Surf Workouts. A 5 point checklist.

5 Point Workout Checklist

TOTAL SURFING FITNESS

by Clayton Beatty

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?

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Surfing Core Exercise

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If you really want to challenge your core stability you need to be doing exercises that force your body out of balance. This way you are training your muscles to bring your self back into a balanced position. As balance and stability are important for surfing, make sure you include stability training in your workouts. 

If you are looking for some variety in training your core and balance, have a go at this exercise. It is great for building core strength and stability whilst challenging your balance.

Core Balance Circles

Stand on a BOSU or balance board and keeping your core braced draw big circles holding a weight plate or dumbbell (I use a 10kg weight plate).

Do 5-10 circles each direction. 

If you don't have a BOSU or balance board, try the exercise standing on one leg (and even try closing your eyes).

You will be surprised at what an effective core workout this will give you if you do it correctly.

Are you suffering from tight muscles?

If you are living an active lifestyle (I hope you are), then you may well be prone to having overactive or tight muscles.

To help manage this, I recommend you get yourself a foam roller and self massage several times per week.

Foam rolling helps break down the knots in your muscles, just like having a massage. All you do is simply roll over the tight muscles focusing on the knots or sore parts of the muscle.

I find it really helps with my hips flexors, as mine are always pretty tight, but the same principle applies to any muscle group.

I recommend every surfer get themselves a foam roller. You can purchase them from most fitness stores or online.

I Hope you got some good tips from this.

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1. Strength Training to Improve Your Upper Body Strength & Stability The first way to is build a solid base of strength and stability in your upper body. The key here is to keep your body and muscles in balance by targeting all of the major muscle groups, not just the ones you use the most when paddling. If you target certain muscles or movements more than others you increase the likelihood of creating a muscular imbalance which can lead to movement inefficiencies or musculoskeletal injuries. So try and do a mixture of exercises using each of the following 4 movement patterns: Vertical Pushing (eg. Single Arm Dumbbell Press, Swiss Ball Inverted Shoulder Press) Vertical Pulling (eg. Pull-ups, Chin-ups, Overhead Band Pulls) Horizontal Pushing (eg. Swiss Ball Chest Press, BOSU Push-ups) Horizontal Pulling (eg. Dumbbell Plank Row, TRX Inverted Row) You also need to keep your joints stable and for paddling this means stable shoulders. Exercises like YTW Raises are really good for helping to keep your shoulder joints stable and preventing shoulder issues. 2 - Swimming to Improve Your Shoulder Endurance If you have access to a swimming pool or the ocean then this can be a great choice for when you can't get in the surf. Freestyle swimming uses similar muscles to paddling and is a great way to improve the endurance in your arms and shoulders. Try doing intervals, or even add duck diving into your laps. The Cardio Manual which comes with the Total Surfing Fitness package has some surf specific swimming workouts which you can get started with. 3. Practice Paddling at Home Using a Resistance Band Paddling against resistance using a resistance band is another great way to improve your upper body endurance. Try and use a fairly light resistance and if you have a swiss ball that will make a great surfboard alternative to lie on. The great thing about band paddling is that you can do it at home without getting wet, so there are no excuses! The Cardio Manual in the Total Surfing Fitness package also has some interval workouts with band paddling to help build your paddle fitness. 4. Do Some High Intensity Interval Training Cardio training using intervals is a great way to improve both your anaerobic and aerobic energy systems (both are important for surfing). Running, riding, boxing, rowing, skipping and bodyweight exercises like mountain climbers are all great for interval training. Try and include this type of training in your weekly schedule to help you out in the surf. I know I have some work to do, so will you join me getting back in surf shape? If you need a step-by-step plan of exactly what to do including workout frequency, exercises, sets, reps, cardio, stretching, plus more then Total Surfing Fitness is your action plan.

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