By Kris Abbey, Fitness Expert
www.betterhealthmag.com / www.spalifeguide.com.au
Stand Up Paddle Surfing is an ideal sport for cross-training, focusing on your legs, back, feet, arms, neck, shoulders and core. Here, our fitness expert, Kris Abbey, roadtests this new sport.
Health and fitness experts along with ocean enthusiasts around the world are quickly catching onto the incredible cross-training benefits of surfing’s booming new trend, Stand Up Paddle Surfing (SUPS). Originating in the 1950s, it is currently experiencing a major rebirth among a whole new generation of budding wave warriors.
I’d heard about Stand Up Paddle Surfing (or SUPS to those in the know) and aside from all the health benefits, I thought it looked like a lot of fun. So when Matt Grainger from Manly Surf School invited me to give it a go, I jumped at the opportunity.
After a couple of false starts due to weather and work wrecking havoc, by the third attempt nothing was going to stop us. So on a slightly overcast day in July, we donned the wetties, paddled up and took to the waves…
Well, not straight away. Matt always starts his Beginner lessons on the flat water. This helps to get use to balancing on the board, as well as mastering a few paddling skills to help turn and control the board. These skills are much easier learnt on the still water when less focus to stay on the board is required.
Once Matt felt that I had it sorted, we took to the surf. Now, for all the non-surfers out there, do not think because you can’t surf, you can’t SUPS. You certainly can. The hardest part of SUPS is getting through the waves as they break to get out to the backwater. Since waves come in sets, as soon as a set has finished, you paddle like crazy laying flat on the board paddling with your arms just as a surfer does. This is a great workout for the shoulders, back and arms. And it certainly gets the heart pounding as well… there is something quite exhilarating about trying to beat the waves! A race to get out to the backwater before the next onslaught of waves begins.
Once you have paddled past the breaking point of the waves, a sense of calmness prevails. It is here where I finally realise what is so addictive about surfing (aside from the thrill of riding a wave), it’s this sense of peace. As I sit on my board, slightly rocking with the movement of the water beneath, all else in the world is forgotten. That short 200m to the shore and contact with reality, may as well be 200,000 kilometres away.
So now I stand. I’m a little wobbly at first, as the ocean water is a lot more turbulent than the still water of the lagoon. I naturally engage my core (stomach muscles) and balance reigns. I can’t quite explain the feeling, but imagine being on top of the ocean, gliding over the water, conquering it (to a degree). I feel in control and loving Mother Nature… not fearing what may loom beneath (well, just a little). Fears are allied with the feeling of serenity.
For about 30 minutes, we just paddle out in the backwater. My core is definitely getting a good work out, arms and shoulders too. But most of all the emotional benefits of this can’t be underestimated. Totally lost in the moment, I am surprised how quick time has gone when Matt signals it’s time to go in. OK. We have several options here. You can ride the wave to shore as if surfing, you can lie flat down on the board using it like a boogie board, or you can just surrender your board to the shore and swim in (but you must hold your paddle making it a little tricky and be sure there are no swimmers in your path). The last option tends to happen by accident, even if you attempt one of the other two exit strategies.
So back on terra firma, I am feeling a little tired and a lot inspired. I have found a great new hobby and one anyone can enjoy. A wonderful workout for the mind, body and soul.
The fitness benefits:
Stand Up Paddle Surfing is an ideal sport for cross-training, focusing on your legs, back, feet, arms, neck, shoulders and core. This sport is also perfect for those looking for a rehabilitative exercise that doesn’t involve swimming laps in their local pool.
It is a common myth that SUPS began as an ancient Hawaiian ritual. In actual fact, the sport was invented in Hawaii in the 1950 in the post-war tourism boom, when locals saw an opening to make some extra money photographing tourists learning to surf on the North Shore. The only way to get the money shots was to get out on the water. In order to protect their cameras from being ruined, they needed to get above the waves. It only took one brave soul to grab a board and a canoe paddle and a new surf style was born.
SUP Board and Paddle from RRP: $1400
For more information on SUP boards and to view the Global Surf Industries SUP range log onto www.surfindustries.com/
Lessons at Manly Surf School
Manly Surf School runs private lessons for SUP in flat water and in the surf.
Prices are $90 per hour one on one, or $60 per head for 2 persons or more.
They also run a one-hour fitness and technique classes in flat water. Cost is $25 per person. Prices include all the gear.
For more info, go to www.manlysurfschool.com Or call 02 9977 6977
Kris Abbey is the publishing editor of Better Health and Spa Life Magazines.
Kris Abbey’s other Rescu. blogs:
1. Sculpt your waist with hard-core exercises from fitness expert Kris Abbey
2. Express exercise: Kris gives us short cuts to slimming down and getting super fit
3. The truth about muscles: how you can slim down and tone up with LESS effort