Pro Surfer Workout Routines

Surfing is a fun and exhilarating sport, but it is a professional career for many surfers. Whether you enjoy surfing as a casual sport or as a pro, it requires a certain amount of fitness to avoid injury and improve your skill level. If you are a surfer or considering taking it up as a sport, you need to know how to keep and stay fit to reach your full potential.

 Pro surfer’s workout routines target specific muscles to improve their surfing skills. Pro surfing requires good balance, core strength, flexibility, and stamina. Certain muscles work harder than others and require a target fitness program to ensure the best performance.

 Every surfer needs to stay fit and exercise regularly to keep their body in shape to tackle the waves. There are various ways to exercise if you are a surfer, but understanding the various workout routines and what muscles it targets is the best way to improve your surfing skill and avoid injuries. Let’s look at some workout routines and how surfers stay in shape.

The Importance Of Fitness In Surfing

The ocean is a playground for surfers, but its powerful waves are often underestimated. The ocean’s unpredictability has caused many surfers to find themselves in trouble, and fitness is crucial to avoid injury. Whether you’re a novice or a seasoned surfer, incorporating the appropriate exercises into your routine can improve your surfing abilities, boost your self-assurance, and prepare you for unforeseen circumstances.

Here are five reasons why fitness in surfing is essential and how a surfer can benefit from making it a priority:

1. Improve Performance

Riding a wave takes a lot of energy, and strong, exercised muscles improve a surfer’s ability to tackle the ocean without fear. Confidence is a big part of surfing; fitness provides the surfer with endurance, improving their maneuverability and surfing performance.

To improve your surfing, you need to trust that your body will not fail when you push its limits, and fitness is an essential factor in taking your surfing skill to the next level.

2. Enhance Balance And Stability

Having balance is crucial when it comes to surfing. Without it, your chances of improving your surfing skills are minimal. Surfers who want to take on those big waves need to be surefooted, and that takes skill but, more importantly, a fit body.

A surfer’s muscles must be strong and react quickly to sudden shifts and body movement to power through a wave. Exercised muscles provide surfers the needed strength, and a fit body provides endurance to improve balance and stability to stay on the surfboard.

3. Increase Power And Stamina

All surfers respect the ocean for its strength, but mostly because it is unpredictable and has caused many injuries and worse. One of the leading causes of surfer injuries is fatigue, which leads to waves overpowering them, causing serious harm. Being fit often gives a surfer a fighting chance when they are overpowered by a wave or find themselves dragged too far out by the ocean.

Paddling to the big waves often takes more power and stamina than riding a wave. A good fitness level can give you more time to practice and enhance your skills while assisting you in any trouble on the water.

4. Enhance Flexibility And Core Strength

Flexibility is essential for surfing; some maneuvers push the body to twist and turn unnaturally. Core strength provides surfers with the ability to balance while their body twists, plus it prevents muscle injury when the muscle performs. Take Pilates and Yoga as examples. These fitness exercises are highly effective in strengthening your core, improving flexibility, and providing stability to your body.

5. Fast Recovery Timesg

Every surfer, at some point or another, gets injured, even if they are fit and well-exercised. The advantage of being fit is that the body recovers faster, and a quick recovery makes a big difference if you are out on the ocean. Pro surfers cannot afford to be off the ocean for too long, and getting back on a wave is essential. Improving fitness prevents sore muscles giving you more time riding waves.

Pro Surfer Workout Routines

Pro surfers rely on their strength, balance, endurance, agility, breathing, and flexibility to take their surfing skills to the next level. To perform at 100% capacity, surfers have an advanced workout and exercise routine. Here are the areas pro surfers concentrate on when working out:

Strength

Surfers focus on flexibility, strength, and efficiency to increase their energy levels. Building strength is essential to save energy throughout those exhausting hours on the ocean and each exertion. Exercising the lower body is essential to get up and secure balance on the surfboard, and good upper body strength provides stronger paddling.

• Squats are great for building strength. How many reps and weights are up to each individual? However, pro surfers should do squats at least three times a week and increase their weight to improve their strength.
• Lunges increase the strength of the lower body, and surfers who prefer body-weight lunges must do 3/4 sets of 15 to 20 reps per leg.
• Core strength is essential for pro surfers to stay balanced, and lifts, planks, weighted sit-ups, and side planks are important exercises. Pro surfer JD Irons does 30 sit-up sets in a 40-minute routine.
• Upper body strength improves paddling out, and pro surfer Courtney Conlogue does sledgehammer swings, deadlifts, rope pulls, battle ropes, and pull-ups.

Endurance

Endurance goes hand in hand with strength, strong muscles require less energy to perform, and surfers can ride waves for longer. Cardiovascular exercise is essential to improving endurance, and pro surfer Travis Mellem paddles, swims, or cycles six days a week for 1/2 hour.

Pro surfer Courtney Conlogue uses Tabata rounds to increase her heart rate, and it involves intense activity for 20 seconds and 10 seconds of rest, for four minutes in total.

Balance

Pro surfer Mick Fanning swears by yoga, saying that “…classics, such as the tree and the boat, are good exercises for improving your balance.

Surf trainers use the Bosu ball and add exercises while on it to mimic the effects of being on a surfboard. Pro surfer Stephanie Gilmore dodge tennis balls while standing on a Bosu. The Indo Board is like the Bosu and consists of a wooden board on a roller and is favored by pro surfer Courtney Conlogue.

Agility

Simulating popping up on a surfboard and creating similar wave behavior on land is difficult. However, trainer and owner of Extreme Athletics, Jonathan Brown, trains surfers by bouncing a medicine ball off a wall and then catching it while jumping on and off a Bosu ball.

Flexibility

Surfing requires extensive body movements, so flexibility to improve mobility is essential. Numerous pro surfers like Greg Long, Kelly Slater, Gerry Lopez, Alex Martins, and Malia Manuel use yoga to improve their strength and flexibility. Yoga has no downside, and it is great to do daily, and surfers can improve their focus, balance, and body movement.

 

Surf-Specific Exercises

Surfing is fun, but surfers must be physically fit to face the demands of riding a wave and pedaling out. Exercising your body is essential to avoid injuries, perform well, and improve your surfing skills. Surfing is good exercise, but surfers must do other exercises to strengthen their core, improve balance and have a good warm-up session before taking the ocean waves.

Here are three surf-specific exercises for surfers to help them get the best surfing experience:

1. Surfing Warm-Up

Like any sport, thoroughly warming up is essential; the same rule applies to surfing. When a surfer hits the ocean, their body is exposed to the ocean’s elements, and a good body warm-up will prevent sudden cramping or potentially hurting a muscle.

A good warm-up will increase flexibility and mobility, produce better blood circulation, and increase oxygen. Here are five good warm-up exercises for surfers:

Your warm-up should consist of movements and mobility drills, replicating some surfing movements.

• Breathing Squats boost EPOC and help deliver oxygen to muscles even after a surf session.
• Single-Leg Upper Body Rotation improves hip range and balance and strengthens the core.
• T-Rotation Pushups work the shoulders and triceps for those long pedals.
• Warrior Lunge prepares the arms, shoulders, ankles, legs, and back while stretching the chest and hips.
• Butt Drops strengthen and warms your back and upper legs.

These light warm-up exercises will give your body flexibility and mobility to ensure a good surf session.

2. Surf Training Workouts

Surfers fail to perform at their best because they lack speed, endurance, and strength. Although most exercises do not exactly replicate being on a surfboard, they help condition the body to deal with surfing’s physical demands. Injury while surfing is a serious matter and could lead to a life-threatening situation which is best avoided with a regular surf training workout.

Here is a surf training workout that will give you that edge on the surfboard:

Full-Body Movements

Good mobility and increasing the limit of your body’s motion is the best place to start. Here are exercises to help a surfer’s body movement and strength:

• Kettlebell Swings improve strength and speed in the lower body and improve grip strength and core muscles.
• Back Squats improve a surfer’s flexibility and prevents injury.
• Dead Lifts activate the hips and increase the strength of the lower body muscles.
• Single-Leg Dead Lifts strengthen the hamstrings, Calves, gluteal muscles, lats, and spinae muscles for a strong lower and upper body.
• Lunges strengthen the lower body and improves balance.
• Sprints increase stamina and legs and improve endurance.

Balance and Single-Leg Surf Training

Staying on a surfboard is almost impossible without good balance, but some exercises help improve balance. A proper exercise program will improve balance so your body reacts quicker and stabilizes joints and muscles. Here is an exercise program that will improve your balance:

• Balance on the leg and throw a medicine ball up in the air or to an exercise partner.
• Single-Leg Cable Pulls are great for strengthening the legs, but it also improves balance.
• Exercising on a Balance Board mimics actions often faced on a surfboard.
• Bulgarian Split Squats build balance and strength.
• Lunges correct muscle imbalance, boost metabolism and increase flexibility.

3. Surf Core Training

The core comprises various muscles and helps transmit and stabilize movement and increase power. Training the core is essential to improve flexibility, and training with cables, medicine balls, and exercise bands is a great equipment to strengthen your core. Here are exercises to help strengthen your core:

• Lateral Ball Rolls improve coordination, balance, and strength.
• Stability Ball Jack-Knifes improves core strength throughout the abdominal and hip region.
• Cable Chops target the oblique and abdominis muscles to improve twist movements at the waist.
• Stability Ball Rollouts strengthen the obliques, rectus abdominis, and erector spinae muscles.

Nutrition And Recovery

Eating healthy is vital to surfers, and controlling your weight, boosting energy levels, and being healthy overall is essential to performing well as a surfer. Surfers must allow their bodies time to recover following a rigorous surfing session. Recovering is as important as a good diet, and every surfer must consider taking every step to look after their body.

Here are foods ideal for surfers to keep their bodies fueled and foods they must avoid:

• Fruits, quality fats, vegetables, and proteins. Avoid excessive sugar and processed food.
• Staying hydrated is essential; consuming adequate water is the best way. Avoid sports drinks, soda, and artificially flavored drinks.
• Balancing meals is essential, and it is important to include carbohydrates, proteins, and vegetable oils. Avoid eating a lot of one specific food because the body needs various vitamins to perform at a top level.
• Having a glass of wine can be healthy. Avoid excessive alcohol use.
• Eating a proper breakfast is essential; keep it balanced and not too heavy.

Surfing takes a lot out of the body, and after a heavy surf session, it is essential to give your body ample rest to recover. Here are ideas to help your body recover faster:

• As mentioned, eating healthy gives a body all the fuel it needs to recover faster.
• Foam rolling is another good method to ensure a faster recovery.
• Ice baths help the muscles recover quickly.
• A good warm-up session and cooling-down session avoid injury and help with recovery.
• Resting your body well between surf sessions is important to prepare for the next one and includes getting a good night’s sleep.

Training Tips For Amateur Surfers

Amateur surfers must take their workout routine very seriously because the ocean is unforgiving, especially to beginners. Here are tips for amateur surfers to get their bodies fit and in shape and improve their surfing skills:

Improve Balance

The Bosu ball and Indo Board are exercise tools that help pro and amateur surfers improve balance. Both these exercise tools closely mimic the motion of a surfboard and help amateurs get the feeling of real surf, and incorporating it with exercises makes it a great balance training method.

Expand Flexibility

Surfing entails a wide range of body movements, and flexibility improves mobility which is essential for amateurs. Yoga is a great way for amateurs to train their bodies to flex better, plus it makes the body better prepared to prevent injuries.

Eat Correctly

Eating a healthy diet is beneficial for amateur surfers. The body requires proper nourishment and energy to enhance surfing abilities. It is important to have a well-balanced diet to maintain good health. You can establish a healthy eating routine by including various fruits and vegetables. Additionally, beginners must incorporate carbohydrates, proteins, and vegetable oils into their diet.

Final Thoughts

Staying in shape requires specific workout routines, and surfers take staying fit very seriously, especially the pros. Keeping fit helps surfers with their balance, stamina, core strength, and flexibility which is essential to improve and avoid injuries. There are various workout routines for surfers, but they all target the same muscles.