Swimming and paddle strength

absolutely it will help. BUT...use a pull buoy. it'll prevent you from kicking (but keep your legs from dragging), forcing your shoulders to do the work. makes it more like paddling. & don't just do long, steady-state laps. mix in short sprint type pieces as well...makes it more like paddling to catch waves.

pull buoy:


some pools will have them available for public use, or you can buy your own.

 

it will make you a better swimmer

you still won't be michael phelps

 

Good looks on that man. I'm heading back up to Albany in a few weeks so that'll help big time.

 

here's my normal pool routine:

500m warm up:
2x by:
50m breast stroke
50m side
50m back
150 free

1000m, all freestyle w/ the pull buoy, broken up into pieces:
2x500m
4x250m
1x500, 2x250
2x250, 2x150, 4x50
etc...keep the rest short, esp. on the shorter pieces. you're practicing swimming, not resting.

500m cool down, same as warm up.

quick & easy 2000m pool workout.

i think it's really important to warm up & cool down. i see a lot of guys (who clearly have very little clue about what they're doing) just jump in & start splashing around all over the place. makes me cringe.

 

Warming up is necessary for any activity you do and is always important, so I agree with you all the way. Your routine adds up to 4000m, do you do one half one day and the second half the next? Or did you mean to say it was a quick and easy 4000m pool workout?

 

Yeah it will help. I swim a mile daily except surfing days. It gives incredible endurance. I never get winded surfing or running. It's a great sport, and mentally relaxing too, if you're not lane sharing... Never cared for the pull buoys, but people swear by them.

Never did warm ups or cool downs, never seemed to need it. Everybody's different that way.

 

Yes, it will definitely help you ... another thing it will help is your lung capacity, and the ability to take a longer hold-down. This is especially true if you practice breathing on alternate strokes, and/or avoiding extra breaths when flipping-turning off the wall.

 

lol! there's nothing quick nor easy about swimming 4k!
should've specified that each line of those workout examples is a discrete entity. 1000m, chose 1 way of getting there. assuming i mathed correctly, each line should add up to 1000.

 

i also find that switching up strokes is a good way to prevent/avoid potential over-use injuries. nothing feels quite so good as a quick lap of breast stroke after banging out 1k of intervals!

 

swimming is good for surfing is good for swimming.....

 

That bouy thing looks cool thanks for bringing it up. I swim 750 M 3-4 times a week at the Y on no swell weeks. I dont kick of the wall so I can get a full 25 M each time. I do mostly free,back, and breast ( my personel out of the pool life too LOL. ) I have seen a big improvement . I do hold breath laps and "sprint laps" .

 

Ah, got it! That seems much more obtainable haha! Appreciate the insight on the workout though, definitely going to use it!

 

Absolutely helps me. I do sets of 250's at a swift pace, as many as I have time for. Then toss in a few 25m underwater the whole length, these as many as I can handle. Some days are better than others. But I started last Dec to get ready for a Costa Rica trip and have kept it up ever since because I was amazed by my improvement while surfing.

 

get some of these too...do sprint :15 - :50 sec reps and then take them off and go half of that time sprint as well (i use time over distance as i'm not sure of your ability...so whatever distance you can go for those times, do that). go short rest at max effort for 3-5 minutes for lactic tolerance...go long rest and short rest (like 1:1) for anaerobic power and endurance

also do some hypoxic work like like NJ mentioned...you can do this with underwater swimming (like breaststroke pull outs) or put the buoy in and go a controlled breathing pattern for long durations to increase aerobic ability and lung capacity (ie, 800 pull 3-3 breathing for 50, 5-5 for 50, 7-7 for 50, 9-9 for 50...rep x4 no rest - you could also go @ 100s for x2 or 200s x1)

and don't neglect fly if you got it in your repetoire...mentioned on here before that to duplicate intensity of open water races of 1 - 3.5 miles i'd go up to 4km of fly in a week of 20km because that is just as or way more brutal and would really prep me aerobically as well as help buffer lactate)

and lastly, gotta mention to keep good faith with this forum, "bro, do you even lift?" any combo of swimming, running, lifting, yoga, dryland, and stretching could help surfing

 

not a fan of the paddle thingys, i feel like they put too much strain on my shoulders (like webbed paddling gloves do), but that's just me. could be an issue w/ technique/form, or my semi-****ed up shoulders.

that said, i second (or third) the weight training & dryland cardio recommendations. i prefer lower weight/higher rep weight training b/c i'm not particularly interested in putting on mass, more in stabilizing the joints & increasing power to weight ratios. if you don't want to push metal things around, body weight work is good too...push ups, pull ups, & the like.

 

Yes, swimming def helps, don't worry about being all scientific with it, just swim till you're completely spent each time, alternating different types of stroke techniques. I usually run a mile then jump in the pool all winded and warmed up, has done wonders for me

 

There is no substitute for paddling a surfboard.

 

only training for surfing is surfing. hop in the pool to stsy in shape but it wont keep you in surfing shape. do yoga and work on core/balance instead. oh, and dont drink and eat healthy.