As winter hits, the water level drops, the days get short and the water gets cold. What’s a wake rider to do? Well, the obvious is to ride in a wetsuit every chance we get.
Most of us are not able to get out very often due the short days and it being dark when we get off of work, which leaves us with weekends. The next four months are usually the time of year riders travel to south Florida for some riding in a warmer climate, if possible. Many times it’s not.
So here are a few exercises and some information to help bridge the gap if you are only riding several times a week, a few times a month, or even taking off completely for a few months. If you have any health problems make sure you check with your doctor before you do any exercise.
You can google any number of training curriculums, and all of these training regimens are going to target a few specific parts of the body.
Cardio work is a personal preference, but getting your heart rate up to 60-70 percent of your maximum heart rate (MHR= 220 – age) for a minimum of 20-25 minutes is a good start. You can jog, use any number of machines like the low impact elliptical trainer, a stair climber or a stationary bike. A rowing machine is very helpful as it does target quite a few of the muscles used in water-sports. The cardio work should be done 3-5 times a week and can keep the off season weight gain from being a problem. Cardio training will allow you to ride longer at the beginning of the year without tiring so quickly.
For upper body muscle strengthening, one exercise that is almost unbeatable is the pull up or chin up. This exercise targets the lats, biceps, forearms and hands, as well as the abs. Getting a pull up bar and doing sets of them a few times a week will definitely improve upper body strength come March. Another old school exercise is the push up. Used in combination with the pull up, it will further help upper body strength.
For leg strengthening, most cardio exercises will help and but “wall sits” are a great quad exercise for riders, who are constantly crouched down. Doing one minute intervals of wall sits is a great training tool, or you can put your back against an exercise ball against the wall for more advanced wall sits that work the abdominal muscles a bit more. Calf raises are a simple exercise you can do in a doorway and you can do them on a steady block for additional range of the exercise.
Core and abdominal strength is very important because it affects balance and rotation for every trick we do. There are countless core and ab workouts out there, just choose one and do it three to five times a week, or alternate different ones to break up your routine.
Stretching is one thing that is left out of many workouts. I think stretching is very important for riders, especially if you older than 8. I’d like to personally endorse two programs for both strength and flexibility. “Surf Stronger” is an amazing workout with great music, particularly the Core Training Workout. It’s put together by Todd Walsh and you can find it at www.surfstronger.com.
My personal favorite is Peggy Hall’s “Yoga for Surfers, Vol. 2, Fluid Power.” It’s a great strength and flexibility program. You’ll be pouring sweat half way through the workout, so don’t let the yoga part fool you. You can find it at www.yogaforsurferstv.com.
Hit it hard this winter and get out when you can.
See you on the water.
By Sawyer Davis
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 3:45PM