How do I get fit for surfing or a surf trip?
Surfing is mostly paddling and waiting, with a few seconds standing on each wave. So train the shoulders and upper back for paddling, a fast pop-up, and the hips and ankles for a low stance. Swim or paddle twice a week if you can, and start about six weeks before the trip.
Nume plans the weeks before around your training, and the trip itself around where you are.
What does a surf session ask of you?
A study that tracked 41 male competitive surfers with GPS and video found they spent 44% of each heat paddling and 42% sitting still, waiting. The rest was short sprints to catch waves and the rides themselves. A free session often runs much longer than a 20-minute heat, so paddling endurance matters even more, and the pop-up decides whether you get the wave.
Plan the trip in Nume
In Nume: set the trip on Week with its dates and where you’re going, and choose Keep training, Keep it light (walks and short stretches) or Take a break. Your surf sessions go on your days as your own sessions, and Nume plans around them. Meals follow where you are: local dishes, or the breakfast where you stay with what to take from it. Ask Talk the temperature, feels-like, UV and chance of rain at the beach for any day up to 10 days ahead. More on eating on the road in eating out.
Paddling strength
Paddling is a pull, done lying face down, for minutes at a time. Train it with:
- Pull-downs or band pull-downs, the closest gym match to the paddle stroke.
- Rows, with a pause at the top.
- Prone Y, T and W raises for the muscles around the shoulder blades.
- Prone back holds, chest lifted, to hold the paddling position.
- Swimming freestyle, which trains the same muscles for the same long minutes.
In Nume: Nume writes strength and mobility sessions with sets, reps and rest, at home or at a gym, for the days and length you choose, and after a full session the next one steps up. Tell Talk “shoulders and back for paddling” and Nume keeps it (“Noted · Training”) and builds it into the workouts it writes next.
A quicker pop-up
The pop-up is a press-up that ends in a low squat. Practise both halves:
- Press-ups, fast on the way up.
- Pop-up practice on the floor: from lying, hands under the chest, spring to a low stance in one move.
- A deep squat hold and hip openers, for a stance low enough to ride in.
- Ankle mobility: knee-to-wall rocks.
In Nume: mobility and bodyweight work suits home sessions as well as the gym, and Nume writes both.
Six weeks out
| Weeks | Strength | Water or cardio | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 2 | 2 sessions: pulls, presses, legs | Swim twice, easy | Base strength |
| 3 to 4 | 2 sessions, a little heavier | Swim twice, longer, with faster lengths | Paddling endurance, daily pop-up practice |
| 5 to 6 | 2 sessions, held steady | Swim or paddle twice | Hold it, and go lighter in the last few days |
Food on surf days
For a session of over an hour, the joint sports-nutrition guidance from the American College of Sports Medicine and the US and Canadian dietetics bodies gives 1 to 4 g of carbohydrate per kg in the 1 to 4 hours before. Before a dawn session that is often just a banana, toast or a small bowl of oats, with a proper meal at your first eating time after. For sessions of one to 2.5 hours, the guidance is 30 to 60 g of carbohydrate an hour; on a long session, come in for a drink and a snack. Sun, wind and salt water dry you out, so drink before you paddle out and again when you come in. Food in grams for long efforts is on half or full marathon.
In Nume: the meal before a session of real effort is planned a little lighter, and the one after is planned larger with more protein, and each meal says why. If your last meal was four hours or more before, Today offers a light snack about 45 minutes before. With “Before you train” on, a note in Talk about two hours before a timed session says what helps.
A week of sessions in a row
On a trip you may surf every day, often twice. Have about 0.3 g of protein per kg at meals through the day, about 20 g at 70 kg. If you surf twice in a day with under 8 hours between, take 1 to 1.2 g of carbohydrate per kg an hour for the first four hours after the first session. More in protein.
In Nume: tell Talk “a bigger first meal on training days” and, once you tap to confirm, that meal takes a bigger share of every day with a session planned, from then on.
Your surf trip with Nume
Set the trip, choose how much training to keep, and tell Talk what your training should do for paddling. Nume writes the strength work before you go, plans meals at your eating times around each session, and makes meals follow you on the trip. Planning a trek instead? See get fit for a hike or trek. For a sport closer to home, see get fitter for your sport.
Common questions
Can I get surf-fit without the sea?
Mostly. Swimming, pulls and rows, press-ups and pop-up practice cover the paddling and the pop-up. Balance and reading waves come in the water.
Should I eat before a dawn session?
A small carbohydrate snack helps a session of over an hour. Have a proper meal after.
Checked on · The Nume team
Sources
- Farley et al., Workloads of competitive surfing: work-to-relief ratios, surf-break demands, and updated analysis, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (2018)
- Thomas, Erdman and Burke, Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Dietitians of Canada, and the American College of Sports Medicine: Nutrition and Athletic Performance (2016)