Fix Your Aches
Deal With Your Aches, Before They Ruin Your Surf
I personally have several joint/pain issues going on, and if I don’t constantly work on them, and try to strengthen the surrounding muscles and tissues, those problems get severely pissed in the surf.
Just yesterday I surfed for about 4 hours. And my right shoulder was absolutely screaming at me…So out came the ice, and later the lacrosse ball…And the next morning, lots of stretching.
You gotta deal with your aches and pains to the best of your ability so they don’t ruin or limit your surfing.
I work with a lot of surfers, with many of them presenting some type of joint problem somewhere on their body. Back, knees, and shoulders are some really common complaints I hear about. And there is plenty that you can do on your own time to improve those aches and pains.
Young, and old, surfers can do a lot of self massage style of work to keep tissues healthy, which then helps to allow those ever important joints of ours to move freely, quickly, and powerfully.
BUY A LACROSSE BALL AND A FOAM ROLLER
Shoulder Problem? You could absolutely put some time into loosening up the anterior torso tissue- pec major and minor (chest muscles), anterior deltoid, biceps…You could also put some work into your posterior rotator cuff as well-infraspinatus, teres minor. And definitely get some foam rolling onto that lat… check out this post… surfer shoulder health
Knee aches? Try getting into the bottom of your feet, your calf, and the quad muscles surrounding the knee with the lacrosse ball. And you could definitely get into some foam rolling on the quads, calf, hamstrings, glutes, and ITbands.. check out the post below on a surfers guide to foam rolling.
Getting a good foam roller is a great idea as well…. Learn To Foam Roll
Lacrosse ball your feet!! As a surfer, you’ve got to understand how important a healthy foot is to not only your surfing, but keeping your knees, ankles, and hips healthy.
– If the foot or ankle is out of whack, something up the kinetic chain of the body is going to suffer.
There are layers upon layers of tissue through the foot, and these layers can get really bound up and stop moving properly over time. Once that happens the joints of the foot and ankle become compromised, and stop moving properly and efficiently.
Lacrosse ball your feet!! When you are standing up on a one inch thick piece of foam, gliding over the water, constantly change direction, pressures, and elevation, your brain is getting all of its bodily awareness through the feet…. so keep them healthy.
If you’re sitting at a desk, you could be working on a lacrosse ball session with your feet. Or when you’re in front of the tv spend a few minutes diggin’ into that tissue.
Loosen up the feet with that lacrosse ball, and then get those feet strong…. give it a watch.. SURF FEET and BALANCE
It’s easy to take care of your body, its tissues, and its joints. You just need to make some time for it. So if you want to keep spending time in the surf, start taking time to take care of your body.
