workouts for surfing?

Just bench press and ignore the rest of your body. You'll look super cool. HOW MUCH YA BENCH?!?!?!

Call me when you grow hair on your back and can bench more than 525 pencilnecks

 

I asked about the pros/cons of running for surfing. I have been running for recreation and exercise for about 6 years now (3-4 miles/day). It obviously has benefits for cardiovascular endurance, but was concerned if it had a bad effect on surfing down the road, especially when I get older with my joints.

Anyway, I found that combining running and trips to the gym to be the most effective for my surfing. I would sandwich the gym between my running days. If there are waves I'll substitute surfing for the gym. There are days where I'll feel really tired than the usual out in the water, even though my routine has not changed, and I attribute that to diet. At some point I'll start to pay closer attention to what I eat, but not now.

 

Diet will definitely play a big role in that, but so will exercising too hard the day before, or even two days before a surf session. I try to rest the day before or even two before a session depending on how big it's going to be out. If it's under head high it's usually not an issue, but when it's pumping out I like to have 100% of my strength and endurance, so backing off the throttle just before paddling out I think helps. If you surf daily then i'd simply cut back on the gym, it'll exaust your muscles before you even hit the beach.

 

Every spring, I paddle my local lake on my longboard in my winter suit. Great training. I feel great when I paddle out. Also, get a medicine ball and do sit-ups and throw the ball to someone to catch it. Repeat.

 

Glad u picked up a copy of that book. It's by far the best fitness book I have come across.

Joint problems due to running are caused by impact on the joints. I'm sure improper care for injuries account for a lot too. High impact activities like running have more damaging effects on your joints than a low impact activity like swimming or surfing. I'd be interested to see the number of muscle related injuries (strains, pulls and tears) versus joint related injuries (rolled ankles, blown knees or hyper extended extremities) in surfing. The best thing you can do to avoid injuries like that is REGULAR stretching. I would advise older guys 40+ look into glucosamine and gluetamine (sp?). Basically anything that promotes muscle regeneration and joint health.

I'm not questioning your insight on running but I think your views might be a little biased or polarized. But then again I only run if I'm being chased. Another good exercise to do is kock-ups do 5 a day for a week.

 

Mclovin

Try eating fruit or a granola bar or something with some complex carbs and or protein. Believe it or not, the Gatorade primes are great pre surf treats. Try switching up supplemental lifts. For example, instead of doing angle bar tricep pulldowns use a straight bar or do skull crushers instead. Just a simple lift change or lighter weight with more reps will help out with muscle endurance. If you get to a "stand still" strength wise after six weeks then do a completely different routine. Muscle memory will kick in if you hit the gym enough and you'll have to figure out another plan of attack.

 

You should read the article I posted. I am not biased, I have experience and have researched the topic. There is plenty of medical research into the effects of running on the body. Impact is not always bad for joints. Let's be honest, injuries are common in both running and surfing. However, in running, you can prevent all injuries by doing things the right way. You are in control of every part of the workout. In surfing, you cannot control the ocean, so even the most advanced surfer can be injured. I am not advocating one over another. I run 6 days a week and surf as much as possible. I just feel that the whole joint injury thing is blown out of proportion with running, and it tends to give people an excuse not to do it. Do it right, and the studies show that your joints will be in better shape than most non-runners. In all honesty, I don't care what anybody else does for exercise, as I have my own thing that works for me. I just like to stop the spread of misinformation.

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1948208,00.html
http://www.npr.org/2011/03/28/134861448/put-those-shoes-on-running-wont-kill-your-knees

 

Thanks for the tip. I normally do core exercises and mess around with dumbells just like you said, light weight with lots of repetitions. I never do anything that forces me to "grunt", hehehe. I haven't done a bench press in years.

 

Agreed, I stopped running for a while and I noticed my knees and legs went to sh*t, so I bought a nice pair of Brooks running shoes (the proper shoes make a world of difference) and started jogging / running after work each day and have noticeably improved my knee and leg issues and am in much better shape now that I incorprated this back in to my routine.

 

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Keeping your budget and time in mind: Insanity. 40-60 minutes a day and $40-50 from a quitter on craigslist. All you need for insanity is motivation and some cold water; no equipment. People spending $200+ a month on a crossfit membership are just fawking stupid. I've never done it, but I would put insanity (and myself) up against any crossfit workout.
I'm currently doing a mix of P90x (1-2/week), Insanity (1-3/week) and Running (3-10 mile runs, 1-3/week). When theres surf, I surf. If I know its going to be big, I take the day before off.
Also stay active with other things: hiking, mtn biking, indoor rockclimbing, cutting firewood, etc, but I don't count it into my workout routine.
As others have mentioned, I've been a member at a gym in the past (5 years after college). I would lift - bench, curls, pull-ups, etc and then do some cardio. Once I started Insanity, I realized that I was just going through the motions at the gym and only seeing incremental improvements.
Also, eating right. I don't necessarily believe in the 80% what you eat / 20% exercise, but its at least 60/40. If you are working your ass off, eat as much as your body tells you to eat, but make sure its good food.

 

If you are on a budget check out "You are your own gym" by Mark Lauren.
Can get a copy from wally world or amazon for about 12 bucks. The book is based on body weight exercises that require no equipment and it even has diet plans.

 

I hit the gym year round but I don't do cardio year round. so I expect the winter months to start feeling gassed during a surf and I put more weight on. But I found that my summer time excersize routine does get me through. so... as the winter starts to wind down I have to kick start my endurance training and I found that adding this routine last year did wonders for me.
So... I hit the gym regularly/year round. around end of march begining of april I skip a week from the gym and work out at home. Here is the routine. simple and kicks my arse.
I do this 5 times with a 2 minute break(monday tuesday thursday friday).
1. 30 pushups directly into
2. 20 leg lift crunches directly into
3. 20 one leg squats (back leg on chair, squatting leg and body over that leg.)
2 minute break, repeat 5 times.

after a few weeks of this in my routine the changes are incredible for me. Lower body strength way up. endurance way up. You should be finished the routine in about 30minutes. The routine will have you totally exhausted, at least for me.
Good luck

 

If there are no waves I will go paddleboarding. It helps a lot and is a lot of fun exploring different parts of Long Island. Otherwise I just do pushups/pullups/situps.

 

Surfing requires strong shoulders and arms for swimming out to the surf, and primary strength and balance for riding them back to shore. Currently I am start:
100 jump ropes

100 jumping jacks

30 pushups

30 situps

15 step-ups

10 burpies

¼-mile run

 

And if none of this works, check out the "Smoking Before Surfing" thread.

 

^ yes!

I guard every summer, but in the winter I've been doing a mile run on a track that takes 9 laps for a mile (I know, UNCW has a **** indoor track as of late). In between each lap, on each side of the track I do half the distance in alternating/walking one-leg squats and sprint the second half, rest on the turn, then repeat, then go back to a run/jog. You don't need muscle for surfing, you need endurance. Try to exhaust yourself and recover multiple times. 100% to 30-40% and repeat. Pretty similar to Insanity.

 

Kettlebells are amazing. Great for working out the whole body specially the core.

 

Yes, KBs are excellent and easy to use dynamically. But...there is a fair amount of room for injury with certain full body KB compound movements when superimposed on each other (hang clean to front squat to push press, etc) so proper instruction is key. Just as with surfing, if you hit the weights as an uneducated renegade, things could go wrong. I'm happy to help anyone needing form help or ideas for KBs.

 

And buy a Swiss Ball (stability ball). So many functional training exercises that can be done with these. They're dirt cheap. Foam roller for flexibility too is only 15-20 bucks.