Surf Fitness- Evaluate your fitness!
Just the Title of this post can be discouraging to some people. They may think they need to be in shape to try out surfing, and if they do a deep dive into their fitness, they may lose hope. However, learning the basics, like taking a surfboard out into the water, laying down on it, and simply riding in on one's stomach, is good enough to start out with. A person does not have to be in perfect shape or stand up to start taking lessons. But- if a person has any significant medical history, they should seek professional medical advice before taking lessons or starting out.
Learning how to surf is an exciting and rewarding adventure. Surfing is a sport that challenges your body and mind and offers you a unique connection with nature. However, surfing is also physically demanding and requires a certain fitness level to perform well and avoid injuries. That's why it's essential to evaluate your fitness before you start surfing and follow a surf-specific training program to help you improve your skills and enjoy the sport more.
Why is fitness important for surfing? Surfing involves a lot of different movements and skills, such as paddling, popping up, turning, duck diving, balancing, and more. All these movements require strength, power, endurance, flexibility, balance, coordination, and agility. If you lack any of these components of fitness, you will have a hard time surfing effectively and safely.
For example, if you have poor upper body strength, you will need help to paddle fast and catch waves. If you have low endurance, you will get tired quickly and lose focus. If you have limited flexibility, you will have difficulty performing pop-ups and turns. If you have good balance, you will stay on your board more often. And if you have low agility, you will be slow to react to changing conditions and hazards.
By evaluating your fitness before you start surfing, you can identify your strengths and weaknesses and work on improving them. This will make surfing more accessible and fun for you, prevent injuries, and enhance your health and well-being.
How to evaluate your fitness for surfing?
There are many ways to evaluate your fitness for surfing, but one of the simplest and most effective methods is to perform a series of tests that measure the main components of fitness that are relevant to surfing. These tests can be done at home or in a gym with minimal equipment. Here are some examples of tests that you can do:
-Upper body strength: How many push-ups can you do in one minute? Push-ups are a great indicator of your upper body strength, especially for your chest, shoulders, arms, and core muscles. These muscles are essential for paddling, popping up, duck diving, and turning on the board.
Lower body strength: How many squats can you do in one minute? Squats are a great indicator of your lower body strength, especially for your legs, hips, and glutes. These muscles are important for balance, stability, and power on the board.
-Endurance: How long can you run or swim without stopping? Running or swimming are excellent indicators of your cardiovascular endurance, which is your ability to sustain physical activity for an extended period. Endurance is vital for surfing, as you must paddle for long distances or against strong currents, catch multiple waves in a session, and recover quickly between sets.
-Flexibility: How far can you reach forward with your legs straight? This simple test measures your hamstring flexibility, which is your ability to stretch the back of your legs. Hamstring flexibility is vital for surfing, as it affects your ability to perform pop-ups and turns smoothly and efficiently.
Balance: How long can you stand on one leg with closed eyes? This simple test measures your static balance, which is your ability to maintain your posture without moving. Static balance is essential for surfing, as it helps you stay on the board when there are no waves or when the water is calm.
-Agility: How fast can you run around four cones arranged in a square? This simple test measures your agility, which is your ability to change direction quickly and accurately. Agility is important for surfing; it helps you react to changing wave conditions and avoid obstacles or hazards.
These tests are just examples of how you can evaluate your fitness for surfing. You can modify them according to your preferences or abilities. The main idea is to measure the aspects of fitness that are most relevant for surfing performance.
How to improve your fitness for surfing?
Once you have evaluated your fitness for surfing, you will have a better idea of what areas you need to work on. The next step is to follow a surf-specific training program that will help you improve those areas and prepare you for the challenges of surfing.
A surf-specific training program should include exercises that mimic your movements and skills in the water. For example:
-To improve your upper body strength, you can do exercises such as push-ups (or variations), chin-ups (or variations), landmine exercises (or variations), or lunge with overhead press (or variations).
-To improve your lower body strength, you can do exercises such as squats (or variations), jump squats (or variations), single-leg squats (or variations), or Bulgarian split squats (or variations).
-To improve your endurance, you can do exercises such as running (or variations), swimming (or variations), cycling (or variations), or rowing (or variations).
-To improve your flexibility, you can do exercises such as yoga (or variations), pilates (or variations), stretching (or variations), or foam rolling (or variations).
-To improve your balance, you can do exercises such as standing on one leg (or variations), bosu ball exercises (or variations), balance board exercises (or variations), or surf skate exercises (or variations).
-To improve your agility, you can do exercises such as cone drills (or variations), ladder drills (or variations), agility rings (or variations), or agility hurdles (or variations).
These exercises are just examples of how you can improve your fitness for surfing. You can find more detailed instructions and videos on performing them online. You can also consult a personal trainer or a surf coach who can design a customized program based on your goals and needs.
The key is to be consistent, challenge yourself, and have fun. Remember that fitness is not a destination but a journey. You will always find new ways to improve and grow as a surfer and as a person.
These days I have a saying for myself- "Find my weakness and fix it!"
Happy surfing!
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