Continue reading »]]> FAQ – How Do I Improve My Paddle Fitness For Surfing?

This is a common question I get asked quite a bit. At the end of the day it’s one of the biggest reasons surfers come looking for an exercise program, especially if they don’t live close to the surf or are about to go on a surf trip.

I know for me it was one of the factors why I started Total Surfing Fitness. As I wasn’t getting in the water that regularly and when I did I would get frustrated by my lack of paddle fitness and how quickly I would get fatigued.

Luckily it doesn’t have to be like that. All you have to do is train using the 2 steps outlined below and you can paddle with the best of them. And that means more waves and more fun! If you implement these strategies then you will be ready to paddle hard every time you hit the surf regardless of the last time you were in the water.

Step #1 – Improve Your Upper Body Strength & Stability

The first step is build a solid base of strength and stability in your upper body.

The key here is to keep your body and muscles in balance by targeting all of the major muscle groups, not just the ones you use the most when paddling. If you target certain muscles or movements more than others you increase the likelihood of creating a muscular imbalance which can lead to movement inefficiencies or musculoskeletal injuries.

So make sure you do exercises for each of the following 4 movements:

• Vertical Pushing (eg. Single Arm Dumbbell Press)
• Vertical Pulling (eg. Pull-ups)
• Horizontal Pushing (eg. BOSU Push-ups)
• Horizontal Pulling (eg. Dumbbell Plank Row)

You also need to keep your joints stable and for paddling this means stable shoulders. Exercises like YTW Raises are really good for helping to keep your shoulder joints stable and preventing shoulder issues.

Step #2 – Improve Your Muscular Endurance

The second step once you have a stable base of upper body strength is to improve your muscular endurance. If you improve the endurance in your paddling muscles, when you are out in the water you can paddle back out to the line up with more energy and it will take longer to fatigue.

There are several ways you can improve your muscular endurance for paddling. The obvious one is to get out on your surf board and paddle more.

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If this is not an option then here are two are options to try…

Swimming – Freestyle swimming uses similar muscles to paddling and is a great way to improve the endurance in your arms and shoulders. Doing intervals in the pool or ocean is a great way to train for surfing. The Cardio Manual which comes with the Total Surfing Fitness package has some surf specific swimming workouts which you can get started with.

Band Paddling – Paddling against resistance using a resistance band is another great way to improve your upper body endurance. Try and use a fairly light resistance and if you have a swiss ball that will make a great surfboard alternative to lie on. The great thing about band paddling is that you can do it at home without getting wet, so there are no excuses! The Cardio Manual in  the Total Surfing Fitness package also has some interval workouts with band paddling to help build your paddle fitness.

Hopefully this has shed some light on how to improve your paddle fitness for surfing so you can catch more waves!

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Here’s an example of what other surfers have experienced…

“I first started surfing last year. I’ve always been an active person so I was in good shape, but I wasn’t in “surfing shape”. After 10 minutes of fighting the breakers and the current, I could barely catch a wave because I was so exhausted. I knew I had the drive & determination to keep at it, I just needed to train my body better. So I purchased Total Surfing Fitness and spent the winter months following the program.

Once summer rolled around and I headed back to the waves, it was a whole new experience. I could (and did) spend hours at a time in the water, catching wave after wave, regardless of how rough the ocean was. I was stronger, more confident, and less injury-prone. Thanks to Clayton’s excellent program I can now enjoy surfing! Thanks for your great product!”
John Riviello

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If you want to fast track your results and build your paddle fitness using our proven training system, make sure you download Total Surfing Fitness – Functional Training for Surfers.

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Continue reading »]]> How To Assess Your Leg Power And Stabilization With This Simple Test

All surf and snow sports athletes need to have both explosive leg power and and the ability to absorb force and stabilize. From riding waves to carving powder, if you have the ability to generate and absorb force in a lateral direction, you will be on your way to improved surfing/riding/skiing and also decrease your risk of injury such as knee injuries.

The test shown below is a great test you can do at home to measure both your ability to generate force and also to balance on landing. Your ability to land and absorb an eccentric force is just as important as the jumping itself, because it you can’t land effectively you will likely fall or even injure yourself.

Have a go at the test below and see if you can beat me

The Lateral Bound Test

You will need a tape measure to measure the distance of your jump. Extend the tape measure out across the floor so you have plenty of room. Make sure you wear cushioned sports shoes and do an adequate warm-up first (such as some bodyweight squats and lunges).

Completing the test…

• Start standing on one leg, then bend from your hip, knee and ankle and use your arms for momentum as you jump laterally to land on the opposite leg.
• For the score to count, you need to land on the other leg and stay balanced for at least a full second. Make sure you absorb the landing by bending at your hip, knee and ankle.
• Do a couple of warm-up jumps first before having 2-3 attempts with maximum effort.

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My Test Score

• Right Leg – 2.23m
• Left Leg – 2.27m

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My left leg appears to be slightly more powerful. This would probably be due to the fact that this is the leg I would normally jump off in other sports such as taking a mark in Aussie rules footy or doing a layup in basketball.

Do the test and post your score in the comments section below.

This test was taken from the High Performance Club – Functional Fitness Assessment. If you want to test your total body functional fitness for surf or snow sports, join the High Performance Club to access the full assessment.

If you want to improve your athleticism and enhance your overall surf or snow fitness, download one of our step-by-step workout programs below and experience the difference for yourself (all programs come with a 60 day money back guarantee, so if it doesn’t work for you, you can get a full refund – there is nothing to lose!) …

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Surfing Workouts - Total Surfing Fitness

Snowboarding Workouts - Total Snowboarding Fitness

Ski Workouts - Total Skiing Fitness

Windsurfing Workouts - Total Windsurfing Fitness

Advanced Workouts - Surf ‘n’ Snow Fitness High Performance Club   ($4.95 Special Offer!)

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Continue reading »]]> 4 Ways To Become More Athletic And Perform Better In The Surf Or Snow

Somewhere between the ages of 20 and 30, most people will start to notice a decrease in their physical performance. Injuries start to occur more easily, you take longer to recover from exercise, you can’t run as fast, jump as high or move as freely as you once could.

But it doesn’t always have to be this way.

When it comes to training for surf or snow sports, there should be one main goal that dictates your efforts. If your workouts don’t achieve this goal then you are really wasting your time.

That goal is to become more athletic

The old saying that “if you don’t use it, you lose it” comes to mind. I would like to improve this by saying “if you don’t move it in an athletic way, you will lose it.” But on a positive note, if you do move it athletically and often, then you can get your physical performance back and even enhance it more than ever.

It’s not uncommon for me to receive emails from clients over 40 years old, who are performing better now that they were in their 20s. All I can put it down to is they are training correctly and improving their athleticism.

So How Do I Become More Athletic?

The basic idea is to move more, move correctly and then move fast (correctly). Here’s 5 ways you can improve your athleticism in the surf or snow by incorporating these things into your training…

Move in 3D

If you want to become more athletic, you need to move in all 3 dimensions or all 3 planes of movement (frontal, sagittal and transverse). It’s no good training using machines with fixed ranges of motion when in real life with don’t normally have those limitations. All that does is train muscles to work in isolation, where as your muscles need to work as an integrated system to move effectively.

When you’re carving down the face of a wave or shredding through some fresh powder you’re moving in a 3 dimensional environment and so you need to be training the same way.

In simple terms this means do more muti-planar, multi-joint, complex movements. Do lunges to the side or at 45 degree angles, not just in front. Do rotational core exercises, not just crunches. Don’t get stuck on fixed motion exercise machines. Move your body the way it was created to move.

Jump More

Jumping is really important because it is highly transferable to surfing, snowboarding and skiing. The concentric phase (pushing up) is important because it builds explosive power in your legs and the eccentric phase or landing phase helps you develop a good breaking mechanism so that you can absorb landings and similar eccentric forces on the snow or on your surfboard.

So make sure you jump often, jump in different directions and also mix it up between double and single leg dominant jumps.

Master Your Bodyweight

In order to really be athletic you need to be able to handle your own bodyweight, seeing as you will be carrying it with you all the time. This means you should be doing more bodyweight exercises like pull-ups and chinups, push-ups, inverted rows, single leg squats and lunge variations.

Using your bodyweight will help build stability and strength that no machine at the gym can do.

Do High Intensity Interval Training

Interval training will boost your athleticism by enhancing your endurance capacity faster than traditional steady state exercise. Scientific studies such as the popular Tabata study show that high intensity interval training can not only improve the subjects anaerobic (short burst) energy system greater than steady state exercise, but also improves their aerobic (longer duration) energy system better as well.

While there may still be a place for steady state cardio, if you want more bang for your buck, do intervals. Try running, swimming, riding, skipping or any other cardiovascular activity and mix up your intervals (30:30, 20:10, 20:40, etc).

Your Athletic Surf or Snow Training Plan

Hopefully now you have a better understanding of what it takes to become more athletic so you can perform better in the surf or snow.

If you want a professionally designed athletic training plan, download one of our step-by-step workout programs below and see the difference for yourself (all programs come with a 60 day money back guarantee, so if it doesn’t work for you, you can get a full refund – there is nothing to lose!) …

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Surfing Workouts - Total Surfing Fitness

Snowboarding Workouts - Total Snowboarding Fitness

Ski Workouts - Total Skiing Fitness

Windsurfing Workouts - Total Windsurfing Fitness

Advanced Workouts - Surf ‘n’ Snow Fitness High Performance Club

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Continue reading »]]> How To Build Upper Body Functional Strength Using Your Bodyweight

Using your own bodyweight when training for surf or snow sports is one of the best ways to build functional strength. Sure dumbbells and resistance bands have their place, but if you can’t handle your own bodyweight then you need to focus on those exercises until you can.

In part 1 of this series I revealed my favourite bodyweight exercise for the lower body and showed you some different progressions for that exercise. If you missed what it was, you can check out Part 1 here.

In Part 2a, I am going to show you what I believe is one of the best bodyweight exercises for the upper body…

What Is The Best Upper Body Exercise Using Your Own Bodyweight?

In my opinion there are 2 great upper body exercises you should be doing (the other one I will discuss in part 2b) and the first of those is Pull-ups.

Pull-ups are great because they will help you build a really strong back and arms which is always an asset, especially for surfers where paddling strength is important.

There are lots of different versions of pull-ups you can do, from easy to hard, so don’t worry if you can do many to start with, I can show you some different variations to get you up to speed.

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Pull-up grip terminology – There are 3 main grips you can use when doing pull-ups, and I encourage you to try them all out. I think the easiest is neutral grip where your palms face towards each other (although if you just have a straight bar you won’t be able to do this unless you have some parallel bars on your chin-up bar).

Then you have palms facing towards you (traditional chin-up position) and finally palms facing away from you (what I would call a pull-up).

Pull-up Progressions

Beginner Variations

Leg Assisted Suspension Pull-ups

To do this version you will need either a suspension trainer or a towel hooked over the bar. This makes it easier because you can use your legs to help pull yourself up to the bar.

Leg Assisted Suspension Pull-up

Leg Assisted Towel Pull-up

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Band Assisted Pull-ups

With band assisted pull-up you loop the band over the bar and then hook your feet or legs in so it can take some of your weight. This makes it easier to perform the exercise. The stronger the band, the easier the pull-up will be.

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Intermediate Variations

These are your traditional pull-ups, the ones you have most likely tried before. There are 4 main versions to try…

• Chin-ups – Hands shoulder width apart and palms facing towards you
• Neutral Grip Pull-up – Palms facing towards each other
• Pull-ups - Hands shoulder width apart and palms facing away from you
• Wide Grip Pull-ups – Hands wider than shoulder width apart and palms facing away from you

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Advanced Variations

If you can do more than 10 pull-ups for any of the intermediate versions, then you can have a go at the advanced variations…

• Side to Side Pull-ups – Pull you chest up to one side, lower back down and then pull up to the other side.
• Towel Pull-ups – Loop a towel over the bar and hold one hand on the towel and the other on the bar. Also great for improving your grip strength.
• Weighted Pull-ups – Add some weight to your pull-up either by holding a dumbbell/medicine ball  between your legs, or wearing a weight belt or weight vest.

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Pull-up Tips

• Don’t just try and get your chin over the bar, actually try and pull your chest up to the bar to really activate your back muscles.
• Lower your body down till your arms are straight each rep– no cheating.

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Your Plan To Build Total Body Functional Strength

If you want to get a professionally designed training plan to help you move and perform better in the surf or snow, download one of our step-by-step functional training plans below and see the difference for yourself (all programs come with a 60 day money back guarantee, so if it doesn’t work for you, you can get a full refund – there is nothing to lose!) …

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Surfing Workouts - Total Surfing Fitness

Snowboarding Workouts - Total Snowboarding Fitness

Ski Workouts - Total Skiing Fitness

Windsurfing Workouts - Total Windsurfing Fitness

Advanced Workouts - Surf ‘n’ Snow Fitness High Performance Club

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Continue reading »]]> Workout Fast With Cardio Strength Training

We don’t always have time for a full workout. Sometimes life gets in the way and exercise can take a back seat. But just because we don’t have time to do normal length workout, doesn’t mean you can’t spare 15 or 20 minutes.

Cardio Strength Training is a great way to build your strength and cardiovascular fitness in a limited time. It gives you bang for your buck when you are pressed for time as you can get the best of both worlds in terms of training your fitness.

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Cardio Strength Training

Basically Cardio Strength Training is where you do strength exercises back to back, usually in a circuit, using slightly lighter weights than normal. You will have minimal rest periods between exercises so you keep your heart rate up for the duration of the circuit. This way you are working on both your strength and cardio at the same time.

Below is a cardio strength training workout you can try if you need to get in a fast workout.

The workout consists of 5 exercises to give you a total body workout…

• a pushing exercise
• a pulling exercises
• a quad dominant exercise
• a glute/hamstring dominant exercise
• and a core exercise

You should include an exercises from each of those categories to make sure you are keeping things in balance and working out all of the major muscle groups.

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Workout Instructions

• Make sure you do several minutes of bodyweight exercises to warmup first
• Complete 45 seconds of each exercise, followed by 15 seconds rest between exercises
• Complete 3 rounds of the circuit for a total of 15 minutes.
• Stretch to finish.

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Exercise #1 – Bodyweight Squat Jump

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Exercise #2 – T Pushup

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Exercise #3 – Swiss Ball Leg Curl

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Exercise #4 – Alternating Dumbbell Row

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Exercise #5 – Swiss Ball Jackknife

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Cardio strength training is a great way to get fit fast. Although splitting up your workouts into separate strength and cardio will still give you the best results overall, if you are pressed for time, I would recommend having a go at a cardio strength training routine.

If you want to get a professionally designed training plan to help you move and perform better in the surf or snow, download one of our step-by-step functional training plans below and see the difference for yourself (all programs come with a 60 day money back guarantee, so if it doesn’t work for you, you can get a full refund – there is nothing to lose!) …

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Surfing Workouts - Total Surfing Fitness

Snowboarding Workouts - Total Snowboarding Fitness

Ski Workouts - Total Skiing Fitness

Windsurfing Workouts - Total Windsurfing Fitness

Advanced Workouts - Surf ‘n’ Snow Fitness High Performance Club

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Continue reading »]]> How Do You Squat? Assess Yourself Using The Deep Squat Test

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During any surf or snow sport we spend a lot of time in some sort of squat position. In fact, I would say that squatting is one of the most fundamental movement patterns we should be able to perform correctly in order to prevent injury and increase performance. Doing squats and squat variations are also one of the best ways to train lower body strength and power.

The problem is a lot of people don’t squat very well due to a number of factors such as poor hip mobility, lack of ankle dorsi-flexion, poor movement mechanics, etc. And if you can’t squat well when you train, the chances are you won’t squat well when you hit the surf or snow and this can mean anything from inefficient movement/technique through to increased risk of injury.

The test below will help you identify how well you squat and if you need to do some corrective work to fix any issues.

The Deep Squat Test

The Deep Squat Test looks at not only your lower body, but also your upper body mobility. To pass the test you will need to have adequate ankle,  hip and shoulder mobility as well as the ability to extend through your thoracic spine.

If you fail the test, then you may have a mobility issue with one or even several parts of your body. Have a go at the test as see if you pass. You don’t need to put tape on the floor like in the video, just grab a broom stick and stand a foot length away from the wall…

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Here are some of the most common problems I see when observing other people squat…

• Squatting onto your toes – Your heels should remain on the ground when you squat. If you have problems with this try and push your hips back as you squat and let the weight go through your heels, not toes.
• Knees collapse inward – Your knees should align over your toes when you squat, not collapse in. Try pushing your knees outward as you descend into the squat.
• Trunk collapses forward – If your chest and head collapse forward you are not going to be in a very athletic position when you surf, ski or snowboard. Try keeping your chest up and shoulders back.

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Squat To Stand Corrective Exercise

The Squat to Stand exercise shown in the video below is a good exercise to help improve your squatting mechanics. Have a go at adding this exercise into your warmup to improve your ability to squat.

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Improving your ability to move correctly should be one of the foundations upon which you build your fitness.  If you need a professionally designed training plan to help you move better and perform better in the surf or snow, download one of our step-by-step functional training plans below…

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Surfing Workouts - Total Surfing Fitness

Snowboarding Workouts - Total Snowboarding Fitness

Ski Workouts - Total Skiing Fitness

Windsurfing Workouts - Total Windsurfing Fitness

Advanced Workouts - Surf ‘n’ Snow Fitness High Performance Club

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Continue reading »]]> Exercises For Snowboarding

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In this post I want to show you some of the best exercises for snowboarding so that you can shred hard all over the mountain this season. Before you go on your snowboarding trip, it is important to train your body so that it is ready for the specific physical nature of riding all day. Doing exercises that build your leg strength and rotational core strength will be very beneficial to enhance your snowboarding fitness and riding performance.

Below are 3 exercises for snowboarding that you can do using only a set of dumbbells. Make sure you watch the videos to make sure you are doing the exercises correctly.

Snowboarding Exercise #1 – Dumbbell Squat Jump

This is a great exercise for snowboarding because it helps develop leg strength and power so your legs can handle the thigh burning powder runs. In addition it also help protect your knees against injury because you are training your ability to absorb an eccentric force which is important when landing jumps.

When you do any jumping exercises with dumbbells, make sure you start with a light weight and build up. Focus on keeping your core braced and chest up and loading through your heels, then landing on the balls of your feet before bending your knees to absorb the landing.

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Snowboarding Exercise #2 – Dumbbell Rotational Chop

To perform the dumbbell rotational chop you will need to start with a dumbbell around 5-10kgs. This is one of the best rotational core exercises for snowboarding because it trains your ability to use rotational force which will help you perform powerful carves. The trick is to use your hip and shoulder power and keep your core braced to protect your lower back.

Try doing the exercise 8-10 repetitions each side, focusing on perfect technique by starting slow to master the exercise. Once you master this exercise it will go a long way to help improve your rotational snowboarding power.

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Snowboarding Exercise #3 – Goblet Lateral Squat

Even though you snowboard on two legs, if you think about it, it is pretty

rare to have both legs taking the same amount of weight when you are riding. Generally you will have either your weight on your front or back foot depending on the situation, and so therefore it is also important to develop single leg strength to improve your snowboarding. Lateral lunges are excellent exercises for snowboarding because they train your ability to absorb a lateral load and build single leg strength.

When performing this exercise try and keep a braced core and your chest up so you are not collapsing forward. Start with a light dumbbell and gradually increase the weight as your strength improves.

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Snowboarding Exercise Program

Hopefully you can see how these exercises can help your snowboarding this season. Make sure you have a go at them during your next workout and build your snowboarding fitness.

If you want more exercises for snowboarding, check out Total Snowboarding Fitness, the 8 week snowboarding exercise plan to help you get in shape for the snow season. The program is step-by-step with printable workout manuals and videos to show you how to do the exercises. And all you need is a set of dumbbells and a swiss ball. Check it out…

Download Total Snowboarding Fitness -
Functional Training for Snowboarders

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Continue reading »]]> Use These Exercise Combinations To Build Strength & Stability

Below is my latest article featured in Smorgasboarder surf magazine. Make sure you have a go at the exercise supersets below to build a strong and stable body…

Are your workouts helping you build both strength and stability?

If you need a professionally designed training plan to help enhance your surf or snow fitness and performance, download one of the training programs below…

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Surfing Workouts – Total Surfing Fitness

Snowboarding Workouts – Total Snowboarding Fitness

Ski Workouts – Total Skiing Fitness

Windsurfing Workouts – Total Windsurfing Fitness

New! Advanced Workouts – Surf ‘n’ Snow Fitness High Performance Club

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Continue reading »]]> How To Improve Your Flexibility Using Active Isolated Stretching

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I’ve always had tight hamstrings. It doesn’t matter how consistent I have been over the years with stretching, I could never seem to make any noticeable progress…

… until I discovered “Active Isolated Stretching.”

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Don’t get me wrong, I still think traditional static stretching is still a great way of improving your flexibility and should be incorporated into your fitness routine. However for those muscles that don’t seem to respond as well as you would like, then Active Isolated Stretching might be worth a try.

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What is Active Isolated Stretching?

Active Isolated Stretching works using the principle of “reciprocal inhibition.” This refers to the fact that when one muscle is contracted, the muscle on the other side of the joint is relaxed. For example if you tense your bicep, your tricep will be relaxed.

Using this approach, you can trick your body into relaxing the muscle you are trying to stretch and then using a towel or a rope, you can increase the range of motion at the joint.

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Active Isolated Hamstring Stretch

This is the stretch that I used to first start making some serious progress with my hamstring flexibility.

Basically you start by looping a towel or rope around your foot. Next actively lifting your leg off the ground as far as you can (without pulling on the towel/rope). By doing this you are activating your quads, hip flexors and abs and because of reciprocal inhibition, your hamstrings are in a relaxed state.

Once you get to the end of your range of motion, you then breath out and pull on the towel/rope to get that little bit extra range of motion. Unlike traditional static stretching, you only hold this position for a couple of seconds. Your brain then remembers this new range of motion and hopefully you can start improving your flexibility at the joint.

I usually do 8-10 reps of the stretch on each leg and that seems to work quite well. Ideally you can do Active Isolated Stretching at the end of your workout (mix it in with your static stretching) or you can also do it any time on a daily basis if your muscles need some extra work.

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Active Isolated Shoulder & Triceps Stretch

This is another good one that might be worth a try to improve your shoulder range of motion…
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• Do 8-10 reps each arm
• Make sure you exhale as you pull the towel/rope
• Don’t try and pull too far – no more than an extra 10% range of motion

Hopefully you have found these Active Isolated Stretches helpful.

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If you want to improve your overall strength and conditioning (including flexibility) then download one of the functional training programs below…

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Surfing Workouts – Total Surfing Fitness

Snowboarding Workouts – Total Snowboarding Fitness

Ski Workouts – Total Skiing Fitness

Windsurfing Workouts – Total Windsurfing Fitness

New! Advanced Workouts – Surf ‘n’ Snow Fitness High Performance Club

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Continue reading »]]> How To Combine Strength & Stability Exercises For A Superior Workout

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With any surf or snow sport there are 2 very important fitness characteristics that you need to have to perform at your best…

The 2 characteristics I am referring to are Strength and Stability.

If you are strong, but don’t have adequate stability then you will be out of balance, and like wise if you are stable, but lack strength, then you will not be able to perform at your best.

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Strength Stability Supersets

So how do you make sure you are training both strength and stability with compromising on either one?

One strategy is to combine them into a superset. First you would choose a movement pattern or muscle group and start with a more traditional strength exercise. You would then choose a more unstable exercise that works the same muscle groups and complete both exercises.

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For example if you wanted to train your legs you could superset Dumbbell Squats (strength) with Balance Board Squats (stability).

Below is an example of a Strength Stability Superset I used in the March High Performance Conditioning Camp. This superset focuses on building shoulder strength and total body stability.

• The strength exercise is a Half Kneeling Single Arm Shoulder Press
• The stability exercise is a Lateral Load to Single Arm Lateral Raise (I know it sounds complicated, but it’s not that bad)

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I used Strength Stability Supersets for most of the March High Performance Conditioning Camp, as it makes for a really fun and challenging workout.

If you liked this training info and you need a step-by-step functional training program to follow, make sure you download one of our training plans below…

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Download Your Step-by-Step Functional Training Plan…

Surfing Workouts – Total Surfing Fitness

Snowboarding Workouts – Total Snowboarding Fitness

Ski Workouts – Total Skiing Fitness

Windsurfing Workouts – Total Windsurfing Fitness

New! Advanced Workouts – Surf ‘n’ Snow Fitness High Performance Club

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