Take Your Surfing Fitness to the Next Level!

All over the world there has been an explosion of interest in Surfing! The best thing about surfing is that anyone can enjoy this fantastic sport, from a small child right though to someone over ninety years of age. It's incredible fun and it also keeps you healthy and fit. By improving your surfing fitness you can take your surfing experience to a whole new mind blowing level, and it doesnt matter what your surfing experience or surfing ability is at present you can still improve and see amazing results!

So, how do you achieve and maintain a level of surfing fitness? Yes you could go out walking, cycling or go to the gym but what you really need is a fitness program that is functional in nature. Functional exercise is generally any exercise that requires you to use your body as resistance, rather than using weights. This means during exercising more of your muscles will be activated (stabilizers and core muscles). Functional exercises and workouts will help you surf longer, limit the risk of injury and have you performing more mind-blowing tricks every time.

Even experienced surfers know how it feels to have paddled out to the waves only to find themselves so exhausted they haven't the energy to catch any waves! Or they are falling off the board too quickly. By engaging in a functional training program and increasing your surfing fitness you will increase your arm and leg strength and very importantly improve your balance. Since surfing involves twisting, turning and rotating, balancing on the board can be difficult at times. The stronger your core strength the better your balance, the more stamina you will have and ultimately you will be able to surf for longer!

To improve your surfing fitness there are several areas that you should be focusing on. Core strength, muscular endurance, flexibility and overall cardio are among the most important.

Core stability and balance will help you stay above water and land amazing tricks. The core refers to the center of the body and the muscles connected to it. Exercises such as the plank and push ups will improve the core muscle groups.

Leg strength and stability will give you incredible riding endurance and landing ability. Try exercises such as lunges, squats and jumps.

Superior back and arm strength will boost your paddling endurance. Perform exercises such as push ups, plank and back extensions.

Having strong, flexible muscles and a range of motion is extremely important for all surfers to help prevent minor and severe injuries.

Cardiovascular fitness is equally important to make sure you can keep your wave count high. By increasing your surfing fitness you will catch loads more waves and have much more fun!

The good news is, you will only need to invest about 20 minutes 3 to 4 times per week to get into great shape. And, remember, the best way to compliment your fitness programme and get in shape for surfing is, yes, actual surfing! So by mixing surfing along with functional exercises that concentrate on your strength, core balance and flexibility you will find your next surfing trip immense fun and crucially you will have minimised your risk of injury. You will also have created a fitness loop that will have benefits that extend far beyond just surfing and into your overall health, wellness, and fitness. Your surfing fitness, in turn, will dramatically improve the overall quality of your life.