How to Surf for Fitness

Max Wettstein: Alright, good morning and welcome back to Encinitas. We’re going to do a little surfing—surfing for fitness and fun. Standing next to me is Stein Skaar with Skaar Fitness based in Marin County. He’s coming down here we’re going to do some fitness videos, do some surfing have some fun. Stein— Okay so we’re getting ready to go surfing. Surfing is fun. It’s good for the soul. It’s good for mind. It’s good for style, but guess what it’s also good for fitness and it’s a good exercise. Stein is going to break down a little bit which muscle group surfing hits the most. What would you say you're targeting the most when you’re surfing? Stein Skaar: I think that when you're surfing probably most of your time is spent in a prone position paddling most of the time. So you’re going to have to assume that using a lot of those pulling muscles, back muscles, lap muscles, but at the same time you’re really trying to maintain that arch in your lower back by keeping your chest up so really you're really working on spinal integrity it becomes a real full body exercise probably one of the best there is out there. If you take a look at most of the surfers that are around the world—the good examples are Laird Hamilton, Kelly Slater look at the bodies of those guys they're really fit athletes and I think they treat surfing just like any other sport. What Max and I we’re going to show you today is just really treating this like a sport and any sport that I’m going to get involved in I’m certainly going to warm up before I get involved in doing it just so I’m ready from a mental standpoint. I’m ready from a flexibility standpoint getting my heart rate going and so forth. But also just being physically ready to get out in the water so that I don’t injure myself. Max Wettstein: So how was it out there? Tom Nelson: It was pretty fun. Max Wettstein: So you surf for fun or for fitness and if so what muscle groups do you think you get the most? Tom Nelson: Well I surf for fun and for fitness—both. I would say definitely upper body for the most part, some cardio, shoulders, and arms. Max Wettstein: Alright! Do you think that your fitness improves from surfing at all? Alan Ryan: It give me inspiration to get up from bed every day, get out early and get my day started and it starts right. Max Wettstein: And what muscle groups do you think you hit most? Alan Ryan: It’s probably shoulders and back flats. Max Wettstein: And do you think it’s mostly aerobic endurance type or more strength and power or a little bit of both? Alan Ryan: Maybe a little bit of both. I usually don’t think it’s aerobic unless it’s really big day and you’re going hard and paddle out it can definitely be aerobic during that time. Basically it helps burn calories it keeps your shoulders in shape in the upper body a little bit. Max Wettstein: Do you think it’s fair to say that you’re having so much fun out there that you really don’t care how hard you may be exercising or you may be don’t even perceive how hard you're exerting yourself because you're having so much fun? Alan Ryan: Definitely! That’s a good way to put it. It’s a great feeling to get into the water if you’re feeling a little bit druggy, you hop out and you always feel good and then it’s time to grab a coffee or big breakfast afterwards. Max Wettstein: Except when your bros like Max drop in on you and sneak you? Alan Ryan: No, I did the same to him. Max Wettstein: Alright man, have fun and get some good waves! Alan Ryan: Okay. Stein Skaar: We’re going to start with a full body exercise is a great way of warming up your full body. We’re going to be doing it with not so much weight. I mean surf boards don’t weigh so much but I would say the overhead squats what I'm going to be demonstrating here is probably one of the hardest exercises there is. There is so many muscle groups involved in making this exercise happen. It’s based off I believe off of the snatch lifts, which is an Olympic lift and bringing that weight over head is an incredibly strenuous thing to do. What you’ll find is even using a broom stick and try to this exercise is going to be extremely difficult because of the flexibility that is involved. I’ll go ahead and demonstrate. What I'm going to do is take a nice wide—we’ll call it a grip but basically I'm just putting my hands underneath the surfboard here. I'm getting really active with my shoulders. All the essentials with the squat is with my stance. I'm going to sit back with my heels thinking about my lower back the whole time. All I'm going to be doing is dipping down into a nice squat and then coming back up to the top again. Just start by doing 10 good squats before you go to the water it’s really going to start to get the heart pumping and getting those joints lubricated and once again get mental mindset of being able to get out into the water. Moving those hips around a lot especially going from this position to this position here. Max Wettstein: That was the pop up right? Stein Skaar: The pop up. Max Wettstein: You got to have the pop up down to surf. Stein Skaar: But the other we’ll talk about is just spend a lot of time on your back to try and maintain that arch in your back when you’re surfing so you can see what’s coming. The one great exercise to work on before you get into the water is the traditional yoga cobra pose. That’s all I'm doing from a— Max Wettstein: A yoga cobra pose! Stein Skaar: From a push up position here. Dipping down and through and coming up arching the back really focusing on that lower back it’s then we can go ahead and back out of this exercise.