MUSCLES Surf Fitness Index:

• Should I Consider a Hip Replacement?
• Why Do I Have Arm Pain When Popping Up or Grabbing My Board's Rails?
• How Can I Rehabilitate A Bad Hamstring Pull?
• How Do I Strengthen My Stomach Muscles?
• How can I avoid foot cramps while surfing?
• How can I avoid calf muscle cramps?
• Groin pull! What should I do?
• Which muscles do I use while surfing?
• How strengthen ALL of my paddle muscles?
• How do I stretch a bad shoulder?
  
• Paddle strength, shoulder stretches & SF massage referral?
  
• How can I prevent cramping when I surf?
  
• Any good surf fitness books?
  
• Can you refer a good massage therapist?
  
• What can I do for shoulder tendinitus caused by paddling?
  
• 'Stretch what you use, and strengthen what you don't'
  
• Breath-holding exercises
  
• My weightlifting program is hurting my flexibility...
  
• Holding my board in big surf has injured my shoulder...
  
• My knee is popping and clicking. What can I do?
  
• My previous rib injury keeps flaring up when I surf. Any advice?
  
• How can I minimize pain from a bulging disk?
  
• My ribs are irritated from my board when I paddle
  
• Pre-trip surf fitness
  
• Loosen up your back

Other Fitness Subjects

QUESTION: How can I avoid foot cramps while surfing?

Beth,
Almost every time I go surfing my toes cramp up. I have to paddle in and stretch them repeatedly. I am not sure why this happens. Sometimes, I have to stop for the day because they won't stop cramping. Sometimes the cramps happen after 10 minutes, sometimes after two hours. Is there anything I can do to prevent this from happening?

Thank you,
Rob F.

ANSWER:

Hey Rob,
Cramps are kind of a nightmare, eh? I have had soooo many questions regarding cramps and often times they remain a mystery. There are some definite reasons as to why we cramp. Are you well hydrated? Do you have an electrolyte imbalance? Cramping can occur when we don't have enough calcium, magnesium, sodium, or potassium in our systems. Thus, the hype on sports drinks. They actually do work, you just need to use the one that is right for you, and low in fructose and other gnarly sugars.

Flexibility is key in avoiding cramps. In your case, the foot being the cramper. You want to check your lower leg flexibility including your calf (gastrocnemius and soleus), your Achilles tendon, and maybe your arch. If this still doesn't help, check the flexibility in your hamstrings, hips, low back, and quads. If your posture is bad, it may effect your feet.

Do you wear good foot wear? If not, you may want to check that. If you have a high, weak arch, and pronate plus wear flip flops you could be doing yourself some harm!

Medical conditions such as diabetes can cause cramping. Cold water can cause cramping, and certain medications can, as well. So, since you said earlier that you have no conditions and are not on any meds, you can rule those out. However, cold water could be adding to your problems. I wear 5 mm booties and there are 7 mm booties out there. You may want to try them.

Lastly, strengthening your intrinsic foot muscles by doing toe curls or picking things up with your toes and squeezing them can help.

WHEW, a long-winded response. I hope this helps. Good luck and let me know what works.

Hasta,
Beth
(Posted 11/14/04)

QUESTION: How can I avoid calf muscle cramps?

Hi,
I surf in cold water (high 40’s and low 50’s) in Northern California. About half the time, near the end of a session (about 1 hour and 45 minutes), I'll get a pretty serious cramp in my calf muscle. It knots up badly and it usually means the end of my session. Anything I can do about this?

-Stewart

ANSWER:

Hey Stewart,
Cramping is a tough one. There are several things that contribute to recurring cramping. You could have: 1) An electrolyte imbalance (try drinking a sport's drink prior to surfing), 2) Muscle tightness (stretch a ton more), 3) Dehydration (Are you drinking adequate amounts of water?), or 4) It’s a random, unknown condition.

I have read many articles on what to do about cramping- and other than the well-known cures I mentioned above, there are still questions as to why cramping occurs.

Try these out the suggestions above and see if any of them help. Let me know if they do or if we need to check into this a bit more carefully. (And as always, check with a medical doctor if you suspect you have any type of serious medical condition)!

Good luck and happy surfing!

Hasta,
Beth
(Posted 10-16-03)

QUESTION: Groin pull! What should I do?

The night before I didn't get enough sleep, being that I was all excited about the incoming southern hemi swell. I surfed about 1 and 1/2 hours that morning… and went back out for about 2 hours. I kicked out of a wave as a beginner was getting washed towards me. His board whacked me right in the knee cap, and the area went numb. I rubbed it when I got back outside and it seemed okay. But what started to happen was some pain in the groin. I caught a few more waves as the pain worsened with each wave. I took off on a wave and worked it a good ways when a guy I know takes off in front of me and surprised me. I reacted instinctively by trying to turn and slow up at the same time ...my upper body went in the right direction but my legs did not. There was this gnarly pop in my groin and I yelled out. I knew I was in trouble as my leg wanted to straighten out- and when I tried to bend, it gave me shooting pain.

I learned a few things from this incident already. If your tired, get the rest first- then surf. And before you surf- stretch properly. And finally, always remember your age. Damn, I hate getting older this is painful!!!

How long is this going to keep me out of the water, and what's the game plan for recovery, Beth?

Kevin

ANSWER:

Hey Kevin, Ouch!! Groin pulls can be oh so painful. A noticeable pop is often a good sign that you did, in fact, pull the muscle. Did you have any discoloration (black and blue) afterwards? Also, which part of your "groin" did you pull (more towards the inside or outside of your quad)?

You are definitely right that a good warm up and stretching will help prevent pulls like this from happening. But after the fact, you need to figure out whether or not you need a bit of intervention to help you get through this injury.

If you still have pain and are limping around a bit, I would suggest getting a doctor to check it out and make sure it is not too severe. A bit of massage and rehab may help expedite the healing process. Any time you aggressively pull a muscle you have depreciated the integrity of that muscle and a bit of TLC is needed. Once it starts to feel a bit better, you should start a light stretching program, get some hands on tissue work (massage) to help promote healing, and then re-educate the muscle by doing certain basic exercises on the muscle.

Hopefully everything is feeling better and all you needed was a bit of rest, ice, and stretching. It sucks when your foot is lodged on the board and the body and board have different ideas of which way to go. I have almost felt the same sensation a few times, but have somehow pulled it off and walked away unscathed!

Let me know how it is and whether or not you are able to surf. I hope you got some of that North swell and sunshine. Happy Fall!

Hasta, Beth
(Posted 10-26-02)

QUESTION: Which muscles do I use while surfing?

Beth:
When I surf, what are the muscles that are worked?

Thanks,
Dustin

ANSWER:

Hey Dustin,
I am actually not sure what muscles YOU use when you surf as I have never seen you surf! There are many improper ways of paddling and definitely surfing, but I can tell you what muscles you are SUPPOSED to use when you surf.

While paddling, you tend to use mostly upper body strength and abdominal strength. This includes your upper-, mid-, and lower traps, lats, deltoids, pecs, rhomboids, scapular muscles, and a bunch of little stabilizer muscles in your upper body. Mid and low back muscles are also a part of it all not to mention your biceps, triceps, and forearm muscles (used a lot for duck diving). I am sure I have missed the name of some other muscles but I hope you get the picture. As for the abs, they are all used. Upper, middle, lower, and side-to-side, baby. You gotta have a solid core to paddle hard and stand up strong. The gluts (yeah, your ass muscles) and hamstrings are used somewhat while paddling and most of the lower extremity is used while standing. I, myself, tend to spend 95-98% of my 2-hour session here at Ocean beach paddling so my upper body gets huge whereas my legs tend to shrink in size.

SO... if your next question is how do I train all these muscles, take a look at many of my older responses to questions and you should find about 10 that answer the same thing. But, if you need some more info on top of all this, please don't hesitate to ask.

Hasta, Beth
(Posted 10-6-02)

QUESTION: How do I strengthen ALL of my paddle muscles?

Hey Beth,
Several times on SurfPulse you mention strengthening the muscles opposite of the muscles used for paddling. Can you please be more specific what muscles and exercises I should do? Thank you. I enjoy reading your answers to questions.

-Matt

Hey Matt,
This is kind of a loaded question because it all depends on the surfer. If you come from an experienced swimming background or are lifting weights regularly and properly, you may not run into any problems. Things go wrong when you are unaware of the proper paddling technique and not really sure which muscle groups you are using to propel your arms around. People in this category tend to overuse their upper trapezius muscles (neck), their biceps, and the front of the shoulders.

These surfers should stretch out their chest and biceps and try to strengthen their back. For example, doing some triceps pull-downs (back of arms), side raises (lateral deltoid muscles), rowing (shoulder blade muscles), and lat pull-downs (lats). Basically, what kind of surfer are you? Do you know what muscles you are using while paddling? If no, you need to learn what these muscles are and start to wake them up in the gym so that you use them while surfing.

If this doesn't come close to answering your question, let me know. Hope you had a good 4th of July!

Hasta,
Beth
(Posted 7-11-02)

QUESTION: How do I stretch a bad shoulder?

I am 43 and I live on the Texas Gulf coast and believe it or not there is some type of surf here, just enough to keep tuned up for Central America and Mexico. I would love to attend one of your seminars but due to logistics I will be unable to attend. Do you have any suggestions on how to stretch a really bad shoulder?

The orthopedic doctor recommends joint replacement in a couple of years, or when pain sets in. I have dropped my weight program and am totally concentrating on cardio work to keep in shape. I would appreciate info you could give me.

Thanks,
Mark

ANSWER:

Hey Mark,
Sounds to me like you need to get a specific diagnosis on what is going on in your shoulder before you do anything. Certain injuries can be aggravated by stretching! Also sounds to me like you may want to get a second opinion.

Have the doctor guide you in the right direction with Physical Therapy and eventually strengthening to prevent further problems with that shoulder. Avoiding any kind of surgery is WAY CRUCIAL if possible. Once those things are addressed, and you are still in need of stretches, I would get involved with a basic Hatha type yoga class and make sure the teacher understands shoulder problems. Yoga has saved my shoulders from chronic pain because it not only stretches the actual shoulder, but all the surrounding muscles up and down my spine (and throughout my body, for that matter) that effect my shoulder area. So just performing specific shoulder stretches is not enough, you need to get the whole body involved!

Good luck and let me know the diagnosis. Hope you score some surf soon. Me, I am off to Tavarua!

Hasta,
Beth
(Posted 6-5-02)

QUESTION: Paddle strength, shoulder stretches & SF massage therapist referral?

You mentioned you have a good massage therapist in SF who understands the shoulder and back tightness that surfers get. Can you let me know the name and number of that person. Also I have very tight shoulders and upper body, I am doing Astanga yoga twice a week. What stretches do you recommend for the shoulders?

Finally, I have moved down from a hybrid (7' 6") to a short board (6' 8"). I used to catch everything, now I miss a lot of waves. Other than lots of surfing and swimming, what weight work do you recommend for strengthening my paddling.

Thanks your column is great.
Greg W.

Answer

Hey Greg,
Sounds like you are suffering from what I have dealt with my whole life, a tight back and shoulders. The only time I feel loose in those areas is if I haven't been surfing much, am stretching tons, and don't have massive gorilla arms!

My body worker dude is here in Mill Valley and he rocks. His name is Rick Kutten and his # is (415) 381-4959. If Mill Valley is too far away, let me know and I can ask around for a good one in SF.

As for good upper body stretches, you should definitely ask your yoga instructor to show you some. I think the entire practice is helpful. It is hard to get a good stretch from just one because unfortunately, "your ankle bone is connected to your... hip bone," and so on. Tight gluts or hamstrings can increase the tightness felt in your low back resulting in tight shoulders, etc. See what I am gettin' at? This is why I am sold on serious stretching for over an hour at a time at least 2 days per week.

I can totally relate to moving down in board size. You are on the right path for getting stronger. What I find is that you slowly get used to your new board size and actually get into different shape for your new board. The best way to get stronger for a shorter board is to ride it a ton. The weight room can also help by increasing the strength, size, power, and endurance in your muscles. I am actually giving a seminar on upper body strength on the first Tuesday in June in SF at a local surf shop. Check out our web site or contact me if you are interested.

Smaller boards are tough though. You are definitely not going to catch as many waves on a shorter board- especially if you just made the switch. You are going to have to learn how to better position yourself and get comfortable with taking off closer to where the wave is actually breaking. I have taken many a pounding while trying to get comfortable on my shorter board... but it is worth it!

Let me know if you have any more questions and do check out the surf seminars I am offering. They may help.

Hasta,
Beth
(Posted 5-25-02)

QUESTION: How can I prevent cramping?

QUESTION: Any good surf fitness books?

I actually know of 2 great surf books that I recently picked up. One is called Surf Flex written by Paul Frediani. The other is called Fit To Surf by Rocky Snyder. I found both of these at Amazon.com. I would also recommend hiring a trainer who is a surfer to teach you proper technique and to put you on an actual program you could follow. It may sound expensive but you only need one to two visits with the trainer to get a usable, lifetime program. Happy surfing!

Hasta,
Beth

QUESTION: Can you refer a good massage therapist who deals with surfers/athletes bodies?

Hey Beth,
First of all, thanks for your column on SurfPulse. It's been a helpful resource for dealing with my own nagging injuries, and learning about ways to prevent other problems.

I have been suffering from back, neck, & shoulder tightness and minor pain off-and-on for many years. (I played football and had problems with stingers in high school & college). I have been surfing for 5 years and am trying to take things to the next level this year, moving from a 9-ft longboard to a 7'8" that is suitable for mid-size Ocean Beach.

A friend recently recommended that I try active-isolated stretching, and so far it has been pretty helpful. I suspect that if I make progress with flexibility issues in my hamstrings and through my entire hip area, everything else will loosen up. After a few more weeks of this, I also plan to add yoga to my regimen.

But I want to augment this with some occasional massage. I would really prefer to go to someone who has dealt with athletes and/or surfers before. I read that you know of someone in Mill Valley. Could you forward me his name, along with anyone else in San Francisco you would recommend?
Thanks! Mike M., San Francisco

ANSWER:

Hey Mike,
Thanks for the positive feedback! I totally understand where you are coming from with all of these injuries for I, who am nearing a young age of 32, am beginning to fall apart. My guy's name in Mill Valley is Rick Kutten and his number is 415-381-4959. Mention that I recommended him to you.

As for yoga, add it ASAP. For some reason I kept telling myself for about 8 years that I would start yoga and I have finally incorporated the practice into my life. I wish I had done it when I was a competitive athlete but I figure better late than never! Man, what a difference 2 days a week can make. The place I am going to is called Green Path yoga and it is on Lombard in between Pierce and Steiner. The owner's name is Clayton and he is awesome (and a surfer as well).

Best of luck to you, Mike. Getting old is great, but this achy body stuff is a bit much!
Hasta, Beth

QUESTION: 'Stretch what you use, and strengthen what you don't...' is this good advice for surfing conditioning?

Beth,
Great column! Almost all surfers seem to invariably suffer from similar ailments and injuries over the course of their careers, and it's great to see someone finally dishing out some practical advice to help prolong the surfing life.

I wanted to ask you if you could be more specific about your advice of "...you definitely want to focus on strengthening the opposing surfing muscle groups and stretch the muscles you use for paddling." I have read similar admonitions from chiropractors about "stretching what you use and strengthen what you don't." Could you give me some concrete examples? For instance, I would guess that paddling utilizes the latissimus dorsi, triceps, front deltoids, and perhaps to a lesser extent, the pectorals? So you would concentrate on stretching those muscles? And then following that train of thought, which muscles would you then work on strengthening? Lower back, bicep, side delts?

It seems like the traditional dry-land surfing workout of pushups and pullups are working the exact same muscles that you use in surfing - lats, front delts and pecs. So wouldn't that go against the prescription of "stretch what you use, strengthen what you don't"? I surf just about every day and also work out regularly, and I just want to make sure I'm not over-using or over-building certain muscles during my dryland training (I had some rotator cuff problems flare up over the summer). If you could possibly provide me with some clarification, it would be greatly appreciated! Thanks again for the wonderful column!

ANSWER:

Hey Ken,
I am stoked that you dig this column! Your questions are actually good ones because you often hear of what needs to be done, but not the specifics of how to do it. In an ideal surfing world, you have perfect paddling technique and never get crushed by inside sets or go over the falls. This perfect scenario would use all the upper body muscles for paddling and never pull or torque anything when getting ruined on the inside. Unfortunately, for most of us this world doesn't exist and imbalances are created.

Start with paddling...if your paddle stroke isn't perfect, you may be using more of your neck muscles and shoulders and not calling in your back or lats. If you are wicked tight, you may not be able to even come close to using certain back muscles while paddling because your shoulders role forward so much. If you get worked inside one day or get hammered by a close-out barrel and torque your neck or back, you may throw something out of whack which can mess up your perfect equilibrium.

So, what I am getting at is that there are a lot of variables in surfing and everyone's bodies are different. In most cases with surfers, I have noticed that we have incredibly tight pecs, biceps, and upper traps while our smaller deltoid, rhomboid, and levator scapulae tend to be weaker. I would suggest that you have a good body worker check out your body and find your tight areas and maybe do a few tests to figure out your weaknesses. Chances are, if you just use lighter weights and focus on the smaller muscle groups, you may find an increase in strength and balance.

Let me know if this clarifies things for you. I hope you got in the water a bit today (Sunday). Kind of fun and clean out at OB.

Hasta, Beth

Question: My back hurts when I surf. What can I do to loosen it up?

Beth,
I have spondotheosis, or some scar tissue between my discs that is causing one to push out a bit. It's a chronic condition, meaning I have had it all my life. Surfing seems to aggravate it. I was wondering what I could do to loosen it up. My glutes overcompensate and the hip flexors, as well. The whole lower back is a knot. Please help.

Michael S., San Francisco (7/12/01)

ANSWER:

Hey, Michael. Since this has been a chronic condition, I am sure you have tried many avenues of rehab, so I apologize if I am repeating what others have told you. When you say push out, do you mean bulging disc? You and I may need to email each other back and forth a few times to figure this one out. What else causes pain? Have you tried strengthening your lower abdominal region? Have you tried yoga or some sort of stretching method or does that cause pain?

Prolonged stretching may be key to aid in the breaking up of scar tissue but you need to be careful as to not over-stretch or aggravate the area. Have you tried massage or body work? I have a great guy here in Mill Valley who is amazing and has done some serious work on my shoulders which have bothered me since I was a competitive swimmer. Let me know if you want his name.

So basically, email me back with the answers to these questions and we can go from there. I definitely need to know what you have tried and what the doctors have told you to do.

Have a great weekend.

Beth