SURFER'S HEALTH

Feet First Under Waves The other day, I was watching a life surf cam broadcast from Pipe. It was solid 6- to 8-foot—big enough for the heavy hitters to be out there, especially at a place as gnarly as Pipeline. While I was watching, I started to notice that many of the best guys out there all took a similar approach when getting caught by big sets. Instead of standing on their boards and diving under the waves, as we often see people do in old videos, the simply pushed themselves underwater feet first, let the waves pass over them,...

15-MINUTE FITNESS ROUTINE FOR SURFERS   While being a surfer has long been associated with being fit and tan, we don’t exactly have a celebrated history of training. Unlike other athletes who cross-train and do cardio workouts to improve their performance on the court or in the field; surfers were better known for partying than for running, stretching, and lifting weights. Surfing was quite the counter-culture, and the beach lifestyle lent itself more to drinking and smoking herb than it did eating a macrobiotic diet and practicing yoga. As far as we were concerned, the best training for surfing was...

Understanding the Relationship Between Depression and Exercise Recent research and awareness campaigns have revealed that far more people suffer from depression than many of us might think. For years, many people with depression have believed that they were alone in their struggle, but it turns out the challenge is both common and widespread. It is also quite dangerous, particularly if people attempt to deal with their depression themselves. The sad loss of some of our greatest heroes—even within the sport of surfing—is a testament to how devastating depression can be. Fortunately, there are ways to treat depression and break the...

Three Great Ways to Keep Your Stoke and Train for Surfing at Home   As you probably know, a lot of people around the world spent the past month on lockdown at home, and not all of them were as fortunate as we were here in Hawaii. While we were able to surf as part of our exercise here in the islands, many other surfers were landlocked for weeks and even months. They had to find creative ways to stay stoked and in shape for surfing—something that many of us have had to do at some point in our lives,...