The surf fitness workout that actually gets you ready
You've booked the flights and picked the camp. A few focused weeks of the right surf fitness workout, done at home with no gym required, means less time recovering on the beach and more time in the water.
Here's the honest pitch for a surf fitness workout before your trip: you don't need a gym membership, and you don't need months. You need three or four weeks of the right kind of movement so your shoulders, core and hips can keep up with what your instructor is asking of you. Skip it, and you'll still surf. You'll just spend the first two days sore and slow instead of improving.
I've watched enough guests arrive at camp to know the pattern. The ones who did even a bit of prep are up and paddling further by day two. The ones who didn't spend that same day rubbing their shoulders at brunch. It isn't complicated. It's push-ups, planks, a resistance band, and ten minutes of stretching most days.
01 How it works
Why surf fitness isn't gym fitness
Running 5km or lifting a decent weight helps. It doesn't prepare you for surfing on its own. Surfing asks your body to do several different things back to back, and most gym routines only train one at a time.
Minutes at a stretch
Paddling: slow and steady
A long, aerobic effort through your shoulders and back. It's most of your session, and the part beginners train for least.
Under a second
The pop-up: short and explosive
The moment a wave arrives, you need a fast, coordinated burst of strength to get your feet under you.
Once you're up, you're balancing on a moving surface while your hips and core make constant small corrections you're barely aware of. Endurance, explosive power, balance: three different demands inside a single wave.
Here's the part most people miss. Actually riding waves is a small slice of any session. The bulk of your time goes on paddling: getting out the back, chasing position, paddling for a wave that doesn't quite work out. That's why paddling endurance deserves more of your prep than anything else.
Surfing also uses ranges of motion you don't touch in daily life. Shoulders reaching overhead and rotating. Hips opening wide for a pop-up. Ankles flexing to hold a stance. A few weeks of targeted work here goes further than extra time on a treadmill. None of it replaces real coaching, though. No workout teaches you to read a wave or time a takeoff. What it does is mean your first session is about learning, not just surviving it.
The bit people skip
You don't need a gym membership or months of training. You need three or four weeks of the right movement, and a resistance band is the only kit worth buying.
02 Upper body
The paddling workout that matters most
Paddling draws on your shoulders, lats, upper back and chest, all working in a repetitive pulling motion. Because it's repetitive, it's also where niggles show up first, particularly around the shoulders, for anyone who hasn't trained for it specifically.
Push-ups
Knees-down is fine to start. Builds chest, shoulders and triceps, no equipment needed.
Superman holds
Lie face-down, lift arms and legs together, hold. Builds the lower back and shoulder endurance paddling relies on.
Resistance band pull-aparts
Cheap, packable, and it protects the shoulders from the repetitive strain of paddling.
Plank-to-push-up transitions
Combines core stability with the pressing strength you'll need to pop up.
Swimming
Front crawl mimics the paddling motion closely and builds matching cardio fitness, if you've got pool access.
Aim for three sets of each, somewhere between 8 and 12 reps, with a minute or so of rest between sets. Nobody at camp checks your form on a park bench back home, so if push-ups on your toes are too much, drop to your knees and build from there.
03 Core & power
Core and pop-up strength
Going from lying flat to standing on the board in one movement is the moment beginners worry about most. It's also the one that responds fastest to a bit of preparation: a fast push through your arms, a snap of your hips and core, feet under you in about a second.
Planks & side planks
Build the core endurance that keeps you stable through the pop-up and the ride itself.
Squats & lunges
Build the leg strength that holds your stance once you're up on the board.
Burpees
Or a slower burpee-to-standing drill for beginners. Rehearses the exact lying-to-standing transition of a pop-up.
Bicycle crunches
Or Russian twists, for the rotational strength you use turning the board.
New to training? Start with plain planks, bodyweight squats and walking lunges, and hold each for shorter periods. Once those feel easy, add instability (a single-leg plank) or speed (a quicker burpee-to-pop-up drill). No equipment required either way.
04 Recovery
Mobility and stretching for surf fitness
Strength gets you paddling and popping up. Mobility is what lets you do either without your shoulders, hips or lower back complaining afterward. A short daily routine, even just 10 to 15 minutes, makes a real difference to how you feel the next morning.
Child's pose
Eases the lower back and hips after paddling, and stretches tight ankles too.
Warrior II
Builds leg stamina and opens the hips in the same stance you'll use riding a wave.
Extended side angle
A hip opener combined with a stretch through the side body and legs.
Supine spinal twist
Loosens the spine. A genuinely good way to end a training day.
Ankle circles and calf stretches
Small, easy to forget, and useful for the constant balancing surfing demands.
You don't need to be flexible already, or any good at yoga, to get value here. Ten minutes on your rest days is enough to notice looser shoulders and an easier time getting low into your stance.
05 Putting it together
A weekly surf fitness workout plan
You don't need a complicated programme. Four to six weeks out from your trip, this is enough to feel a genuine difference:
| What | How often | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Paddling + core circuit | 2–3x a week, non-consecutive days | Builds the strength you'll actually use paddling and popping up |
| Mobility & stretching | 10–15 min daily | Keeps shoulders and hips loose, especially on rest days |
| One longer cardio session | Weekly run, swim or cycle | Builds the aerobic base paddling draws on |
| Sleep & hydration | Final week | Does more for day one than any last-minute workout |
Travelling with a board bag and want to rehearse the movement pattern directly? A skateboard or surfskate builds the same leg and core coordination as carving a wave, no water required. It's optional. The bodyweight circuit above gets you most of the way alone.
Building paddling strength and pop-up power before you ever touch the water.
Two surf sessions a day, and a gym to keep training in between. Our beachfront camp in Weligama, Sri Lanka runs sunrise and sunset sessions with ocean views from the rooftop bar, plus a daily gym and yoga on-site.
See the Sri Lanka camp06 After you arrive
Training once you're at camp
Turning up prepared matters, but plenty of guests want to keep training once they've landed, either to maintain fitness through a longer trip or because it's just part of their routine. This is one place where our two camps differ.
Sri Lanka: Weligama
Daily gym and yoga on-site, alongside two surf sessions a day (sunrise and sunset). Useful if you want your paddling strength ticking over between sessions, or a stretch before the sun comes up over the water.
Bali: Canggu
No on-site gym, but one unhurried lesson a day at a 2:1 coaching ratio, never more than 3:1. Plenty of time to explore Canggu on foot or scooter, meals and drinks included.
Prefer a single, unhurried lesson a day? Our Bali camp sits in the heart of Canggu, with 2:1 coaching, never more than 3:1, and meals to drinks included.
See the Bali campWhichever camp you choose, the fitness work you do beforehand is what turns the first few days into progress instead of recovery. Turn up with your paddling arms and pop-up ready, and you'll spend far more of the week actually surfing.
07 Good to know
Frequently asked questions
How long before my trip should I start a surf fitness workout?
Four to six weeks is realistic for most beginners. That's enough time to build noticeable paddling strength and mobility without overhauling your routine overnight. Even two or three weeks of consistent effort still makes a difference.
Do I need a gym membership for a surf fitness workout?
No. Push-ups, planks, squats, lunges and stretching all work with just bodyweight, and a resistance band is the only extra kit worth buying. Swimming and skateboarding are useful additions if you've got easy access to a pool or a board, but neither is essential.
What's the single most useful exercise for surf fitness?
If you can only manage one thing, focus on paddling endurance. Push-ups, superman holds and swimming all help here. Most of any surf session is spent paddling rather than riding waves, so that endurance pays off more than almost anything else.
Does Elsewhere have a gym at camp?
Yes, at the Sri Lanka camp in Weligama, which has a daily gym and yoga on-site alongside its two surf sessions a day. The Bali camp, in the heart of Canggu, doesn't have an on-site gym, but runs one unhurried lesson a day at a 2:1 coaching ratio with plenty of downtime to explore Canggu.
Can I get fit for surfing without being in the ocean beforehand?
You can build the strength, mobility and paddling endurance that make sessions easier, but nothing on land teaches you to read waves or time a takeoff. That only comes with real coaching and time in the water. Training beforehand just means you arrive ready to focus on the surfing itself, rather than catching your breath.
