If you want to know what the best workout to improve your surfing is, it’s simple; go surfing. Go surfing more than you did last week, and more than you did the week before. You’ll pick up various bits of nuance you may not have known in weeks’ past and can build that into your own surfing journey.
Even if you’ve been at it for years, maybe there’s another element of surfing that can help you on your mission, for example – have you ever considered how surfing a log can improve your shortboarding? Or how a foil can increase your cardio? This is all circumstantial of course, and everyone will ultimately train to their own beat.
But if the swell runs flat – which is so often the case in the UK – how do you keep surf fit? Being surf fit is a completely other level than just being run fit, or cycle fit. Those help, yeah, yet you might want something a little more functional than just doing an activity for the sake of it. So here we go, an at-home workout you can smash out in 45 minutes to an hour. If you want.
Warm up (stick between five-to-seven minutes)
Cat-Cow Flow – 60 seconds: Oh yeah, we’re bringing some yoga into this one. Cat-cow flow helps warm up your spine, activates the core and opens the chest, all elements you need for surfing and to limber up before any sort of activity. Start on all fours, inhale moving into cow pose and lift your chest up and try to push your belly to the floor. Then exhale, rounding your spine to the ceiling and tuck your tailbone under. Try to draw your belly button upwards. Repeat the motions.
Shoulder Controlled Articular Rotation (CAR) – Five in each direction: Get those shoulders swinging. Stand up straight, straight arms and rotate them fully and as extended as you can go. Five times in each direction.
Lateral lunge – 15 per side: Stand with your feet a bit wider than shoulder width apart and lean sideward over your foot. Back to neutral stance, then do the other side. Repeat to get a good ol’ hamstring and glue stretch.
Got to have the right tools for the job. Check this yoga wheel from Yogi Bare to help with just about everything.
Paddle Power Routine (10 minutes)
Swimmers – Three sets of 20 seconds: Lie flat and lift your arms and legs slightly, lift your left arm and right leg first, then the other side and repeat. This stretch will build up time under tension for your posterior chain and boom, improve your paddling.
Push-ups – Three sets of 8-to-12 reps: No-one escapes push ups. But here’s a little twist. Rather than pushing up, go straight into an on-land pop-up. Then drop back down. Three sets, aim for 12 reps on the first one and see how you go.
Plank shoulder taps – Three sets of 20 taps: Hold a plan and bring your hand up to your opposite shoulder. This will help increase shoulder load under stress.
Core Control (10-12 minutes)
Burpees – Three sets of eight: As if push-ups and plans weren’t enough, here’s their evil third sibling; burpees. Start standing then place your hands on the floor, kick back so you’re in a plank, lower yourself down in a press-up, push back up, legs in, stand up. Repeat. Good night.
Core hold – Three times 20-30 seconds: Lie on your back, arms out in front of you and legs straight, then half crunch up and hold so you look like a little helpless bug. Great for improving your core strength, which you’ll need for all elements of surfing.
Hip thrusts – Three lots of 12-15 rounds: Lie flat on you back with your feet flat on the floor, drive your hips up to help with hip-health and mobility.
Rotational push-throughs – Three rounds of 10 on each side: Get into a bear crawl and rotate one leg under your torso. This will help stabilise your core.
Shop the Slowtide range by clicking the image.
Leg Strength (10-to-12 minutes)
Single leg squats – Three lots of 10 reps: Pop a chair behind you and rest the flat of the top of your foot on it, then squat down on the opposite leg.
Crossack squat – Three lots of 10 reps: Super wide squat and try to get your bum to the floor. If not, have a block underneath you as a reference point. Back straight, eyes forward, chest up.
Calf raises – Three lots of 20. You can do this off the edge of a (low) stair. Have half your foot off the edge and raise up on your toes. Slow, methodical and keep going for the ultimate calf burn. Or run up and down the towans at Fistral. Your choice!
Iso squat hold – One minute: Hold a low squat for one minute. Do not bounce. Do not come out of it.
Balance and mobility (10 minutes)
Single-leg balance – Two lots of one minute per leg: Sounds easy but stand straight with your back against a wall or door. Hold your leg out in front of you and hold it up. Let us know how long you make it.
Forward fold – Two x 10 reps: Also known as a Jefferson Curl. Stand up straight, flop as far forward as you can go then snap back up to straight. This will help roll your spine out.
Thorasic opener – One minute each side: Lay on your side then reach your arm up and over. If you’re on your left side, reach your right arm up and bring it down behind your back.
Hip flex – One minute each side: Step into a deep lunge and hold.
Get the right leggings for workouts, yoga — whether that’s surfing or not. Click the image!
Improving the Duck-Dive (Five minute HIIT finisher)
Mountain climbers: 30 seconds.
Push-ups: 30 seconds.
Core rocks: 30 seconds
Rest: 30 seconds.
Go again, until failure.
Let us know in the comments how you get on!
