It’s no secret that surfers are in great shape. When you think “surfer”, more often than not you picture a ripped shirtless dude with long hair. This is the case for a number of reasons.
So does surfing make you buff? Surfing provides a great workout for chest, arms, shoulders and core muscles. The combinations of muscles that surfing uses make it’s one of the best all around workouts you can get from a given sport.
Why Are Surfers So Fit?
Surfers are fit because the act of surfing is an all in one work out. The first thing a surfer has to do is paddle out, which is a cardio workout that provides many of the same benefits as swimming. Swimming and paddling is a better cardio workout than other due to the constant pushing and pulling against the water, which has a much higher resistance level than air, builds muscle capacity and endurance. In surfing one must paddle against the water as well as the resistance of water itself as well as the force from waves. Surfers also “sprint” paddle into waves, build chest muscles when they pop-up and build core muscles from riding and turning in waves.
How Does Surfing Build Muscle?
Paddling builds muscle in your back, lats, shoulders, arms, and chest. Like swimming, the consistent pulling against the water is the equivalent to using resistance bands in the gym. The way a surfer arches their back builds muscle in the lower back, and neck. Each time a surfer stands up they’re basically doing a push up. Going even further, really talented surfers will build muscle in their core and thighs while they’re on a wave. The constant pumping up and down the wave engages these muscles by contracting and expanding the limbs. Long story short, the more you surf, the more muscles you’re going to build.
Which Parts of Surfing Build Which Muscles?
After the cardio workout that is paddling out, a surfer must paddle into a wave. If paddling out is more like a jog, this is more like an all out sprint. A surfer will use a sudden spike of energy to catch the wave, which makes adrenaline flow in your brain. The next step is the pop-up. A pop-up is essentially a quick push up to get up on the board. And like a push up, it requires and builds muscle. After that, a surfer is standing and constantly adjusting for balance. They shift their weight to make the drop, pump the board to gain speed and do all sorts of precise little adjustments to their bodies to adapt to the wave. This motor movement builds core muscle in the same way yoga does. So in summary, surfers build endurance by paddling out, “sprint” by paddling into waves, do burpees for pops up and build core through dynamic movement while riding the wave itself.
What Are The Specific Muscles Used In Surfing?
When surfers paddle out for a wave, multiple muscles kick into action: triceps, biceps, deltoids; the trapezius, rectus abdominis, latissimus dorsi, and obliques.
Later, when you pop-up on a good-looking wave, the pectoralis major, deltoids, triceps and biceps will lift your upper body before your legs get into work.
As your feet touch the surfboard, you’ll bring the main lower-body surf muscles into action. These include the quadriceps, gluteals, and the gastrocnemius. The muscles of the hips are very important in surfing because they will be called to work to complete bottom-turns, carves, aerials, snaps and cutbacks.
Is Surfing A Good Cardio Workout?
Paddling out to catch waves will help build cardiovascular and upper body strength, and popping up into your stance will work your legs and core. As you move through these steps you are working your overall endurance while having the time of your life. But beyond the impressive anaerobic effects of surfing, the sport also offers a handful of other physical benefits.
Does Surfing Reduce Stress?
Surfing is an excellent way to relieve stress as well as anxiety. Most common forms of exercise, including surfing, trigger the release of endorphins, which give you a similar feeling to morphine. This can produce euphoric feelings, which lead to a positive outlook on life. It’s a well-known fact that exercise improves your sleep, and after a day of chasing waves, your body is ready for restorative slumber. And when you sleep better, you live better. Surfing can also reduce stress through the meditative elements of the sport, as a surfer often spends the day sitting beyond the break waiting for a wave. The moments where you’re just peacefully sitting there can be just as beneficial to your mental health as the endorphin release you feel when you do the exercise itself.
How Does Getting Sun Improve Mood?
People tend to like being in the sun in general, but there’s actual science behind why it improves mood. Increased exposure from the sun increases the production of vitamin D in your body, which improves bone structure, helps absorb calcium, and regulates bodily functions. When it comes to mood, the scientific evidence is clear; the higher your vitamin D levels, the more likely you are to feel happy. In fact, since it promotes healthy mood, vitamin D3 is often referred to as the sunshine vitamin. And there’s no shortage of sunshine medicine when it comes to surfing. In fact, your body absorbs more sunlight than usual due to its reflection off the water.
What Makes Surfing More Fun Than Other Types of Exercising?
Perhaps the most impactful benefit of surfing is the connection you make to the sport. A passion for surfing can improve and maintain your overall physical health more than something like a gym routine. Once an athlete finds that special thing they love, training for that activity starts to feel less like work and becomes more like fun. Another part that makes surfing feel less like work is the sense of community you form with fellow surfers. Because surfing’s not just a sport it’s a lifestyle. Your enthusiasm and love for this lifestyle just happens to drive you to workout, stay in shape, and become an even better surfer.
As professional surfer Yadin Nicol once said, finding a sport you love motivates you to train, “not for abs, or for arms, or for anything on the surface, but rather to become more capable at doing you love. Because the better you are, the more fun you can have.” This is backed up by a study published in Marketing Letters that found that viewing an activity as fun verses exercise actually makes working out feel easier. This happens because your attention has been redirected away from the effort required and more on the fun of the activity.
What Are Some Other Health Benefits of Surfing?
The physical and mental health benefits are well known within the surf community and evidence just continues to stack about just how good surfing is for you. This is because surfing combines aerobic exercise and strength training with a stress-relieving mental health workout as you progress and develop new skills.
Is Surfing Good For Your Heart?
Surfing is a great cardiovascular exercise. The workout you get from surfing builds up heart strength through a mixture of paddling, standing on the board and working your core muscles. Looking good is great of course. but the impact surfing has on your overall fitness is impressive. Several scientific communities including The Cal State San Marcos, have proven that the cardio workout from surfing is especially good for your heart.
Is Surfing Good For Your Mental Health?
When it comes to the mental health benefits of surfing, die-hard surfers will tell you nothing clears the mind like improving your surf skills. Surfing requires complete focus and concentration so is a great way to step away from day-to-day life and wipe away the effects of stress. One evidence-based technique for improving mental wellbeing is the concept of mindfulness. The goal of mindfulness is to develop an awareness of what is going on around you and inside yourself from moment to moment. The concentration and awareness demanded for surfing can be seen as mindfulness in action, making it a great way to meditate while still staying active.
How Does Good Balance Affect Your Health?
Because getting up is ultimately the goal, surfers tend to attain an improved sense of balance and coordination from balancing on a surfboard. This can also lead to an all-round better quality of life as one gets older. Falling is a big risk for older people who can get serious or life-threatening complications from broken bones. Maintaining good balance, coordination and muscle strength is important for enjoying later life and staying independent. In fact, a study of older surfers conducted by Australia’s Southern Cross University, found that long-term recreational surfing has shown to maintain or improve balance, coordination and control, better than in active older people who didn’t surf.
A strong core and sense of balance are crucial to your quality of surfing but also in your overall physical health. Maintaining good balance prevents injuries and improves your coordination, making it easier for you to navigate the world and adapt to new activities. Surfing requires a strong core and balance. Maintaining those skills overtime is a big part of leading a healthy, active lifestyle.
Do I Have To Be In Shape To Start Surfing?
Learning to surf can be tricky but that’s also one of the things that makes people love it more. The first couple sessions can be rough but soon you’ll love falling over. As an old surf buddy once told me “If you ain’t falling, you ain’t learning!” Surfing is a full body workout. Nearly every move you make while out on the water requires a combination of strength and cardio.
But don’t worry, you don’t need to look like you star in Baywatch to get started. In fact, you don’t have to be in good shape to surf or even start surfing. All it requires is energy and motivation. One of the best things about surfing is that it’s approachable for everybody, wherever you come from you can find success on your board out on the water. Surfing is a life-changing activity that requires no prior experience to learn quickly and can be done for the majority of your life. Surf legend Laird Hamilton once said that he feels he has no age and sees himself surfing well into his 70’s and 80’s. This is because surfing is, without a doubt, one of the best ways to feel young and stay in shape. The best part about surfing is that it has lasting effects that carry over into nearly all aspects of life.
