All athletes need to have a structured workout in order to perform at their best-regardless of the sport. For surfer exercises, overall body strength is a must, and in this guide, we’ll cover the basics of getting your workout planned and structured with five surf-specific exercises. These can be done in a gym or at home with minimal equipment, and will help you build strong shoulders and back while creating core strength.
The more functional your training is, the stronger you are going to be in natural situations-both while training and in normal, everyday activities. You’ll find out the importance of warming up before exercising, how often to train, where to start if you are a beginner, and surfing exercises to get you into peak shape.
Surfer Exercises: Warm up Before (and After)
Everyone who works out should always do 5-10 minutes of warm-up exercises before and after working out. They are critical to the effectiveness of an exercise, and before you even consider running or utilizing the gym machines, you should do a warm-up and a few stretches — but why are they so important?
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Improve Flexibility
Stretching should be performed in addition to routine warm-ups. There are no downfalls to it – it helps increase blood flow to your muscles while keeping your body flexible and ready for anything.
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Mentally Prepare
Warming up helps get your head in the game: mentally, you’re giving yourself a few minutes before you start crushing it to loosen up your body as well as mentally prepare for the work to come. Not everyday you’ll want to work out, and those few minutes before starting you can psyche yourself up and go for it.
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Ready to GO
Gym equipment and machines for muscle building are a terrific way to work out – not being limbered up before starting up, however, can put you out of working order weather quickly.
Warming up ensures that both your body and mind are in the proper state to use gym equipment, lowering your chance of injury.
Surfer Exercises: How Often Should you Train?
What do pro surfers do? Generally, their schedules are five to six days of training and three days of working out. It’s always a good idea to give your body at least one rest day after a full week of surfing. Of course, surfing is almost always dictated by the weather, and you’ll need to take that into consideration when planning your training.
Remember, it takes a lot to learn as to surf and ride huge waves—it’s not as similar as grabbing a board and paddling out into the deep waters. Like anything, it takes time and effort to learn, as anything else. Let’s look a these tips for beginners:
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Learn From the Pros
As a beginner, you’ll need to always be with an experienced surfer and learn from the pros. Never, ever go surfing by yourself, no matter how easy it appears, until you have enough experience under your belt.
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Surf a First-Timers Wave
Once you find an instructor or join a surfing group and find someone to teach you, finding the perfect beach is the next step. Most likely, your teacher will know the perfect spot. If you learn to surf in a location recognized for having nice, consistent waves, and the entire learning process will go more smoothly. Always start with smaller waves and work your way up to bigger ones—even if you think you’re ready, unless your teacher says you are, you aren’t.
7 Surfer Exercises For You
1. Agility Ladder Runs
To perform this exercise, layout an agility ladder on the ground. Start from the first rung, step with your right foot into it, step back out to the left side of the ladder, then step in with your left foot into the next rung. Continue in this pattern until you have completed all rungs in the ladder, then do it all over gain, increasing your speed. There are many types of drills, so try a few out and see what works best for you.
2. Squat Jumps
Squat Jumps are next on the list. Start with feet shoulder-width apart, hands behind your head. Squat down until your upper legs are parallel with the floor. Then stretch up into the air as high as you can while keeping everything else in place. Land softly and repeat.
3. Step Climbing
Do this exercise for 10 minutes at a time (set a timer on your phone or computer if you have to!). If you can’t do 10 minutes at first, start with 2 minutes and work your way up. You can do this every day, or just 3 times per week if you prefer.
Start with both feet on the floor. Step onto the step with one foot, and then bring the other foot up to meet it. Step back down with the same foot you stepped up with first, and then bring the other foot down to the floor. Do this as fast as you can—you should feel like you are walking upstairs very quickly!
4. Push-Ups
During your pop-up, you’re basically performing a fast push-up in the water. By performing push-ups on dry land, you can build up the shoulder strength you need. A hardcore goal for many is completing 100 push-ups –if you can do that, you’ll be well on your way to being a great surfer.
5. Plank
Having a strong core is imperative for anyone looking to learn hoe to surfing. It’s not that well known, but the second you’re on the board you’re engaging your core and the plank engages your core, similar to balancing or standing up on your surfboard. If you can hold a plank for 5 minutes, you’re going to notice having more balance on your board.
6. Running
You don’t have to train for a marathon, but running is a surefire way to level up your surfing skills. A couple of times a week, go for a run—you’ll be thrilled with your new-found fitness out in the waves. Just remember to stretch after!
And here you are, ready to dive into your surfing training -what are you waiting for?! Adding these workouts to your training are perfect for your overall health, while maintaining your surfing fitness on the days you can’t get out to the waves.
Thinking about taking up extreme sports? Then try out a few and see what clicks with you!
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