Nobody can deny that surfing is among the most strenuous of any extreme sports. You only have to try it once and be in the water for half an hour to feel a great amount of respect for the surfers who go out and ride the waves every day of their lives. Just getting out to sea and maintaining the right position to catch waves is hard enough, but once your surfing there again a huge demand on various muscle groups. So which muscle groups have the greatest demand put on them and so need more training?
Deltoids – These are basically the shoulder muscles and they will take an absolute pounding during any surf session. As you paddle out to sea and are lying on your front on the board, most of your ofter torso muscles are disengaged and your shoulders do 80% of the workload. If you imagine you are paddling out 20 times or so in a session, those muscles better be ready
Trapezius – These muscles make up those of the upper back and the neck. They are also involved with the surfboards progressive movement when you are paddling out, but are called into action more when you are ‘popping’ up on the board. Explosive strength is needed in this action so with this in mind, the work you do in the gym should be with high weights and at a fast pace
Abs and core muscles – Your stabilising muscles need to be in peak condition otherwise you might as well just not get in the water. Although skill and balance are important elements in surfing, they are nothing without the muscles that are engaged to alter body position rapidly. There is not really any element of surfing that does not called upon these muscles so they should be your primary focus. Pilates is great for developing core strength, but you can also use a swiss ball to work all core-muscles.
Cardiovascular fitness should also be included in your surf training and there are plenty of second hand bikes that you can pick up and use to ride to the beach to help with this