Surfing is a sport that requires a combination of strength, balance, flexibility, and endurance. While catching more waves will improve your surf riding skills, it’s all the paddling out that fatigues most surfers. And if you don’t have the fitness to paddle a lot, it means a lot of missed opportunities to catch and ride the best waves. So, incorporating the right paddling strength and endurance training into your workouts will take your surfing to the next level. In this blog post, we will explore the benefits of incorporating strength training into your surfer workout routine and how it can help you improve your ability to catch and ride more waves every session.
Benefits of Strength Training for Surfers
Many surfers don’t think of themselves as athletes, but the truth is that surfing is a very athletic sport. Strength training is essential to any athlete’s workout routine, and surfers are no exception. Here are some of the benefits of incorporating strength training into your surfer workout routine:
1. Increased Endurance
Surfing requires a high level of specific muscular endurance to paddle out after riding each wave, then catch and ride more for longer sessions. Paddling endurance and strength training exercises that target paddling-specific muscles are critical if you want to avoid that “knife in the upper back” feeling that comes with paddling fatigue. It’s also wise to improve your cardiovascular endurance with capacity-building aerobic exercise. Many ” landlocked ” surfers can use a Vasa Trainer to increase their paddling-specific endurance at home or in the gym. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts and circuits are time-efficient and great for improving your endurance, allowing you to surf for extended periods without getting tired. You can paddle out to the waves more often at each session by increasing your endurance. Once there, you’ll have the paddling power and speed to catch more waves and ride stronger and better each time. Think about enjoying your next surfing weekend or surf vacation more because you put the time into building your surf fitness.
2. Increased Power and Speed
Catching waves requires explosive paddling-specific power and speed. Once riding them, it takes strength and agility to maneuver a great ride. Strength training exercises, such as squats, deadlifts, and power cleans, can help improve your muscle strength and power, allowing you to generate more speed and power on the waves. By increasing your power and speed, you’ll be able to catch more waves, make faster turns, and perform tricks with greater ease.
3. Improved Balance and Stability
Balance and stability are crucial for surfers, as they help you stay on the board while riding waves. Strength training exercises that target your core, lower body, and stabilizer muscles improve your balance and stability, making it easier to maintain control on each wave. Exercises such as planks, lunges, and single-leg squats can help improve your balance and stability, allowing you to ride waves with greater confidence and control.
4. Injury Prevention
Surfing can be a physically demanding sport that puts a lot of stress on your muscles and joints. Strength training can help strengthen your muscles and improve your joint stability, reducing your risk of injury while surfing. By strengthening your muscles and improving your joint stability, you can surf longer without experiencing fatigue or discomfort, reducing your risk of overuse injuries.
Incorporating Strength Training into Your Surfer Workout Routine
Now that you understand the benefits of strength training for surfers, here are some tips for incorporating strength training into your surfer workout routine:
1. Start Slowly
If you’re new to strength training, slowly and gradually increasing the workout intensity is essential. Begin with bodyweight exercises, such as push-ups, squats, and lunges, to build a foundation of strength before incorporating weights into your routine. As you become more comfortable with strength training, you can gradually increase the intensity of your workouts by adding weights or resistance bands.
2. Focus on Compound Movements
Compound movements, such as squats, deadlifts, and bench presses, are highly effective for building strength and power in multiple muscle groups. Focus on incorporating compound movements into your surfer workout routine to target all major muscle groups and improve surfing performance. Compound movements also engage your core muscles, helping improve your balance and stability on the waves.
3. Include Plyometric Exercises
Leg plyometric exercises are great for improving your explosive power and speed, which are essential for surfing. Some examples include jump squats using the Vasa Trainer leg power platform, box jumps, and burpees. Incorporate plyometric exercises into your surfer workout routine to improve your leg and core power, allowing you to ride waves confidently and with finesse. Plyometric exercises built into a surfer fitness program also improve cardiovascular fitness, allowing you to surf more waves without as much fatigue.
4. Remember to Include Flexibility and Mobility
While strength training is vital for improving your surfing performance, remember to include flexibility and mobility exercises. Stretching exercises, some yoga, and foam rolling all help improve your flexibility and mobility, reducing your risk of injury while surfing. Focus on incorporating flexibility and mobility exercises into your surfer workout routine to improve your range of motion and keep your muscles and joints healthy.
5. Listen to Your Body
It’s essential to listen to your body and rest when necessary. Overtraining can lead to fatigue, muscle soreness, and injury, so giving your body time to recover between workouts is essential. Pay attention to how your body feels and adjust your workout intensity accordingly. Rest days are just as important as workout days, so give your body the rest it needs to recover and rebuild muscle.
Incorporating strength training into your surfer workout routine can help improve your surfing performance and take your skills to the next level. By focusing on building strength, power, balance, and endurance, you’ll be able to surf with greater confidence and control, allowing you to catch more waves, make faster turns, and easily perform tricks.
Vasa: Empowering You to Get Stronger, Better, & Faster
Incorporating paddling-specific and total-body strength training into your surfer workout routine will improve your surfing sessions by increasing your power and speed, improving your balance and stability, preventing injuries, and increasing your endurance. By building strength, power, balance, and endurance through surf-specific paddling, total body compound movements, plyometrics, flexibility, and mobility exercises, your paddling stamina and surf riding skills will improve, giving you greater confidence and control. Take your surfing to the next level with Vasa’s high-quality training equipment, and start your journey to becoming a stronger, better, and faster surfer today.
At Vasa, we believe in empowering people to get stronger, better, and faster in sports, fitness, and injury rehab. Vasa Trainers and SwimErgs give a lifetime of reliable, functional service, helping you achieve your fitness goals and improve your performance on the waves. With our high-quality training equipment, such as the SwimErg with PM3 Power Meter and Vasa Trainer Pro, you can take your strength training to the next level and enhance your surfing skills.
If you’re ready to incorporate strength training into your surfer workout routine and take your surfing to the next level, check out Vasa’s line of training equipment today. Our motto, “Quality Costs Less,” reflects our commitment to providing high-quality products at an affordable price, giving you the tools you need to achieve your fitness goals and improve your surfing performance. Learn more about our products and start your journey to becoming a stronger, better, and faster surfer.