Surfing Fitness - Core Strength #5
Rotational Power & Balance

By Clayton Beatty BSc
www.totalsurfingfitness.com

The first of these next two exercises will help develop rotational strength and power for doing strong turns and crowd pleasing maneuvers with ease. The Russian twist performed on a stability ball will activate your core rotator muscles and improve your control over twisting movements whilst surfing.

The second exercise involves core stability, balance and lower back strength. This exercise will help with control and balance on your board, both while riding and paddling. It will also help develop functional strength in your lower back muscles which is important for sessions where you are required to do a lot of paddling.

You can do these exercises 2-3 times per week, and perform 2-3 sets of each.

Russian Twist

• Lie on a stability ball with your feet on the floor and knees at right angles.

• Hold a weight plate / medicine ball above your head and roll to the side until the tip of your shoulder is on the ball. Repeat on the other side.

• To increase the intensity, simply increase the weight or the speed of movement.

• Do 8-10 rotations to each side.

Superman Balance

• Balance on a stability ball on all fours.

• Alternate between lifting one limb (arm or leg) off the ball at a time.

• To make it harder try lifting one leg and the opposite arm at the same time.

• Hold each arm / leg extension for 2-3 seconds.

• Repeat for 30-45 seconds whilst maintaining your balance.

For more core strength exercises for surfers, visit totalsurfingfitness.com. Here you will find a complete functional training program designed specifically for surfers, which includes training for core strength, balance, cardiovascular fitness, upper & lower body strength and flexibility.

Clayton Beatty is the fitness expert behind TotalSurfingFitness.com, a website dedicated to functional training for surfers.

Clayton holds a BSc Degree in Human Movement, is a Certified Fitness Trainer and grew up surfing the Margaret River region in Western Australia . If you would like to learn more visit his website at www.totalsurfingfitness.com.