Morning!

I am sure that this topic has been done before, but I couldn't find a thread when I did a search so please accept my apologies in advance.

I am fairly new to surfing and feel that my lack of paddle fitness is really holding me back. I know that the best way to get paddle fit is to actually be out there paddling or to do a bit of swimming, but unfortunately due to work and family cirumstances I can't get out as much as I would like.

Are there any excercises or apparatus that you could recommend to help?

Thanks in advance

Swim laps - 1km+ for muscle strength and endurance.

- also -

Ride (cycle) hills
Practice springing up in your lounge room to practice your pop-up.
Skateboard

Swimming is good if you can get to a pool.. Try and do more of an interval style workout. 1 lap at 75% followed by 2 or 3 at 25% and repeat. Rest where you need to.

You?re not always paddling when your surfing. But when you are you have to go hard to either get the wave, get in position for the wave. Or to simply be making it out the back. You have to teach those muscles to perform at that intensity.

Endurance is definitely going to help surfing longer as well. So maybe mix up your workouts to incorporate both

^^ Yep swim is best.

Just got a new skateboard and Im loving it at the moment, Im out 3-4 times a week on it and more if Ive got time

Why not throw the board in on the bay side and go for a paddle? if you live on the peninsula you can't be too far from water.
I started paddling 4 or five times a week through summer last year and was fitter than ever by the time we started getting swell

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MornoPom said..Are there any excercises or apparatus that you could recommend to help?

SUP.

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WA71 said..

^^ Yep swim is best.

Just got a new skateboard and Im loving it at the moment, Im out 3-4 times a week on it and more if Ive got time

What sort of board? I have a fish style board - I've replaced the hard wheels with softer ones, which is comfy but now won't slide.

The other thing you can do for surf fitness is spend some time on an indo board.

Sup x2. It's fun as hell and will rip u to bits...

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bene313 said..

WA71 said..



^^ Yep swim is best.



Just got a new skateboard and Im loving it at the moment, Im out 3-4 times a week on it and more if Ive got time

What sort of board? I have a fish style board - I've replaced the hard wheels with softer ones, which is comfy but now won't slide.

The other thing you can do for surf fitness is spend some time on an indo board.

Its called a Pandanas - The Fat, its a big cruiser with super grippy wheels.

http://www.pandanas-australia.com.au/products/coming-soon

Even simple things like push ups, weights with arms will help. They may not be a complete replica but if your arms and chest are fit it will soon convert

Get a kettlebell and find out about core exercises to do. Try explosive squats/lunges incorporating twists and holding a weight, alternating your landings (twist and hold weight to left when you land with left foot forward). burpees, torsion twists, puching with 20kg on a torsion bar both sides...go mad. find a circuit to do with interval training.
For paddling power do interval training in the pool with the hand paddles, do 2 laps then rest for a minute, repeat till almost dead. A few good warm up laps are best. I also wear pool flippers at times.
Have tried so many things, something like this has proved the best for all round surfing. Time spent surfing is unbeatable tho...

work on your technique......most of the fatique when learning comes from having your legs apart,toes not pointed / over reaching/incorrect centering ... position on the board /elbow bend angle
get someone or use a go pro to video yourself and paddle /paddle/paddle.......... till your underarms rash and your shoulders burn and your back aches .....and then you'll know your onto something!!

A little off topic but also dont discount being in the right spot contibuting to getting your waves, get your burst and endurance paddling up to speed and then watch where the rippers sit and how much they have to paddle, usually they make it look easy!

Paddle smarter not harder I was once told - so bloody true!

Climbing, even just indoor, is a great way to build upper body endurance. Getting 'pumped' while climbing (when anaerobic byproducts build up in the muscle so much they cease to work properly) stimulates your body to improve circulation in the arms and it doesn't take long for you to notice improvements. I use to climb 5+ days a week when I use to work near a climbing gym and I attribute my paddle fitness entirely to my climbing.

I've more or lease ceased to climb since a climbing accident in France but I still get out and do it a few times. Go do it once indoors and I guarantee you'll get the best upper body endurance training you can hope for. Granted, it will be working muscle groups differently than surf paddling, but the benefits from increasing bloody circulation will benefit your paddling endurance, no doubt.

I think a smart balance between indoor climbing and doing laps at the pool/beach is the way to go. Besides, climbing is fun.

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subasurf said..
Climbing, even just indoor, is a great way to build upper body endurance. Getting 'pumped' while climbing (when anaerobic byproducts build up in the muscle so much they cease to work properly) stimulates your body to improve circulation in the arms and it doesn't take long for you to notice improvements. I use to climb 5+ days a week when I use to work near a climbing gym and I attribute my paddle fitness entirely to my climbing.

I've more or lease ceased to climb since a climbing accident in France but I still get out and do it a few times. Go do it once indoors and I guarantee you'll get the best upper body endurance training you can hope for. Granted, it will be working muscle groups differently than surf paddling, but the benefits from increasing bloody circulation will benefit your paddling endurance, no doubt.

I think a smart balance between indoor climbing and doing laps at the pool/beach is the way to go. Besides, climbing is fun.

+1 couldnt agree more, infact I need to do more climbing.

Where do you go Suba? I generally go to Rockface in Northbridge for my fix

I have a fulltime membership at Rockface but not a big fan. I use to be chums with the go that ran Urban Ascent so that was my usual spot. Small gym but great crimpy and technical routes. Hangout is okay, a nice lead climbing roof, but other than that, not worth the drive. I still prefer to go outdoors but haven't been on the sharp end of a rope outdoors since the French Alps in 2011.

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subasurf said..
I have a fulltime membership at Rockface but not a big fan. I use to be chums with the go that ran Urban Ascent so that was my usual spot. Small gym but great crimpy and technical routes. Hangout is okay, a nice lead climbing roof, but other than that, not worth the drive. I still prefer to go outdoors but haven't been on the sharp end of a rope outdoors since the French Alps in 2011.

If ya wanna go for an indoor climb PM me during the week if the swell for the weekend dosnt happen (looks like that now )

Sweet as. Flat out for the next few weeks then have a long time off (minus driving people out to rotto during the day).
What grades you climbing? I'm still stuck in the low 20s trying to recover from hand injuries.

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subasurf said..
Sweet as. Flat out for the next few weeks then have a long time off (minus driving people out to rotto during the day).

What grades you climbing? I'm still stuck in the low 20s trying to recover from hand injuries.

Warm up 15/16 then 17/18 havnt cracked an 18 for a while

Breaking out of the teens is the hardest stage of a climbing "career" in my opinion. Having said that, I've never made it to the high 20s so what do I know.

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subasurf said...
Breaking out of the teens is the hardest stage of a climbing "career" in my opinion. Having said that, I've never made it to the high 20s so what do I know.

I did a 19 about six years ago, that was a full struggle. I've done a bit of lead climbing that was my fave but so fricken hard

Fark me you two. I struggle to climb out of bed.

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byf said...
Fark me you two. I struggle to climb out of bed.

Haha, tight hammy?

I did a medical for work the other day where I had to wear a heart rate monitor,
just out of interest, has anyone worn a monitor out in the surf or pool?
Just googled them and you can get waterproof set ups

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Torch said..

I did a medical for work the other day where I had to wear a heart rate monitor,
just out of interest, has anyone worn a monitor out in the surf or pool?
Just googled them and you can get waterproof set ups

Ive got one. I wear it for training weekly and i can say i always get my heart rate up to a peak of 176 ish and an hourly average for a training session of around 155 bpm.
I havent worn mine in the surf, the actual strap will will get affected but i think in my Xcell wettie it might stay good for a bit. But id guess your rate will peak up the same but the average will be a lot lower

I will endeavour to wear it in the water soon and get back to you..

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Souwester said..

A little off topic but also dont discount being in the right spot contibuting to getting your waves, get your burst and endurance paddling up to speed and then watch where the rippers sit and how much they have to paddle, usually they make it look easy!

Paddle smarter not harder I was once told - so bloody true!

And then it's "just" a matter of nailing those freefall drops.
I've got 'em down pat, it's just the landing that can be an issue

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smicko said...

Souwester said..

A little off topic but also dont discount being in the right spot contibuting to getting your waves, get your burst and endurance paddling up to speed and then watch where the rippers sit and how much they have to paddle, usually they make it look easy!

Paddle smarter not harder I was once told - so bloody true!

And then it's "just" a matter of nailing those freefall drops.
I've got 'em down pat, it's just the landing that can be an issue

Yea go deep cripple

Thanks for all the ideas. Definitely some stuff for me to work on there.

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subasurf said..

Climbing, even just indoor, is a great way to build upper body endurance. Getting 'pumped' while climbing (when anaerobic byproducts build up in the muscle so much they cease to work properly) stimulates your body to improve circulation in the arms and it doesn't take long for you to notice improvements. I use to climb 5+ days a week when I use to work near a climbing gym and I attribute my paddle fitness entirely to my climbing.

I've more or lease ceased to climb since a climbing accident in France but I still get out and do it a few times. Go do it once indoors and I guarantee you'll get the best upper body endurance training you can hope for. Granted, it will be working muscle groups differently than surf paddling, but the benefits from increasing bloody circulation will benefit your paddling endurance, no doubt.

I think a smart balance between indoor climbing and doing laps at the pool/beach is the way to go. Besides, climbing is fun.

Funny you guys mention this as I have been considering climbing for a while. Keen to give it a crack.

And yeah - so much more fun than swimming.

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bene313 said..

subasurf said..



Climbing, even just indoor, is a great way to build upper body endurance. Getting 'pumped' while climbing (when anaerobic byproducts build up in the muscle so much they cease to work properly) stimulates your body to improve circulation in the arms and it doesn't take long for you to notice improvements. I use to climb 5+ days a week when I use to work near a climbing gym and I attribute my paddle fitness entirely to my climbing.



I've more or lease ceased to climb since a climbing accident in France but I still get out and do it a few times. Go do it once indoors and I guarantee you'll get the best upper body endurance training you can hope for. Granted, it will be working muscle groups differently than surf paddling, but the benefits from increasing bloody circulation will benefit your paddling endurance, no doubt.



I think a smart balance between indoor climbing and doing laps at the pool/beach is the way to go. Besides, climbing is fun.

Funny you guys mention this as I have been considering climbing for a while. Keen to give it a crack.

And yeah - so much more fun than swimming.

If you are keen PM me and we can organise a time to meet up

Protip: breath plenty while climbing, especially when you're new to it.
You get serious buildups of lactic acid in the muscles, especially in your arms, to the point where it's hard to even hold a bottle of water properly sometimes. The lactic acid is a by product of anaerobic metabolism which in itself is a result of a lack of oxygen getting to the muscles.

When climbing don't neglect to use your legs. When you find a decent resting position, let the weight go to your legs and shake your arms out and get some oxygen into you. You'll climb longer and enjoy it more and in turn get more out of it fitness wise. It takes quite a while for your body to adapt to climbing properly but when it does you'll be a 5hit load stronger and have a tonne more endurance.