Surf Kinetics MARCH'S VIDEO EXERCISE TIP

The Surfing Dynamic Warm Up from Power Up Surfing on Vimeo.

 Surf Kinetics MARCH'S VIDEO EXERCISE TIP:

A Dynamic warmup for surfing!!! It will work the muscles and joints in all 3 planes of motion!

Stretching the External Rotators with AIS stretch Therapy from Power Up Surfing on Vimeo.

Stretching the External Rotators with AIS stretch Therapy

Surf Kinetics Staple Paddling Exercise

 Our “pull” muscles are responsible for propelling our surfboards across the ocean. Once the arm enters the water during paddling, we use the hands to "pull" our body in a forward motion. This happens when the shoulder joint extends our arm through the water beneath the surfboard.  Pull muscles are primarily composed of the back muscles, shoulder rotators, long head of the triceps, and other various shoulder muscles.  

Let's put paddling into 2 simple categories for now:

1. Explosive paddling: This is the paddling we require to catch a wave. This paddling is quick and explosive in nature. Basically we are trying to match the speed of the wave in order to drop in. We are probably talking about a 1 to a 3 second burst of paddling energy to “catch” the wave. The energy our body uses for this primarily  draws from the Phosphagen system first and the Glycolysis system  when prolonged over 3 secs.

2. Endurance paddling: This is the paddling that falls into the “aerobic” form like that of jogging. We use this type of  paddling to get out from the beach to the actual break OR when we are constantly paddling against a ocean current to stay in position. Endurance paddling  relies heavily on the aerobic system for energy.
   
   

  So what is the most effective exercise to train paddling? 

In all honesty, there are so many great methods and approaches to train these pull muscles.

Probably the most popular training method is freestyle swimming.  It is a damn great place to start! 
 BUT take this into consideration: besides using the pull muscles, swimming ALSO uses trunk rotation as well as lower limb propulsion.  Therefore the pull muscles do not get the full brunt of the training. 

Most surfers while on the surfboards are actually isolating these pull muscles. So this is where land base training can become very effective! Target the pull muscles specifically! There are many exercises out there to hit the pull muscles. One of our staple exercise is the “Swimmer”.   It incorporates using a band. Bands offer “variable” resistance which is great for training. You can go as fast or slow as you want and not worry about flying stacks of weight or dumbbells.  Also bands allow you to put the resistance point at any position!

Here is how the Swimmer is performed: 

Stand with feet shoulder width apart. Have the bands over head and  pull bands

down to the hip area. During this pull down motion, drop hips down and keep the

arms very rigid and straight. During the downward movement extend the shoulder joints, and make sure the elbow joints stay rigid and straight throughout the entire exercise.  Then return the bands overhead in an erect standing position.

Swimmers

Swimmers

As shown in the pictures above, when performed at high speeds, it is alright to let the heels come off the ground.

There are so many ways to integrate this exercise into your daily workout when the waves are flat.  Also there are various techniques that are used to train endurance paddling separate from explosive paddling.  The options are unlimited!   Find a local strength and condition coach around your local neighborhood, especially the ones that work with swimmers, they can show you how to get it done!

Remember don't waste time on unnecessary training, get specific as you can, and be safe with land training!

 

 More at SURF KINETICS

Disclaimer:

Always consult a qualified medical professional before beginning any nutritional program or exercise program. Never disregard

professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read by Craig Canubida. Any content or

information provided by Craig Canubida is for informational and educational purposes only and any use thereof is solely at your

own risk. Neither Craig Canubida nor its operators or posters bears any responsibility thereof.

The information contained herein is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment in any

manner. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding

any medical condition. All information contained by Craig Canubida including but not limited to text, graphics, images,

information, third party information and/or advice, food, recipes, exercises, diets, psychology, websites, links, including but not

limited to any content by employees, consultants or writers and contributors, and or any other material contained herein are for

informational and educational purposes only.

By reading articles by Craig Canubida, the reader and/or viewer does hereby acknowledge that it is your sole responsibility to

review this Disclaimer and any other disclaimer or waiver.

Saving the Knee During Surfing!

Sorry so late.  I have been working on this for awhile, but here it is on popular demand!  These are 3 simple exercises you can use to strengthen up the muscles around the knee joint to stabilize the joint while surfing.  Yes they are basic exercises that uses no weights BUT just GRAVITY as a form of resistance.  Sometimes people resort to a fixed leg machine ( ei. leg extension) to work the muscles around the knee.  Unfortunately keeping the knees isolated during these exercises will eventually lead to shearing of the knee joint, exactly what you don't need.  But don't get me wrong , there is a time a place for the use of these machines!
In the video it states to do 15 reps each, but for beginners it might be better to accomplish 10 of each.  As a general  rule we do train surfers standing for the most part , yet these exercises are just the foundation of strengthening the lower limbs of the body.  We here at Surf Kinetics always build the foundations first before moving on to advance and skilled specific exercises.  Go ahead and perform 2 to 3 sets of these three exercises 4x a week and you will notice a difference in your knee stabilization while surfing.  Remember it  hurts, STOP and consult your physician to refer you out to some kind of sports rehab. Enjoy the video...




Saving Knees from Coach Craig on Vimeo.

Disclaimer:

Always consult a qualified medical professional before beginning any nutritional program or exercise program. Never disregard

professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read by Craig Canubida. Any content or

information provided by Craig Canubida is for informational and educational purposes only and any use thereof is solely at your

own risk. Neither Craig Canubida nor its operators or posters bears any responsibility thereof.

The information contained herein is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment in any

manner. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding

any medical condition. All information contained by Craig Canubida including but not limited to text, graphics, images,

information, third party information and/or advice, food, recipes, exercises, diets, psychology, websites, links, including but not

limited to any content by employees, consultants or writers and contributors, and or any other material contained herein are for

informational and educational purposes only.

By reading articles by Craig Canubida, the reader and/or viewer does hereby acknowledge that it is your sole responsibility to

review this Disclaimer and any other disclaimer or waiver.

Taking Care of the Feet

Let's face it, anybody who has ever had a foot or ankle injury knows that it is just hell trying to surf through the pain.  In fact after an injury we find that our feet are left weaker and a lot stiffer prior to the incident.  So like any other part of our body, we must strengthen the problem area to increase range of motion and to fire up as much muscles cells during any kind of contraction.  Our feet is what connects us to the surfboard and when we get skilled enough they can actually start to pivot the board in tight critical maneuvers.  So here are three strengthening exercises that are demonstrated in the video below :

1. Pronation

2. Supination

3. Flexion

 

 

FEET from Coach Craig on Vimeo.

Disclaimer:

Always consult a qualified medical professional before beginning any nutritional program or exercise program. Never disregard

professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read by Craig Canubida. Any content or

information provided by Craig Canubida is for informational and educational purposes only and any use thereof is solely at your

own risk. Neither Craig Canubida nor its operators or posters bears any responsibility thereof.

The information contained herein is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment in any

manner. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding

any medical condition. All information contained by Craig Canubida including but not limited to text, graphics, images,

information, third party information and/or advice, food, recipes, exercises, diets, psychology, websites, links, including but not

limited to any content by employees, consultants or writers and contributors, and or any other material contained herein are for

informational and educational purposes only.

By reading articles by Craig Canubida, the reader and/or viewer does hereby acknowledge that it is your sole responsibility to

review this Disclaimer and any other disclaimer or waiver.

Pete alert!

Stretch the Hip Flexors and Unleash the Power in your Surfing!

Congrats to Peter Mendia Making Feb's Surfer Cover!

West Palm Beach Pro Pete at PumpHouse, Sandy Swell

 

Aerial Surfing and Injury Prevention

Preventing Ankle and Knee Injuries

Coach Craig CSCS, ACSM-CPT, CPTS

Like a viral infection, the aerial attack has swept over the surfing nation. From inverted slob grabs to the rodeo flips, air innovation has slowly crept it's way into all facets of surfing. Whether you like it or not, airs are here to stay and probably continue to march into further progression.

While surfing, surfers target their launch ramp, compress, extend, launch, and land. Air heights can vary depending on the force produced by the wave and the surfer himself. The higher you fly, the harder you will fall. Landing an air is the tricky part due to the fact that you land on a surface that is constantly changing and is unstable. Quite often our center of gravity during a landing is not centered between our feet which leads to awkward recoveries (especially if inverted or rotating in the air). Knee and ankle injuries are stacking up in numbers because of the critical landing phase of an air. Unfortunately a good sprain or strain can keep you out of the water for a good ten weeks.

How can we prevent these knee and ankle injuries from occurring?

Since no wave is ever the same, it is safe to assume that no landing will ever be exactly the same. As mentioned earlier, our center of gravity will most likely vary on every landing. But we do know one thing for a fact, that when an individual lands from jumping, their “gluteus maximus”, aka their butt or glutes, should be the primary muscle that decelerates the body while landing. Without deceleration (slowing down), we would end up flat faced on the ground.

The glutes should be responsible for taking care of deceleration, BUT yes there are other muscles that can assist. In fact the hamstrings are often referred to as the glute's "assisters". If the glutes are inhibited or weak, these hamstrings along with other muscles, have no choice but take on the most of the workload when decelerating. Since the hamstrings aren't anatomically designed to take on deceleration alone, undo stress can be transferred down to the ankle and knee joints. This stress will eventually lead to strains, sprains, or even breaks.

So point being, we must make it a priority to strengthen the glutes. It is the most powerful muscle in the lower extremity of our body. These muscles cross over one joint (the hip) thus making it a mono-articular muscle.

The glutes have several functions. First, they allow for hip extension. Without hip extension we wouldn’t be able to walk, run, or jump. The glutes also assist in lateral stabilization of the hip and knee joint. They are also responsible for external rotation of the femur. Last but not least, it allows for DECELERATION of the body.

There are tons of exercises out there to strengthen the glutes. Squats, dead lifts, or even leg presses are all great. But why not get to the meat of things and actually use an exercise that functionally trains the glutes to decelerate. Training the glutes with an exercise that mimics deceleration (like that which is used in landing airs) will provide better and faster results.

One such exercise is the reaching lunge. This particular exercise trains the glutes to decelerate from the forces of gravity. Heck you don't even need to go to a gym or need any equipment to perform it.

The video provided will give visual instructions on performing this movement. Watch the video before reading onward...

1. The first exercise is the forward reaching lunge. Now in the video I am holding a medicine ball, but if you have never performed this, go ahead and use your fingertips to reach out. The beginning position is in lunge position. Both knees are flexed and you have about one to two feet between each foot. Make sure the front foot is flat, and the back foot has the heel off the ground. Perform the exercise by reaching forward and keeping the front foot flat. Make sure not to let the front foot heel come up as it will might lead to unnecessary loading of the front knee. When the body comes forward allow the back to round and flex. The video shows me reaching almost to the floor but beginners should take caution. Start by reaching forward to hip height, then move to knee height, ankle, then eventually to the floor. It is all about progression. If it hurts or feels uncomfortable, regress to a higher point. Remember safety first.

2. The second exercise is the lateral reaching lunge. It is performed a little different from the frontal lunge. Surfers should start with the feet apart, slightly wider than the shoulders. If you look into the mirror your body should form an "A frame” with your arms on the side. Unlike the frontal lunge, both feet will be flat on the floor all throughout the movement. Remember start with reaching to hip height then slowly progress downward to the low point. Notice that the trailing leg should remain straight.

To sum up, reaching lunges are probably one of the best dynamically active and functional exercise to fire up the glutes. Since the reach is performed in the lunge position, it allows you to strengthen each side (whether the right or left glute) independently. Everybody has a weak and strong side, therefore each glute should be trained equally with this exercise. Don't hesitate to contact us if you have any concerns or questions, we are happy to answer back.

Copyright 2012 Aloha Fitness of Palm Beach Company, Surf Kinetics, Kinetics Performance Corp.

A Great Dawn Patrol Dynamic Warm-up

Here is  a great video for those early risers hitting the dawn patrol. It works and it is a fully TRUE dynamic warm up! Here are three simple exercises put together to warm up all of your surfing muscles before surfing.  It allows the body to move in all three planes of movement that is found in surfing. They will target the core, shoulders, and hips. Make sure you do these at home on a hard surface. We do not recommend performing these on unstable surfaces like sand.

Here is the breakdown:
20 reps of the chopper
20 reps of rotation
20 reps of the diagonal chop

The video will demonstrate all the exercises separately. Be sure to execute these exercises slowly at first . Get used to performing these with proper form. Then when you got that down take the tempo of the exercises up a notch and keep building up speed. Speed with proper form is a key component here. You want to get at tempo that mimics the speed you demonstrate in your surfing maneuvers. We do apologize for the poor audio quality, we are currently working to fix this disaster!

If you feel any pain what so ever, STOP and consult a physician or regress the intensity of the exercises. Feel free to contact us at alohafitness73@hotmail.com .

Surfing and Ankle Flexibility

 Ankle Flexibility High performance surfing requires great ankle flexibility.  From landing airs, to massive rail-to-rail cutbacks, a healthy ankle joint is crucial for moving freely in all planes of motion. Severe stiffness in the ankle complex will limit any surfing performance unless the muscles of the ankle are properly lengthened.

The ankle complex consists of many different muscles.  These muscles work together to allow the foot to produce the four movements of the ankle that are used during surfing:

 1. flexing of the foot [Dorsiflexion]

 2. movement in the ankles that allow the toes to point [Plantar Flexion]

 3. rolling the ankles outward [Eversion]

 4. rolling of the ankles inward [Inversion]

Active Isolated Stretching [AIS] is a unique approach to stretching the ankle muscles, or any muscles for that matter, that works effectively and efficiently.  AIS uses active movement and  reciprocal inhibition to gain increased flexibility of an isolated muscle.

That is a mouthful but here's a simple exercise to see how it works:

* Lie on your back and prepare yourself for the hamstring stretch.
 * Grab a leash and loop it around one foot. We will be using the leash simply to guide the leg with our hands.
* Lift the leg straight up and towards the chest. Your quads ( front thighs ) along with your other hip flexors are the muscles contracting to bring up the leg. By contracting these hip flexors, you send neural messages to your brain which then sends them back to your hamstrings asking them to relax (reciprocal inhibition).
* When the leg gets to the point where it cannot travel up anymore, just slightly pull the leash to move the leg a little closer to the chest for assistance.

Reciprocal inhibition relaxes the muscle being stretched [the antagonist muscle] by contracting the opposing muscle [the agonist muscle].  Muscles are more apt to lengthen while relaxed. AIS uses shorter holds - about 2 seconds - unlike static stretching which involves holding a stretch for about 20 - 30.  Researchers have found that holding a stretch for longer than 10 secs triggers the "stretch reflex", an automatic body response that  causes the muscle being stretch to contract.  This phenomenon is the body’s defense mechanism for preventing muscles from being over stretched or being ripped apart.  AIS requires the stretch to be held for only 2 seconds.  The muscle then is returned to it's neutral position, and then back to the stretch again.  This process is repeated for about ten repetitions.  Holding a mild stretch for no longer than 2 secs makes it less likely that the stretch reflex will be activated.

Before surfing, the general rule of thumb would be one set of 10 repetitions on a specific muscle for a warmup before surfing.  On days when you do not surf, multiple stretching sets are great for increasing range of motion.

The video provided here shows Giorgio Gomez stretching his ankle complex with use of a rope.  The rope provides great assistance throughout the stretch exercises.  Any boat store or hardware store sells these ropes.  Remember to hold each stretch for 2 secs, no longer.  Use the rope to give about a half a pound of pressure to assist in the stretch.  You should "feel" a mild stretch;  NOT a painful and intense stretch.  Remember you are trying to avoid stimulating the stretch reflex.  Also, it is essential to contract the opposing muscle that is being stretched.  Reciprocal inhibition is the name of the game here.  AIS in time will increase the range of motion in the areas you desire, BUT it must be done on a daily basis.  Notable gains in ankle flexibility will come in time to further enhance your surfing.

Well the future of surfers training as athletes is here, but Australia has beaten us to the game (for now).

Lacey Does It Again!

Miss Flynn takes the first place seed at a stock SUP race out in Jupiter this past weekend.  Congrats to her and her ever growing medals! Kinetic Performance is preparing her for the big race out in California this September. Here we go!!!

Will standing on this help your surfing?

Balance...balance...balance.


He is actually doing a great job here.  I found this on the web while browsing.  But I do see it incorporated in a lot of surfing exercise programs out there.  Actually there are about a half dozen balance devices claiming to improve balance on a surfboard.  Unfortunately in the picture above this is a dangerous and downright ridiculous thing to do on a Stability Ball.

To put it plainly, an unskilled  surfer must spend many hours in the water to learn how to balance on a surfboard. I have yet to see any device out there that simulates balancing on water.  It's almost impossible to  mimic surfing on land in the absence of water.  Water is a 3 dimensional element, always changing.  Not to mention all the other equations that are missing  in surfing like different variables of flotation devices,  the speed at which you are traveling, the amount of energy that's behind the wave (short vs long swell periods), etc.

You want to improve your balance, get in the water, and get used to your equipment!

 For you already skilled surfers especially the competitive surfers, don't worry about training your balance in the gym.  And here is why:
The board under your feet has become stable, almost like you are standing on the ground.  Think about it...do you really worry about losing your balance while weaving down the face or performing a maneuver? You have already done all the homework, it's LANDING moves that becomes a problem , especially new tricks. Why? Because your body is put into a new position that it is not used to, thus causing an imbalance in your center of gravity.  That's where repetition after repetition comes in.



Here at Kinetic Performance, we train surfers to increase their power and responsiveness. How?

1. By focusing on making certain core muscles as tight as possible during any manuver (allowing better recoveries).
2. By unilaterally training the hip musculature to become as powerful as possible.
3. And constantly training the glute muscles to decelerate, decelerate , and decelerate!

Giorgio Gomez surfing Live now at Trestles!

Live Surfing America  (click Here)

Oh Yeah GG!

Giorgio Gomez places 2nd in SUP  18 and under division at the Surfing American Prime !

Congrats to this kid! He even took it all the way in the semi's for the open SUP division. Unbelievable and SUP is not even his forte. Here are some pics from the event at Huntington Beach, CA.
Good luck to him this Friday again in the regular surfing series at Trestles in the Surfing America Championships 2012!!!
We can't wait for him to get back to us at Kinetic Performance.

Good luck Mr. Gomez!

Go, go ,go!
Away GG goes at the Rip Curl grom search at

 Huntington Beach, California.

We wish him all the best and will keep you posted as he surf amognst the top elite groms in the US!

BTW here is a great write up of him and his Sis IZZY!

 

Somehow our Facility ended up in the news! (thanks to Mr. Sullivan)

Our hats off to Lacie Flynn for 2nd place in SUP!

It took place at the Paddle for Humanity this past weekend in South Florida. There were 150 paddlers from all over the US and a couple of Pros from Australia.  Well Lacie came in second in the elite 6 mile race, it was her first big event and missed 1st place by 5 secs! Not bad!

She gave it 150% during  every session at Kinetic Performance .   She was very focused and prepared well for her battle.  We started 2 months out of the race which gave us little time for periodization. We conditioned her first and followed up with hard core strength training and interlaced a lot of rotational exercises through the  unique tri plex system. A week out was our time to hit her up with some metabolic power training.   Then she really turned up the heat and loss quite a bit of body fat during the training period!

 Lacie also won the CPR- Chuck Patterson rally race, a paddle/run obstacle course. 150 paddlers from all over the US and a couple of Pros from Australia.


We look forward to her next race and will keep you posted! Congratulations again to you Lacie!

Congrats to our outstanding client Giorgio Gomez!

 Yes second place! And he is only half way through our program...we gotta say he is a hard worker and takes his training and surfing seriously.  Way to go!

read the full story:  http://www.easternsurf.com/feature_052212/

Kinetic Performance