UA Surf

Being in the water there’s nothing quite like it.

Catching waves is one of Darren’s true passions.

Being an avid surfer and reluctantly starting to get a little older…….he’s recoginsed the need and benefits of having a surfing specific program to help stay fit, flexible, injury free. The aim is to enable you to surf better and stay in the water for longer, timewise and year (age) wise.

This can be a tough gig as you are probably going from a relatively sedentary and repetitive sitting type of activity at work and home, then we all expect to seamlessly paddle around, then pop onto a board for a very dynamic and fluid based sport such as surfing.

What do surfing injuries see?

 

Shoulders (paddling), necks (craning up when paddling), backs/hips and the odd knee and ankle.

How do we spend our time in the water?- 50% paddling, 40% stationary, leaving only 10% for surfing.

Research shows injury rates are approximately 3-4 injuries per 1000 days of surfing.

What cause these injuries? Apart from cuts, & abrasions etc, the main injuries we treat are down to muscle imbalance and lack of mobility. These combined with long periods of time craning your neck up, repeated paddling and stiff old ‘office hips and lower back’ are a nice little recipes for niggles.

Surfing program

 

Getting your injury assessed and treated properly is key, this is both hands on physio treatment and also what’s really important going forwards is a program to address any underlying issues and improve your balance, flexibility, movement patterns and strength.

Rehab is sometimes seen as a little boring (especially compared to just surfing), but, better rehab equals less time out of the water and we aim to optimise your performance and prevent further injury.

Fitness, I run a bit so I should be ok?

 

Uh oh, not quite, it’s a very different type of exercise with different requirements. Being paddle fit is very different from run or gym fit, studies have shown that 50% of the time spent surfing is paddling with both longer -aerobic constant paddling (getting out the back, or paddling to maintain position in a drift) and anaerobic – paddling hard to catch a wave and pop up. You need to tailor your exercise planning around this.

Mobility and strength, constant contractions.

One big factor we’ve found hugely beneficial and will enjoy at the same time is getting some proper surf technique coaching. Being fit, flexible and having the latest boards are all nice, but believe me you make the biggest steps forward just by having some technical coaching.

We recommend our friends over at the art of surfing for in person and online program (no kick backs for us for this, but they have genuinely helped to make massive improvements in our own surfing through this).

Extra thoughts

 

The stronger and more gym work I do, the better my surfing will be? ……

Surfing is very specific, so do weights and gym work help?

Well they have a place, but surfing is all about movement (sure strength comes into it), but movement and control is the key. No need for heavy weights (just take a look at the greats, Kelly, Andy and John John etc, they are obviously fit and flexible- not muscular hulks by any stretch). So weights play a part, but we think control and functional movement is more important.

Get started with Urban Athlete today.