Surf Fitness: Getting Strong Enough to Paddle and Pop Up
Surf fitness comes down to three things: shoulders and upper back that can paddle for an hour without fading, a pop-up that is quick and repeatable when you are tired, and legs and hips that stay low and balanced once you are standing. You can build all three in a gym. Two or three sessions a week for eight weeks before a trip, built around pulling, pressing from the floor, hip mobility and conditioning in short bursts, will make your first day in the water far less of a struggle. The skill still has to be learned in the sea, but fitness decides how many waves you get to practise on.
Most Londoners surf a handful of weeks a year: Cornwall, Devon, Portugal, perhaps somewhere further in winter. That pattern is the problem. You arrive with desk shoulders, paddle hard on day one, and by day three you are sore, tired and catching fewer waves than on the first morning. The aim of surf training on land is to remove that drop-off.
What surfing actually asks of your body
It helps to break a session into its parts, because each one needs something different.
Paddling: most of your time in the water
Surfers spend the large majority of a session paddling or waiting, and only a small fraction riding. Paddling is lying prone with your chest lifted, pulling alternately with each arm, over and over. It loads the lats, the muscles between the shoulder blades, the rear of the shoulders and the muscles along the spine that hold your chest up. It is endurance work punctuated by sprints when a wave comes or a set needs to be cleared.
The pop-up: a fast press and a hip snap
From prone, you press the board away, drive your hips up and pull your feet underneath you in one movement. It needs pressing strength, a strong trunk to connect upper and lower body, and enough hip and ankle mobility to land in a low, wide stance rather than on your knees.
Riding: low, rotational, reactive
Once standing, you are in a sort of loaded half-squat, rotating through the upper back and hips to turn, absorbing bumps through the legs. Short bouts, but demanding on the thighs and glutes, and a test of balance.
The exercises that carry over
None of this needs specialist kit. In our studio on Archway Road we use a squat rack, dumbbells, a cable station, a lat pulldown, a seated row and an air bike, and that covers it.
| Surf demand | Gym exercises | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Paddling endurance | Lat pulldown, single-arm cable row, straight-arm pulldown | Same pulling path, trained for higher reps |
| Chest-up position | Prone Y-T-W raises, back extensions, rear delt fly | Builds the muscles that hold you off the board |
| Pop-up | Push-ups, push-up to lunge, burpee without the jump | Fast press into a hip drive |
| Low stance | Goblet squat, split squat, lateral lunge | Strength and control in a wide, bent-knee position |
| Turning | Cable rotations, half-kneeling cable chops | Trains the trunk to transfer force while rotating |
| Sprints to catch waves | Air bike intervals, arms emphasised | Repeated hard efforts with short recovery |
Pull-ups help too, though they are not essential. If you cannot yet do one, our guide to your first pull-up sets out the progression. Paddling is a long-duration pull, so we bias towards moderate weights and higher reps (12 to 20) for much of the plan, rather than heavy sets of five.
Shoulders: the part that usually gives out
The common complaint after a surf week is sore, tired shoulders, sometimes with a niggle at the front of the joint. Desk posture and a sudden jump from almost no overhead work to hours of paddling is a poor combination. Three things help:
- Balance pushing with pulling. Aim for at least as many pulling sets as pressing sets each week. Many office workers have it the other way round.
- Train the rear shoulder and upper back directly. Rear delt flies, face pulls on the cable and prone raises are dull but they matter.
- Keep overhead range. If you cannot raise your arms fully overhead without arching your lower back, work on it. Our shoulder mobility routine takes ten minutes.
A simple eight-week plan
This assumes you can train two or three times a week. It is a template, not a prescription; a coach would adjust it to your starting point.
- Weeks 1 to 3: build the base. Two full-body sessions. Lat pulldown 3 x 12, seated row 3 x 12, goblet squat 3 x 10, push-ups 3 x as many as you can with good form, prone Y-T-W 2 x 10, and a ten-minute easy air bike finish.
- Weeks 4 to 6: add volume and speed. Add a third session if you can. Pulling sets rise to 15 to 20 reps. Introduce push-up to lunge (press up, then step one foot through towards your hands) and split squats. Air bike: 8 rounds of 20 seconds hard, 40 seconds easy.
- Weeks 7 and 8: make it surf-specific. Pair a hard air bike sprint with a set of pop-up drills on the floor, so you practise getting up when breathing hard. Add cable rotations. Hold total volume steady and ease off a little in the final week so you arrive fresh.
Practise the pop-up itself on the floor every day for a couple of minutes. Ten clean reps, hands under the lower ribs, landing with feet in your stance and eyes forward. It costs nothing and it shows on the first wave.
Conditioning without running
Running fitness only partly transfers to surfing. Paddling is upper-body-dominant, and a runner with weak shoulders still fades. The air bike is useful because you can bias it towards the arms by pushing and pulling the handles harder than you drive the pedals. Swimming is the closest substitute and worth doing if you have pool access; our guide to strength work for swimmers overlaps a good deal with surf training.
For general health alongside all this, the UK Chief Medical Officers recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate activity a week plus strength work on at least two days. The physical activity guidelines on gov.uk set it out simply. A surf-focused programme covers both.
Mistakes city surfers make
- Starting three weeks before the trip. Eight weeks gives the shoulders time to adapt. Three gives you soreness.
- Only doing core work. Planks help, but they will not make you paddle longer. Pulling endurance will.
- Ignoring hips and ankles. A stiff pop-up lands on the knees. Squats through a full range and lateral lunges fix more than balance boards do.
- Going all out on day one. Even if you are fit, cap your first session in the water and build through the week.
- Stopping when you get home. Keep one pulling-focused session a week between trips and the next one starts from a higher base.
If you have a history of shoulder or back problems, a heart condition, or are returning after a long break, check with your GP first before starting a new programme.
Where 1-1 coaching helps
Most people can follow a plan like the one above. Where coaching earns its keep is in the detail: spotting that your shoulder blades are not moving well on a row, adjusting the plan when a week of work travel eats your sessions, and making sure the pressing and pulling stay balanced. In private 1-1 sessions in Highgate the studio is yours alone for the hour, so we can practise pop-ups on the floor without anyone watching. Prices are on the personal training page.
Questions we get asked
How long before a surf trip should I start training?
Eight weeks is a good target. Four is still worthwhile. Less than three, focus on daily pop-up practice and mobility rather than heavy training.
Is swimming enough to get fit for surfing?
It is a strong base for paddling, but it does little for the pop-up or the legs. Add some squats, lunges and push-ups.
Do I need a balance board?
It is fun and can help with feel, but it is not essential. Strength and mobility make a bigger difference for most beginners.
What should I do between trips?
One or two sessions a week with plenty of pulling, plus regular pop-up practice, keeps most of what you built.
Book with The Highgate House
Ready to start training properly? Email us at [email protected] with the service and the day that suits you, and we will come back to you with times.
Visit The Highgate House · Private personal training
The Highgate House, Archway Road, Highgate, London N6.
