improving fitness and enhanced performance. Not to mention more fun time in the water.
Learn More
The e-book Overweight People Can Surf is $5.99 on Amazon
This is a great fitness guide for beginners to exercise or those who want to improve their fitness.
