Photo credit: Maria Revelj.
Surfing can be a painful business. I’m 10 days into a Bali trip. My feet are cut to shreds from the reef, and I have a killer bruise on my inner thigh where the leash got tangled up while paddling back out at Balangan.
Aside from the day to day bumps and scratches, there are muscle aches and joint stiffness that all surfers, from beginner to pro, experience from the sheer effort involved in paddling and popping up for multiple hours every day.
Beginner Aches And Pains
Beginners are most likely to suffer from delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), primarily in the upper body, as they start using muscles that are not conditioned for this type and level of exertion. Recent evidence shows that DOMS comes as a result of the inflammation caused by microscopic tears in the connective tissue.
One of the best ways to alleviate DOMS is to rest. This gives the tissues time to regenerate and allows the inflammation, that is part of the natural healing cycle, to go down. Massage is also a great option, as that will circulate the fluid and blood around your body, which can help to heal the micro tears in your muscles faster. You can also reduce DOMS with foam rolling, contrast (alternating hot and cold) showers, increased protein intake, omega 3 supplementation, and upping your sleep.
I’d actually advise against doing any intense static stretching in your first couple of days surfing as it hasn’t been shown to be effective at reducing DOMS and you run the risk of overdoing it and causing more harm than good.
Pain From Overworking The Muscles
DOMS generally only lasts for about 72 hours, while your muscles get used to the new training stimulus, but unfortunately the aches and pains don’t stop there.
Most surfers suffer from sore necks, shoulders, and upper backs as well as tight hips, hamstrings, and lower back pain. Fortunately, yoga is great for easing the discomfort, restoring proper range of motion, speeding up recovery time, and increasing stamina, so you can stay in the water longer.
How Does Yoga Reduce The Pain?
-Circulating blood and lymph around the body decreases recovery time.
-Stretching tight muscle tissue and fascia restores proper range of motion.
-Stimulating sensory mechanoreceptors in the muscles – including muscle-spindles and Golgi tendon organs – reduces pain.
-Improvements to neuromuscular balance – the tone between agonist and antagonist muscle groups – leads to better posture and muscular support for the joints.
One of the main advantages of yoga over traditional stretching is that the poses hit each group of muscles from several different angles. So if you can’t get to a class or don’t have the time or inclination, these 7 poses should have you covered.
Some Final Tips
-The best time to these poses is either on your off day or in the evening to help you wind down before bed.
-You can do them as often as you need to – starting with every day and going down to once or twice a week as the soreness reduces.
-Never use force to increase a stretch – instead deepen your breath and relax into it.
-Breathe slowly, in and out through your nose.
-Hold each of the poses anywhere from 5 breaths up to 5 minutes.
Click on the titles for short video tutorials of each of the poses. And if you’d like guidance with modifications, drop me an email at abi@yoga15.com, and I’ll be happy to give you some pointers.
-Stretches the chest, shoulders and upper back
-Releases tension in the neck, shoulders and upper back
-Increases spinal rotation
-Stretches the ankles, calves and hamstrings (when the legs are straight)
-Releases tension in the necks and shoulders
-Relieves compression at the lower back
-Stretches the ankles, calves, hamstrings, groin, chest and shoulders
-Releases tension in the neck and upper back
-Relieves compression at the lower back
-Stretches the ankles, calves, hamstrings and spine
-Opens up the shoulders
-Alleviates lower back pain
-Stretches the hip flexors, quads, chest and shoulders
-Opens up the hips and groin
-Alleviates lower back pain
-Stretches the glutes, piriformis, outer hips, groin and hip flexors
-Opens up tight hips
-Alleviates lower back pain
-Stretches the groin, shoulders, chest and triceps
-Opens up the hips
-Alleviates neck and shoulder pain
Download Abi’s yoga routines for surfers here.
All photos taken by the talented Maria Revelj.
