Photo: Koa Smith // YouTube
For a while now, Koa Smith has been forging his own path in the world of surfing. His original claim to fame was a 2014 video in which he rode a wild 27-second barrel that immediately earned him fame and a cool $20,000. Since then, he’s carved out a niche for himself as a surfer equally in search of barrels and mindfulness.
In his latest video, Koa offers up a training regiment that is as idiosyncratic as he is. To do that, he met up with Leandro Fornito, of the YouTube channel LeoMoves, to take part in some “animal-inspired” body weight workouts. It’s an approach that’s as equally far away from the workout-eschewing surfers of yesteryear as it is to the iron-pumping fitness enthusiasts among the most recent generation of surfers. It also fits in with Smith’s ethos perfectly.
“The thing I love about bodyweight stuff is that I feel like it’s such a good entry level to working out and moving your body,” explained Koa. “Some people, if they want to get into working out, they instantly think they have to lift weights or go to the gym and do that. And I found that I can push myself really hard with body weight and I’m not gonna get injured, but the moment I start pushing myself with weight, I’ll get a rib out of place or something like that.”
Afterwards, he went right out to Pipeline and proceeded to get absolutely shacked. Maybe he’s on to something.
