Real talk: pro surfers have incredible bodies. They’re toned, lean and strong. That’s because surfers have incredible fitness – their ability to paddle through the rough, make it to the backline, where the waves are clean, and ripping along them requires core strength, agility and power. And with such power comes great booty.
Surfing is also an incredible (and beautiful) endurance sport. Most of your session will include paddling on your board into the unpredictable water, which makes for the best upper body workout you can find with a view. “You can expect to burn an average of 500kj per 1.5hr session (the average length of a session),” says Roxy Davis, 9x South African Surfing Champion.
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But time flies as you are having fun, so you could probably burn a lot more, depending on how long you decide to hang out in the water. Then there’s the work involved in riding waves. “The key areas are flexibility, strength, stamina and endurance,” says Davis. Being able to pivot on the board and surf the waves means you’ll be engaging your core and quads for hours on end. A toned body is the natural bonus. To supplement wave riding, surfers also spend some time in the gym working on explosive fitness and better core strength.
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Still not keen to get in the water? Try these surfer-approved moves that work muscle endurance, agility, explosiveness and core strength to really get lean (and catch more waves).
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Your Moves
Perform the exercises in one superset, with a break in between sets. Do three to four sets in total.
1/ Surfer burpees — Try to imagine you’re popping up on your board and need to get your feet in the middle of the board.
2/ Plank knee-tucks
3/ Stir-the-pot planks
4/ Jumping lunges
