I’ve never been a gym person. I find training in general a little boring. If possible, I prefer to train by actually doing the thing I’m training for. If I want to become a stronger climber, I climb more. If I want to be a better paddler, I paddle more.
My accident has forced me to re-evaluate my stance on training. When I started physical therapy in late December, I actually enjoyed it. Getting to do any sort of activity at the time was good, but my training in PT was focused on getting me to the point where I could walk again (rather than paddle training). It wasn’t until several weeks later that I was able to do anything that resembled the skills needed for river surfing.
The second my therapist put me on the balance board, I instantly saw how it could translate to board sports. Rocking the board forward and back helped me relearn the balance that I’ll need for proper rail control when surfing. Practicing moving the board left and right mimics the balance needed when paddling up the eddy onto the wave.
While it’s not as good as doing the real thing. It was great practice for me and hopefully will make my return to SUP river surfing quicker.
Here’s a little video I created of one set of exercises I do the on the board. 20 reps left to right, 20 reps front to back, 20 reps touching positions around the board (imagine a clock: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11). Enjoy!
Written by | Benjamin
Benjamin Smith is a land locked surfer living in Colorado. He gets his surfing fix on the local rivers, where he SUP surfs standing waves.