Get fit for your surfing holiday!
So you did book your surfholiday and want to get the best out of it. With just a couple of months to go you may be wondering what you can do on dry land that will help you in the water. Your imagination runs wild: Surfing warm, rip-able waves in some far-off place. You’ll score waves, you’ll get tan, you’ll come back with lots of stories. But now what? Well there’s plenty you can do to get fit for surfing!
Fit for surfing without waves
You should try to surf as much as you can leading up to the trip, but if the waves are flat or poor quality, you’ll want to make sure you are training! Surfing is a highly demanding sport on the body, paddling for waves, duck diving, paddling out through even 3 foot waves can leave you breathless, and there’s also the non stop popping up that 
goes on.There are just no two ways about it: better fitness equals better surfing. If you are in optimal shape, you’ll catch more waves, be less prone to injury, perform better in the water, and recover quicker between sessions.
Boosting you upper body strength, core body strength and leg power is a must for helping you to enjoy your surfing experience to the full. Also work on your Balance with yoga, get to the pool to swim, train your frontcrawl. and work out your legs by running!
Excercise
push ups
1.Lie on the floor face down and place your hands about 36 inches apart while holding your torso up at arms length.
2.Next, lower yourself downward until your chest almost touches the floor as you inhale.
3.Now breathe out and press your upper body back up to the starting position while squeezing your chest.
4.After a brief pause at the top contracted position, you can begin to lower yourself downward again for as many repetitions as needed.
Variations:
If you are new at this exercise and do not have the strength to perform it, you can either bend your legs at the knees to take off resistance or perform the exercise against the wall instead of the floor.
For the most advanced lifters, you can place your feet at a high surface such as a bench in order to increase the resistance and to target the upper chest more.
Squats
From a standing position, keeping the back straight and upright as possible, sit back and lower the hips to the ground. As the knees bend, keep them behind the toes. As soon as you feel the hips tighten go no further. Then simply push back up from the heels. Avoid letting the hips go below the knees. Aim for 3 sets of 10 and up to 20 as you improve. If you have bad knees or they sound a bit crunchy best to avoid this one!
Planking
Plank helps you to build strength in your core, upper and lower body so its a good full body work out. You do not need any equipment to perform this exercise all you need is a bit of space, and it really helps improve flexibility by stretching muscles and will improve posture if performed regularly.
1.Start by getting into a press up position.
2.Bend your elbows and rest your weight ono your forearms and not on your hands.
3.Your body should form a straight line from shoulders to ankles.
4.Engage your core by sucking your belly button into your spine.
5.Hold this position for the prescribed time.
Burpee
Burpees are a full body exercise which virtually works every muscle in the body, this means that you can burn more calories in a lot less time.
- Stand with your feet hip width apart and your arms down by your side
- Lower into a squat position with your hands flat on the floor in front of you
- Kick your legs backwards into a press up position and lower your chest to the floor
- Push your chest back up to the press up position thrust both feet forward so you are back in the squat position
- Jump up and raise both hands over your head.
Tip: Train your standing up for surfing!
Other workout tips to get fit for surfing
• Include some foam rolling (or self massage) before your warm-up to help improve muscle tissue quality and loosen any tight muscles.
• Change up your routine about every 4 weeks to keep things fresh and challenging.
• Drink plenty of water and eat a healthy diet – lots of fruits & vegetables, lean protein and wholegrains.
• Surf as much as possible before the trip.
• Ease back in your training about a week before you leave to make sure your body is fully recovered for the trip.