I own and run a surf travel company on Australia’s Gold Coast. My business basically pulls together all the services offered on the Gold Coast that a travelling surfer needs. We then go the extra step of renting our surfboards to our clients, for the duration of their holiday. The idea is simple, we want to ensure our clients have the surfing holiday of their life, without the hassle of sorting out the logistics when they arrive.

The business is based around a long term surfboard rental concept which includes services such as delivery and pickup. This part is great. I make sure I deliver as many boards as I can as it affords me the luxury of chatting to my clients about the passions we share. Usually these conversations are packed with useful tips about the services they’d like to see next year. So I try to listen, improve my business and provide them with those services when they return.

The most common comment I get from clients returning their surfboards though, is regret that they weren’t fitter for the holiday just past. This is an understandable problem. During the daily grind we all have work, family and chores to contend with. Time is the scarce resource which all our commitments fight over. We can’t surf as much as we’d like, neither can we spend all our time training for fitness. So it is a rare surfer who arrives on a holiday with the appropriate level of fitness.

So what is the best way to get fit for a big surf holiday while you are busy back at home, with all the pressures and distraction every day living brings? We believe there are 3 things you should do. The first 2 should be part of your long term commitment to personal health and fitness and the last is aimed at giving you a real fitness boost before you go on holiday.

The first thing you need to take care of is your general level of endurance. You need to be fit enough to go hard for 10 - 15 minutes minimum, as often this is the minimum paddling requirement for getting through the breakers and out the back.

This requirement needs to be specific to the water though. You need to be water fit. Endurance in the water is so different to endurance on land. Moving through the water is almost a feeling, an art. The worse your feel for the water is, the more energy you’ll burn up when you take to it.

So get in the pool and swim at least twice a week. If you have a break near you, surf at least twice a week. No matter what you do, just make sure you are getting wet twice a week, every week of the year. Your water fitness will just come. It will just be something that develops, you will become more and more familiar with the water environment simply because you are being in it. Don’t make any excuses, go on, get wet.

The second thing you need to think about is your core strength, balance and flexibility. People don’t understand how important this is, especially when you increase your level of involvement. When you have a good core fitness and level of flexibility, your body holds together better and recovers quicker. That leaves you better prepared for your next session.

There is one thing I do to take care of my core strength and flexibility. Yoga. Yoga is so good in this regard for surfers, its almost as if yoga was invented for surfing. My suggestion, get yourself a yoga for surfing dvd and do the program twice a week. Its a little bit cheaper than going to the yoga clinic twice a week anyway.

Keep in mind also that surfing constantly distorts your body away from its natural position of balance and health. The act of paddling for example hyperextends your back. And think about all the contortions you put it through in any wipeout. Thats the other thing that Yoga does really well. It helps restore your body back to its natural and healthy posture, despite the rough and tumble of the waves.

If you take care of the two items above (Ie water fitness and flexibility/core strength) you can give your surfing fitness a real booster by doing a functional training program specific to surfing. The point of functional training is it focuses in on the specific muscle and fitness requirements of a sport (in this case surfing) and trains those muscles in accordance with the needs of the sport.

To embellish, you’re reasonably fit and flexible because of the healthy outdoors lifestyle you lead. However, in recognising the additional load the surfing holiday is going to put on your body, you give it a short and sharp boost right where it needs it, so you can cope better and recover quicker fofrom any session in the water. Which is exactly what you want on holiday as your next session is only hours away.

I hope this helps you prepare for your next surfing trip where ever it may be. We all know training can sometimes be a bit of a drag, just remember how much more fun those surfing days are when the waves, your skill and your body all come together at the same time, so you can catch that elusive perfect wave.

Tags: Surfing

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