Exercise besides surfing?

[Cpt.Caveman]

Just wondering if many of you do other forms of exercise/sport besides surfing?

Speaking for myself pretty much all i do is surf..averaging about 4 surfs a week.

Occasionally i will go for a run if i haven't been able to get in the water.

Do youuussee reckon surfing is enough to keep you adequately fit and healty?

I'm currently doing health and exercise science and uni so hopefully I can answer that question

A) It depends on what type of "fit" you want?

It depends whether you are interested in cardiovascular fitness, muscular endurance, muscular strength, short burst anaerobic fitness (e.g. sprinting).

Surfing will definately give you a certain level of cardiovascular fitness from all of the paddling but generally it won't be as good as someone who does more specific endurance training that uses larger musclue groups (swimming, running, rowing).

It will also give you some good muscular endurance in your upper body and hopefully good lower back strength from all the paddling.

I remember doing a cardiovascular fitness test when all I was doing was surfing and it came up just below what is recommended for good health. I normally don't get very out of breath at all when I'm surfing mainly because its so intermittent.

Its better than nothing but it depends where you want your fitness to take you.

B) You can generally say that for reducing your risk of chronic disease (heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, hormone dependant cancers) the best protection comes from having good cardiovascular fitness.

That means exercise that uses large muscle groups, is hot, is sweaty and makes you breathe hard. This type of exercise will give you the best effect on your blood cholesterol and other systems. The problem is that the protective effect is lost after 2 weeks of not exercising so you have to make it regular.

With the benefits of exercise on the mind, well the more vigorous the exercise the more of an endorphin rush and "feel good" effect that you get.

If you just want to reduce backpain and make your body a little stronger then things like yoga, pilates or weights can be great providing that they work the right muscle groups.

The problem I seem to come accross is trying to find a type of exercise thats really vigorous on the cardiovascular side that I find fun. Thats one of the reasons that I do Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Great for fitness and its a skill to learn like surfing.

[oldman]

B) You can generally say that for reducing your risk of chronic disease (heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, hormone dependant cancers) the best protection comes from having good cardiovascular fitness.

Where did you get this information from Captain? I'm not sufficiently credentialled to say that you're wrong, just that's not what has been published of recent times. I think you have conflated cardio fitness with obesity levels? These are substantially different things, as you would be aware.

[snakes]

Is masterbation considered exercise

[ric_vidal]

I'm gonna do this year for charity so youse all get a chance to chip in for some cause or other -- at which point you can also make fun of me all youse like.

Bewdy, a cause... it’s OK, we make fun of you anyway.

Edit: Having a bad reading day. Must read BEFORE posting.

[Crofty]

Bastardos.........presume you tore your ACL?
I had exactly the same thing done on the 26th of October last year.

I got the all clear two weeks ago and have been surfing every chance I got. First session back was that epic storm that came over Wednesday the 28th Feb and I surfed that solid overhead swell at Curly the next week.
I spose every physio is different but I was seeing Dave Hughes (Central Coast Mariners physio who had the same thing done a few years back and is also a keen surfer). Told me the graft changes from muscle into ligament between the 6 and 12 week mark, and then by week 16 it will be pretty much set.
Im a goofy footer and it was my left knee, so it's my rear foot. Maybe its my style in turning more with my hips and upper body, but I've had no problems at all.

Currently managing:
25km cycling 3 x week
4 km run daily
5km pushing pram daily
2 km swim 4 x week

Thats pretty intense. I reckon running 4km would be pretty hard on the knees.

p.s Im only 23

[bro]

Thanks Nick but it would have helped if you had written it in English plus it was tiring just reading it plus some of us have REAL jobs that require us to attend a premises for 9-10 hours a day.

So how about a stripped down version that doesn't require specialist equipment ie paddle board etc that we mere mortals could do that would enable us to get a set wave off you and/or your brother on the next decent swell??????

Coz I don't understand why I can swim a km or so but not paddle the same distance, I serioulsy don't understand why I can't get paddle fit like every other mofo seems to be?????????????????????????????????????

[Nick-W]

re: Tribulus terrestris
SupplementWatch does not consider that there is any scientific evidence for effectiveness in muscle building. It suggests that it may be beneficial for those whose testosterone is below normal, such as dieters and overtrained athletes.
http://www.supplementwatch.com/suplib/s ... lateId=100

I've seen it work on numerous people. Tribulus doesn't build the muscle directly though, thats left to the protein. Tribulus just increases your hormones, mainly testosterone, hence greater protein absorption.
Tribulus also has all the beneficial effects and no disadvantageous effects.

Dammit, Creatine nails your liver and kidneys, try not use it for long periods of time, ie 3 months or less, it just floods your freshly torn muscle with water, which increases size very quickly. Not so much muscle mass and strength.

[legge]

Surfing-paddling aspect seems to be a mixture of endurance and strength... i've never been able to paddle as hard in the ocean and hit the cardiovascular and respiratory (heart and lungs) side of things as i have from doing a sand run/ stair run for 10 mins without stopping. Endurance you pretty much get from doing long paddles/ swims with maybe 4 different rests say maybe a 400m swim 4 times with a 1 minute rest inbetween should do the trick so long as you keep racing urself and keeping a similar time each time. Strength-ahh fitness first price- about 80 bux a month i certainly dont have that much money for just a gym but i get by by doing pushups, pullups, situps, bicep curls, dips, fly, situps and squats using whateva i can. To get the power side of things do em slowly. But aim for about 10-12 reps with 3-4 sets. But remember its better to do 5 solid pullups or pushups then 20 shit ones. Steadily increase the reps from there. always try to use ur shoulders and less ur arms. with swimming drive ur arms down over the stroke. I guess this also helps with paddling a surfboard dont place ur hand on the water and slap at it drive ur hand straight into the water. A run, ocean swim and cycle every now and then couldnt hurt but with aerobic fitness it counts the most when ur starting to get tired so that's when you should put all that extra effort in. To avoid cramps- cold water, dehydration will increase the likelihood of cramps but ensure u get maybe 5-10 minutes of stretching a day hold each stretch for 30 seconds or so to increase flexibility.

[One Mile Point]

I use my schools gym, on a program for football.

[Beanpole]

Really rooted my neck last week doing some crunchy type things on the local exertrail. This happens when I get overenthusiastic

I grew up with a killer rip so I find paddling long distances relatively easy compared to swimming. I still love seeing really pumped, tuned and serious fitness freaks who can't surf for peanuts. Obviously none on real surf of course

[yanks r us]

B) You can generally say that for reducing your risk of chronic disease (heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, hormone dependant cancers) the best protection comes from having good cardiovascular fitness.

Where did you get this information from Captain? I'm not sufficiently credentialled to say that you're wrong, just that's not what has been published of recent times. I think you have conflated cardio fitness with obesity levels? These are substantially different things, as you would be aware.

Not nescessarily oldman, its possible to still be overwight/ob while having an average or above average fitness. I remember seeing a study suggesting that overweight fit people had a reduction in the metabolic diseases mentioned above then lean people who were not as fit.

[Nick Carroll]

Thanks Nick but it would have helped if you had written it in English plus it was tiring just reading it plus some of us have REAL jobs that require us to attend a premises for 9-10 hours a day.

So how about a stripped down version that doesn't require specialist equipment ie paddle board etc that we mere mortals could do that would enable us to get a set wave off you and/or your brother on the next decent swell??????

Coz I don't understand why I can swim a km or so but not paddle the same distance, I serioulsy don't understand why I can't get paddle fit like every other mofo seems to be?????????????????????????????????????

poor baby!

OK....I think to understand how paddling might be more difficult than swimming for you, it's important to check out the mechanics of the movement.

Rule one: it's not about your arms. The swim stroke and the paddle stroke both are all about the upper back muscles lifting the elbow, which carries a soft hand forward into the stroke.

In some ways, swimming is easier. You're lying flat in the water and you can roll your hips and shoulders over easily to let the elbow come up and the hand fall forward into the stroke. All the effort can then be put into the pull through underwater.

On a normal board, the same movements are impossible. Your hips and shoulders are held flat through contact with the board; thus you never get to roll and lift the shoulder and elbow out. The main effort in normal board paddling is not in the pull through, but in getting your hands back up and out of the water. That's what tires you out.

A lot of surfers make up for this by arching their backs and lifting their whole upper bodies off the board, so their arms are automatically rising up and out at the end of each stroke. I think this is fine for short bursts -- catching waves, for instance. Over longer distances, say 100 metres, it'll cause long term problems in both the neck and lower back. Hands up surfers who have irritated necks or generic muscle stiffness in the upper body.

You want to shift some of the effort away from getting your hands and arms up, and back into the underwater pull through.

To manage this, you're gonna have to consciously learn to lift the ELBOW, not the hand, at the end of each stroke.

It's simple enough: just relax the hand and let it hang off the elbow, and lift the point of the elbow straight up until your fingers are just breaking the surface.

Suddenly the effort will go where it should, into the deltoids, lats and other upper and mid back muscle groups, which are big and strong and don't mind the weight of your hand and lower arm at all.

Now keep the elbow up and try bringing your hand through to the start of the stroke in as straight a line as you can manage. This will not feel normal at first; you're breaking a physical habit you've developed over years and years. What you should notice is an ability to keep the hand relaxed, fingers loose and no tension in your forearm, and a surprising freedom in your shoulder. (Of course your shoulder's probably all musclebound, but it will loosen up over time.)

Once your hand's back at the start of the stroke, put it into the water nice and loose, wrist at around 45 degrees to the forearm, and pull back in as clean a line as you can manage. Try not to draw your hand too far beneath the board; for sure you don't want it straying as far as the stringer.

Take your time with it, you don't need to have a high rpm in order to move quite quickly through the water.

After a couple of surfs, you'll find you're shifting a lot of the work into the water where it belongs, and after a month or so, you'll be going past people who're working twice as hard.

Good luck!

ps: you might get a wave off Tom this way, but not off his big brother.

[ric_vidal]

It's simple enough: just relax the hand and let it hang off the elbow, and lift the point of the elbow straight up until your fingers are just breaking the surface.

This sounds like something out of ‘The Bird Cage’.

[Nick Carroll]

It's simple enough: just relax the hand and let it hang off the elbow, and lift the point of the elbow straight up until your fingers are just breaking the surface.

This sounds like something out of ‘The Bird Cage’.

I'm a little teapot, short and stout...

jeepers rickity where do you get this stuff? you're paying someone eh.

[brenno05]

But I am still not paddle fit and I have no idea why. Any clues people?

What helped me out was when surfing, no matter what the size, no matter how far the distance, paddle as hard as you can. If you just got a short ride, paddle 100% back to where you were. This worked like interval training, and really helps your paddling as its direct onto what you use for paddling.

So when ever you paddle, dont 50% it, gun it at 100%.

exactly what i do, i used to be a pretty ordinary paddler and it used to take me a bit longer than my mates....but i paddle at 100% whenever i paddle now, also try and correct my technique and bit and have to say that not only have i become more paddle fit, i also improved my surfing because less paddling = more surfing and more waves

[BA]

Beer on weekends, wine during the week. And plenty of surfs in-between.

[oldman]

Hands up surfers who have irritated necks or generic muscle stiffness in the upper body.

Ummm, that would be me. Actually I only get it in the neck, but I have a history of getting pinched nerves in the neck which I am sure is a result of working with computers all day.

I seem to have got past that mainly, but if I am surfing a lot I have to be mindful of my neck and really need to do more stretching, after the surf, to ensure that things get back to normal and don't carry any kinks.

I am interested in your stroke analysis there Nick. I have actually thought my problem was that I was lying too flat on the board and not arching my lower back enough. I suspect that I lie fairly flat on the board but arch my neck rather than my lower back, which leads to muscle soreness there. I'll work on your theory.

Otherwise I think I am doing most of what you say, which is interesting. I think many surfers would be fitter than me in terms of paddling, but I don't struggle out there. I have always put this down to the fact that I can read a beach and know how to get out there with a minimum of effort, but efficiency in paddling has been something I have been conscious of for a long time. Maximum output for minimum effort has been a lifetime mantra for me.

[lovenutz]

i keep getting muscles spasms in my lower back. I am pretty fit....do 3 weights sessions a week, couple of boxing, cycle, and runs and surf everyday if i can.

my lower back is just screwed though. it seems to go once every 2 months and i cant do anything for say a week. anyone got and advice. its pissing me off especially looking at the surf forecasts for the next few days.

whats all this core training with the swiss/medical ball like?