How to be a fit a gidget and make the most out of your surf trip.
The countdown has started – two months to go to our Gidget overseas trip. How exciting. Can’t wait. It’s going to be almost ten days of surf eat and sleep. So my daily surf quota will rapidly ramp up from about an hour a day to about five hours a day at least. I’m generally pretty fit but five hours a day of surfing and not my usual diet usually takes a bit of getting used to. So after Easter, I’ll start my training regime to get myself ‘surf trip fit’ before heading overseas.
Here’s how you can get your gidget body into top shape before your impending overseas surf trip:
1. SURF SURF SURF
Even if it’s not the best of surf, try to get into the water most days before you head off.
2. HIT THE POOL
Surf terrible? No excuse not to get in the water. Hit your local pool instead and swim a few laps. Keeps those paddle arms fit and gets your cardio fitness up which might come in handy on long paddles to reefbreaks, etc.
3. PIN WORK OUT
Soft sand laps. I’m not a big fan of running so I figured instead of going for a long run I rather run a couple of soft sand laps. That means less running but still excellent for cardio. And of course an excellent work-out for your legs. And, because you’ll spend more time standing on your board on a quality overseas surfbreak with long rides than on your average Bondi session, you’ll be grateful for that extra strength in your pins.
4. SURFERCISE
Ok I could pretend I’m going to the gym too for some extra surf work-out but I’m not a gym person at all so I won’t. Having said that, if you don’t mind the gym, you would definitely benefit from some surf work-out. Look up our post on Surfercise for a surf specific work-out.
5. STRETCHY TIME
I personally probably prefer some yoga sessions for extra strength and some good stretching which will do you some good after all the surfing, swimming and running. Some of the moves you learn in your yoga session will also be helpful for your pre-surf warm ups and post surf stretching on your trip.
6. BELLY PREPS
Going overseas, also means getting used to a different diet. The best tip I’ve ever been given before going to Indo is building up your digestive system with probiotics six weeks before you go overseas. I don’t have any scientific proof but it certainly helped my belly to stay happy even in Indo.
7. EXTRA KILOS ARE GOOD!
Talking about diet, now is the time to put on some extra kilos. You are very likely to drop quite a bit of weight on a surf trip with lots of daily surfing. I do anyway. So ditch the superfoods and head to Maccas. Just kidding. There is no way in hell you would find me at Maccas but you will find me loading up on carbs and protein. Yay. Pasta time.
8. UP THE STOKE
No doubt you’ll be super excited if you are planning on going on an overseas surf trip so you might not need the extra stoke. I do love watching surf movies just before I go overseas. Watching surf movies is likely to get you even more excited. And, you’ll soon be in the land of perfect waves where you can practice all the moves you’ve always wanted to try on long perfect waves…you may as well get some inspiration from the pros.
Hope that helps gidgets! Let me know how you go. Oh and if you haven’t planned your overseas trip yet, we still have a couple of spots on our Tropical Surf Escape.
Happy Surf Travelling,
Clauds x
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