2012 Surf Fitness Training

2012 Surf Fitness Training- "Prehab" or "corrective" exercises will become more popular as part of surf fitness training programs.

 

In recent years there has been a big emphasis on "correct exercise" science in strength and conditioning circles. If we can keep clients injury free and moving effectively, then their performance will improve and they can train harder.

 

Foam rolling, mobility exercises, and activation exercises are all ways of helping improve movement patterns to enhance performance.

 

 

Want to see what kind of corrective exercises you should be incorporating in your surf training program? Check out the links below...

 

Free your tight muscles with self myofascial release...

http://surfnsnowfitness.com/perform-better-with-self-myofascial-release/

 

Improve your upper back mobility and take the pressure off your lower back... 

http://surfnsnowfitness.com/thoracic-mobility-exercises-for-surfers/

 

Loosen your hips and enhance your performance... 

http://surfnsnowfitness.com/hip-mobility-exercises-for-surf-snow-sports/

 

 

You are only as strong as your weakest link, so it's time to start fixing your imbalances with corrective exercises in your surf training program.   

 

 

Make 2012 your fittest year yet!

Functional Core Training

Functional Core Training will continue to increase in popularity as mainstream personal trainers are slowly starting to catch on that there is more to core training that just hammering out a few hundred situps.

 

Here are the types of core training exercises you should be doing...

 

• Anti-rotation - you need to be able to resist rotational forces acting on your body in order to remain stable when surfing or doing any other sporting activity.
• Rotary power training - you also need to be able to generate rotational forces using your hips, while protecting your lower back from too much movement.
• Dynamic core stability exercises - you need to move and at the same time keep stable through your trunk to transfer the force from the ground up through your body.

 

Want more core training information and exercises? Check out the links below... 

 

Assess your core stability with this quick test...

http://surfnsnowfitness.com/trunk-stability-pushup-test/

 

Build rotary power with these core exercises...

http://surfnsnowfitness.com/rotational-core-exercises/

 

I challenge you to try this core complex in your next workout...

http://surfnsnowfitness.com/core-complex-finisher/

 

 

Core training should be a solid foundation of your training program, so make sure you are building a strong stable core in your surf workouts

 

 

Improve your paddling efficiency.

If you want to paddle on your surfboard more efficiently and take the pressure off your lower back, then you need to have good thoracic spine mobility.

The position of your body when you are paddling on your surfboard means your back is in an extended position putting pressure on your lower back. But you can minimize this pressure by extending more from your thoracic spine to take the pressure off your lumbar spine.

If your upper back can arch a bit better, you can paddle more efficiently and it can also help prevent your neck from having to extend so much as well.

Check out these 2 exercises to improve thoracic mobility..

Thoracic Spine Mobility Exercises For Surfers

Thoracic Extension on Foam Roller

• Lie on your back with a foam roller placed under your upper back.
• Holding your hands on the back of your head, arch back slowly and gently over the roller.
• Lean forwards again and move the roller up your back just a little then repeat the process.
• Keep moving the roller up your spine little by little until you have done your whole thoracic spine (don’t go up to your neck, or down to your lower back).

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Kneeling Thoracic Spine Extension-Rotation

• Start on all fours with one hand behind your head and your core braced to prevent movement through your lower back.
• Reach your elbow down towards your opposite knee and then extend back up and try and point your elbow towards the ceiling.
• Repeat this for 8-10 repetitions then repeat on the other side.

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The problem is, a lot of us have pretty poor posture due to sitting in front of computers all day, so our upper backs and shoulders are usually rounded forward too far, which decreases the mobility of our thoracic spine, and makes extending our upper back when paddling that much harder.

The solution - Improve your upper back extension and rotation with a couple of exercises you can do at home or add to your workouts.

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Hopefully these can help improve your posture, combat lower back and neck fatigue and help you paddle more efficiently.

For more click on the banner above.

Diet Tips for Surfers

. Plan and prepare your meals in advance

 

Yes it's simple, but how many of you actually do it?

 

If spend a few minutes each week planning your meals and even preparing your lunches, snacks, etc, in advance, you would be able to get leaner and stronger faster than ever.

 

Here are a few things I do to help plan and prepare my eating in advance...

 

• Write down what I am going to eat for the week and then base my shopping list on that
  
• Chop a salad the night before to have with my lunch (I normally have a big tuna or chicken salad)
• Always have plenty of fruit and unsalted nuts available for snacks
  
• Take a water bottle with me everywhere so I always have something to drink and don't need to buy soft drink
• Make extra for dinner to take for lunch the next day or to put in the freezer for another meal when you don't have time to cook
• Make sure I have plenty of fresh vegetables to have with my meals
• Don't keep any potato chips, or junk food at home, so that way I am not tempted to eat it
  

 

They are just a few tips you could use to help plan and prepare your meals in advance.

 

You might also benefit from using a food diary to record what you are eating. This way it might force you to take more notice of your diet.

 

If you want to clean up your diet and get lean, strong and fit, have a go at planning your meals in advance this week.

 

 

 

The same rule also applies for your fitness training - You need to plan your workouts in advance!

 

Luckily you don't need to prepare the workouts, because I have done that for you. All you need to do is download them...

Improve your Body Stability

1. Base of Support

By decreasing your base of support during an exercise you are making things more unstable and hence forcing your body to compensate by working harder to stabilize. For standing exercises (eg dumbbell shoulder press) the easiest way to achieve this is to stand on one leg instead of two. Sometimes it might even be enough to move your legs closer together (for example in a swiss ball pushup) to increase the stability challenge.

For exercises where your arms form a base of support (eg front plank), you can decrease your base of support by raising one arm off the ground.

Unstable Surface Training – The other way to manipulate your base of support is through the use of unstable surfaces. By performing exercises on equipment like a swiss ball, balance board or suspension trainer you can increase the degree of instability and train your joints to stabilize more effectively.

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2. Vision

Your vision can also be used to your advantage when training stability. I’m sure you have come across times when surfing and your vision is not optimal (such as a barrel crashing over your head) or when you are snowboarding or skiing during a whiteout and can’t see properly. Well either way you need to maintain your stability during these situations. And you can train this the same way.

Close your eyes – Performing an exercise with your eyes closed is a guaranteed way to increase the challenge and improve your stability. Stand up and have a go at performing a single leg squat with your eyes closed.

Looking up – This is another cool way to manipulate your stability. Stand on one leg then look up at the ceiling and notice how your ankle and knee will start to move around a bit. You can try this from time to time with other exercise for an extra stability challenge.

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3. Movement Complexity

By increasing the movement complexity of  an exercise we can also challenge stability. For example a 180 degree jump squat has a greater movement complexity than a regular jump squat and therefore you will need a greater amount of stability to land correctly and stabilize.

This can also apply to manipulating your centre of mass (or centre of gravity). For example if you perform a split squat and simultaneously lift a dumbbell up and across your body this will change your centre of mass throughout the exercise and cause your body to work harder to keep stable.

Once you are comfortable with an exercise, you can always look for new ways to add to the complexity and therefore increase the stability demands on your body.

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Hopefully you can see how these 3 variables can be manipulated to train your total body stability.

By incorporating more instability into your surf and snow workouts you can be sure that your joints will become more stable and and your performance will improve

How To Assess The Stability Of Your Trunk Muscles

The following simple test is used to determine your ability to stabilize your spine using your core and trunk muscles.

This is important for protecting your lower back from injury and improving your performance in the surf and snow by allowing optimal force transfer from your upper to lower body without a breakdown in your core.

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The Test

To perform the test you will lie face down on the ground in a pushup position with your hands shoulder width apart.

Next, place your hands as per the scoring chart below and press up into a pushup position.

Your trunk should come up as one unit without your lower back sagging.

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Scoring – Males

Excellent – Press up with your thumbs in line with your forehead

Pass -  Press up with your thumbs in line with your chin

Fail – Unable to press up with your thumbs in line with your chin

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Scoring – Females

Excellent – Press up with your thumbs in line with your chin

Pass -  Press up with your thumbs in line with your collar bone

Fail – Unable to press up with your thumbs in line with your collar bone

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Clearing Test

This final test is done to assess if you have any potential lower back issues that may require further treatment.

Lie face down and keeping your hips on the floor, press your upper body up off the ground as high as you can.  If you feel any pain in your lower back you may need to get it further assessed by a professional.

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Hopefully this quick test has helped you identify if you have any weakness in your ability to stabilize your core.

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If you think you need to improve your core and trunk stability to protect your back from injury and enhance your surf or snow performance, download one of our functional training programs which have lots of great core exercises to help improve your stability and strength.

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How To Keep Progressing Your Surf and Snow Workouts

By increasing the challenge of your exercises and workouts you will keep your body guessing and make sure your body continues to adapt by getting fitter and stronger.

If you don’t continually increase the challenge, you can hit a plateau where your body will become used to your training and not progress any further.

That is why I encourage everyone to change their workout routine at least every 4 weeks to make sure you can keep improving your surf or snow sport performance.

There are several variables you can alter in order to increase the challenge of an exercise. Some of these variables you probably manipulate already, while others you might want to start having a go at in your workouts.

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1. Load / Weight – This is one of the most common ways to increase the intensity of an exercise. Simply increase the load by adding more weight or resistance to the exercise.

For example when doing a dumbbell squat, simply hold a heavier set of dumbbells.

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2. Repetitions – Increasing the amount of repetitions in a set is the other most common way to increase the challenge.

For example when doing a dumbbell squat, do 15 repetitions instead of 10.

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3. Tempo / Speed – Changing the tempo or speed of an exercise can also increase the challenge. By slowing down an exercise you can increase your muscle’s “time under tension” which will make them work harder. Conversely, if you speed up an exercise into more of an explosive movement this can also increase the challenge by forcing your muscles to work harder by producing the same force but over a smaller time frame.

For example when doing a dumbbell squat, you could do a slow 5 second lowering and 5 seconds to stand back up. Alternatively you could squat down and then explode up as fast as you can increasing the power output. Both of these would increase the challenge of the exercise.

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4. Density – You can alter the density of an exercise in a number of ways to increase the challenge. First you can do more sets of the exercise. Secondly you can decrease the rest period between sets. Altering both of these variable means you will be doing more work in a lesser time frame, therefore increasing the density and challenge of the exercise.

For example with a dumbbell squat you could increase from 2 to 3 sets and change the rest between sets from 60 seconds back to 30 seconds.

5. Exercise Complexity – By increasing the complexity of the exercise you can also increase the intensity. You can increase the complexity of an exercise by adding in more complex movements or even combining different exercises into one. This can challenge the body from both a biomechanical and neurological standpoint.

For example with the dumbbell squat you could increase the complexity by holding the dumbbells at shoulder level and adding a push press above your shoulders at the top of each squat repetition.

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6. Instability – Changing the stability of an exercise is also a great way to increase the challenge. You can change the instability by going from double to single leg, closing your eyes or even standing on a balance board or BOSU.

For example you could do a dumbbell squat standing on a BOSU or balance board to make it more unstable and challenge your body’s ability to perform the exercise.

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Conclusion

Hopefully you can see that there are lots of ways to increase the challenge of an exercise. Next time you do a workout have a go at changing these variables and see you it affects the intensity of the workout.

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Exercises To Enhance Your Rotational Power

Twisting, turning and rotating are all important movements for surf and snow sports, and therefore rotational training should play a part in your workouts. In the video below I am going to show you some core training exercises you need to master to build a solid rotational foundation.

By building your rotary core stability and strength you will be able to ride with more stability and perform more powerful turns and maneuvers. The exercises below are either target at developing rotational “stability” or rotational “strength.”

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Today I am going to give you some balance exercises to try

Today I am going to give you some balance exercises to try

Surfing is a sport which obviously requires a high level of balance due to the nature of the unstable surface (waves) that you surf on.

In order to improve your balance and in turn your surfing ability, there are a number of simple exercises which can further develop your balance.

These exercises train the muscles which are responsible for your balancing ability, which includes your core muscles (abs and lower back) and also the muscles through your hips.

To do these exercises you will need a stability (exercise) ball. Make sure you have
enough room so you are not going to fall off onto anything.

1. Stability Ball Balance - Kneel on the ball with your hands out to the sides for balance. Try and stay on the ball for 30 seconds without falling off. To get up, balance on your hands and knees and then remove one hand at a time from the ball.
If balancing on your knees is too easy, try balancing on one knee and one foot, or
closing your eyes. 

2. Stability Ball Balance Circles - Kneel on the ball and hold an object that weighs 3-5 kgs (eg medicine ball, weight plate). Hold the ball out at arms length and rotate it in big circles whilst maintaining your balance. Do this for 30 seconds.

3. Balance Throw & Catch - Kneel on the stability ball and throw a basketball or medicine ball against a wall so you catch it on the rebound. Test yourself by throwing it at different angles.

Balance Board Exercises

Squat Holds - If you have a balance board, try squat holds. To do these, stand on the balance board with feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart, then squat down and hold with your thighs parallel to the ground for 5 seconds. Stand back up and repeat for 10 reps. This will help your balance and leg strength.

Balance is only one fitness component that is important in your overall fitness for surfing. For the complete strength and conditioning program for Surfers, get a copy of Total Surfing Fitness...

Do Your Workouts Include These 5 Components?

Do Your Workouts Include These 5 Components?

To make sure you are covering all your bases with your training, you need to be including all 5 of the following components into your workout. If you include all of these you are going to enhance your surf and snow performance in record time…

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1. FOAM ROLLING

I recommend everyone should start their workout with a few minutes of Self Myofascial Release (SMR)otherwise known as foam rolling.

This is a great way to massage your muscles and improve the tissue quality so that your muscles will work more effectively during the workout. It can also help promote mobility and flexibility in your muscles.

2. DYNAMIC WARMUP

The second and perhaps most important part of your workout is the Dynamic Warmup as it will help prepare your body for the strength exercises that follow. There are also some added benefits such as improving mobility and ironing out any muscle or postural imbalances.

Your dynamic warmup should include the following…

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Corrective Exercises – These will help improve common muscle and postural imbalances. For example exercises to improve the movement at your thoracic spine, which is a common problem as most people will tend to move more from their lumbar spine increasing the risk of back injury.

Mobility Exercises – These exercises will help enhance your ability to actively move through a full range of motion which will directly improve your movement patterns in your chosen sport helping you to be more efficient, expend less energy and reduce your injury risk.

Activation Exercises – These will help turn on any dormant muscles so that when you are performing the strength exercises your muscles are more likely to fire in the correct sequence. For example many people have underactive glutes so that when they perform squat and lunge movements they become quad dominant. By performing glute activation exercises you can fire up the muscles so they will switch on and be used correctly when needed.

3. FUNCTIONAL STRENGTH

The main part of your workout is the functional strength component and should include the following…

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Balance, Core Stability and Rotational Core Exercises - Stability is extremely important for any surf or snow sport athlete and therefore needs to be adequately trained. Exercises should be included that challenge your balance and core stability. In addition, as surf and snow sports require lots of rotational movements, you need to train both rotational stability and rotational power.

Multi-joint Exercises – The focus of your strength training should be on multi-joint exercises that use multi-planar movements (the 3 planes of movement). Gone are the days of doing isolated body building exercises. Instead you need to be doing compound movements like Squatting, Lunging, Lifting, Pushing (horizontal and vertical) and Pulling (horizontal and vertical).

Power Exercises – You will also benefit from including some power exercises which are basically strength exercises performed explosively (eg squat jumps).

4. ENERGY SYSTEM TRAINING (EST)

Energy System Training refers to the cardiovascular component of the workout. This can be done after the functional strength training part of your workout, or depending on time you may choose to split it up and do it on a different day, alternating days between strength and cardio.

The most effective way to train your energy systems is with High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) as it has been scientifically proven to significantly improve both your Aerobic (with oxygen – for more sustained efforts) and Anaerobic (without oxygen – more short burst energy) energy systems simultaneously.

Using High Intensity Interval Training also allows you to do a shorter workout and produce better resultswhen compared to traditional cardio training. However sometimes you may still want to perform other more traditional forms of cardio for variety because High Intensity Interval Training is just plain hard work and you may not want to do it all the time.

5. STATIC STRETCHING

Old school static stretching has it’s place at the very end of your workout. Stretching will help your muscles recover and promote increases in flexibility. Static stretching can also be done everyday and anytime of the day (not just with exercise). In fact to make good gains in flexibility it is better to stretch frequently so your muscles will stay lengthened and not revert back to being short and tight.

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So there you have it, my checklist for the perfect workout. How do your workouts compare?For more click on the Banner

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