Beth,
Great column! Almost all surfers seem to invariably suffer from similar ailments and injuries over the course of their careers, and it’s great to see someone finally dishing out some practical advice to help prolong the surfing life.
I wanted to ask you if you could be more specific about your advice of “…you definitely want to focus on strengthening the opposing surfingmuscle groups and stretch the muscles you use for paddling.” I have read similar admonitions from chiropractors about “stretching what you use and strengthen what you don’t.” Could you give me some concrete examples? For instance, I would guess that paddling utilizes the latissimus dorsi, triceps, front deltoids, and perhaps to a lesser extent, the pectorals? So you would concentrate on stretching those muscles? And then following that train of thought, which muscles would you then work on strengthening? Lower back, bicep, side delts?
It seems like the traditional dry-land surfing workout of pushups and pullups are working the exact same muscles that you use in surfing—lats, front delts and pecs. So wouldn’t that go against the prescription of “stretch what you use, strengthen what you don’t”? I surf just about every day and also work out regularly, and I just want to make sure I’m not over-using or over-building certain muscles during my dry-land training (I had some rotator cuff problems flare up over the summer). If you could possibly provide me with some clarification, it would be greatly appreciated! Thanks again for the wonderful column!
ANSWER:
Hey Ken,
I am stoked that you dig this column! Your questions are actually good ones because you often hear of what needs to be done, but not the specifics of how to do it. In an ideal surfing world, you have perfect paddling technique and never get crushed by inside sets or go over the falls. This perfect scenario would use all the upper body muscles for paddling and never pull or torque anything when getting ruined on the inside. Unfortunately, for most of us this world doesn’t exist and imbalances are created. Start with paddling…if your paddle stroke isn’t perfect, you may be using more of your neck muscles and shoulders and not calling in your back or lats. If you are wicked tight, you may not be able to even come close to using certain back muscles while paddling because your shoulders roll forward so much. If you get worked inside one day or get hammered by a close-out barrel and torque your neck or back, you may throw something out of whack which can mess up your perfect equilibrium.
So, what I am getting at is that there are a lot of variables in surfing and everyone’s bodies are different. In most cases with surfers, I have noticed that we have incredibly tight pecs, biceps, and upper traps while our smaller deltoid, rhomboid, and levator scapulae tend to be weaker. I would suggest that you have a good body worker check out your body and find your tight areas and maybe do a few tests to figure out your weaknesses. Chances are, if you just use lighter weights and focus on the smaller muscle groups, you may find an increase in strength and balance.
Let me know if this clarifies things for you. I hope you got in the water a bit today (Sunday). Kind of fun and clean out at OB.
Hasta, Beth
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