Gym is for jocks.
Gym is an integral part of an efficient and effective training regimen for surfing.
Trident falls in the middle of these two extremes. While only a complete idiot will believe having biceps the size of basketballs and arms designed to lift wheelbarrows full of free weights will improve your surfing (see here) – on the other side of the argument sits a complete idiot who believes no exercise at all is fine. “Nah brah, the only exercise you need when not surfing is rolling your joints properly brah.”
Me no like steroids.
Like you, dear reader – Trident has seen both extremes on an alarmingly regular basis. Due to this fact, there are several things we can say with absolute authority.
Being built like a brick outhouse while in the running for your local bodybuilding competition in no way prepares you for the arduous activity that is surfing in even moderate conditions.
“Hardcore Stormies Hit The Gym” by W_Minshull is licensed under CC BY 2.0
During hard lockdown in 2020, Trident devised a rather ingenuous (if we do say so ourselves) device/method to simulate paddling on dry land. Said method consisted of a flat bench, light dumbbells, and lying down, pretending to paddle for roughly 700 or something strokes. (It was dull as hell and traumatic to do – so sue us for not remembering the exact number.) Anyhow, we thought this makeshift gym device/exercise method would keep us paddle-ready and fit. We believe it worked – until we were eventually let out our cages to surf for real. Trust us, it may have helped stave off the kilo’s – but nothing compares to actual surf paddling for paddle power.
No pain no gain bro.
And therein lies the great surfing dilemma. Nothing prepares one for surfing like, well – surfing. Yet, as we’ve discussed ad infinitum – the surf isn’t always 4-6 foot daily glassy perfection. This is why you’ll see some surfers, who have been out of the water for a while, puffing and panting and basically missing every wave they paddle for. Although these guys tend to be the older surfers – anyone can fall prey to this mindset – of only surfing when the waves are “good”. Trident laughs at such folly. Ha ha ha! See?! We laughed at their folly.
“Gym at Work 3” by The Killer Biscuit is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Exercise can be as fun as a prostate exam with a screwdriver.
But still… You need to prepare, people. Do the functional, dull training so you can have fun in the surf.
Like it or not, we all need additional, functional forms of exercise over and above surfing. Some folks run, some folks skip, some folks spar – and yes, some folks gym. To reiterate – gym is no substitute for actual surfing. Also, bodybuilding-kinda exercise, heavy weights etc will prepare you for surfing in the same way building a nuclear arsenal prepares a nation for peace.
Trident says – don’t skip leg day.
