Why is it that surfer always look so fit?Surfing to me does not look like it would be that great of a workout ... what is going on here?

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Dealing with the ocean is a Major work out .
Swimming in it is wayyyyy harder than a pool or lake .
Most surfing requires paddling out to the breaks then
Super strong legs to stay up .

All of the professional water guys end up supermen from the workouts .

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o yeah its amazing..

with your arms paddleing out there..

your abs get sore.

same with your calfs

great for your shoulders

people who do not surf think that you only use your arms to paddle out there. Thats easy work. When your trying to catch a big wave, you have to keep paddling hard and fast until you feel the wave take control of your board, and the you have to use your legs to get up, and balance.

Arm mussels are used more than any other mussel while surfing

when u watch a surf movie, especially a hollywood production like blue crush, they dont show u nearly everything that actually takes place durring a surf session. in reality most of the time is spent paddling out to the waves around the line up, & trying to fight strong currents to stay in the best place to take off. when u dont only use ur arms. ur back & shoulders r the main source of power, but u r constantly using the rest of ur body to stabilize yourself on ur board. go try swimming for a few hours in a normal pool & then imagine what its like to have the pool constantly moving.

Yes it is a great work out and alot of fun too.

The Surfboard Man
http://thesurfboardman.com/

Surfing (real surfing, not movie stuff, or a two hour tourist lesson) is intensely physical, even when the surf is relatively tame. Real surfing requires real ocean swimming skills. Ocean swimming is not pool swimming, I've seen lots of great pool swimmers have to get rescued. It requires stamina, & uses all kinds of muscles to balance.
Now, if u ever saw me, u would change ur mind about surfers looking fit. At least l look alive. However, l just spent the last five days surfing two sessions a day, in small to moderate conditions, & believe me, l was 'whupped' after a couple of hours in the water.
Lets try to analyze what goes on:
1) walk to the beach (some places a hundred yards, some a mile or more)
2) paddle out (strenuous enough on a moderate day, brutal on a big day)
3) Sitting in the line up. Constantly subconsciously adjusting balance as u sit on the surf board as it goes over swells)
4) Picking a wave (paddling with ur back arched way back & ur neck straining to look at that wave twenty yards away trying to paddle into a good position to 'take off')
5) taking off (paddling explosively to push youself forward & move onto the face of the wave)
6) ''poppin up'' (doing a 'squat thrust'' on a moving board less than two feet wide)
7) Turns (using ur weight through u legs & trunk to turn a surfboard moving across the face of the wave)
8)''kicking out'' (stalling the board & using ur legs & hips force it away from the beach while u catch it as u lay back down on it)
9) ''wiping out'' (falling off a fast moving surfboard into water of indeterminant depth with a broken wave (maybe a VERY LARGE BROKEN WAVE) slams down on u requiring u to get the most u can out of that last breath, while tumbling around in the water)
10) paddling back out for the next wave....
That is why there r not many other fat 56 year old guys doing it.

Its a great workout, for your biceps, triceps in paddling, and youre abs in basically any part of riding a wave. Its also works your lats and shoulders, again with paddling. Popping up when your dropping in also works your arms and chest and legs. And depending on what kinds of turns you know how to do you can work different parts of your arms as well, for example a double armed roundhouse will both stretch and work your arms.

You have no idea. Probably a better upper body workout then any gym workout Ive done. All the paddling in the ocean (currents, undertow, oncoming waves) can be exhausting. My back muscles and shoulders can be painfully sore after a good surfing session.

surfing is a great workout
you have to be doin it for awhile to build your strength
i mean you have to paddle which is when you use your swimming muscles n such
then doin carving and doin tricks on the board on the wave will reall work ur abs and lower body

Oh yeah it is! l started surfing at the beginning of the summer & paddling is strenous. You got to battle the current, paddle for waves, miss waves that u paddled really hard for so now ur in the break zone & u GOTTA paddle back out (and get hit back several times with incoming breaks). And this is on a relatively calm day! What everyone said above is spot on (and a really liked John F is answer). Then u drift. & u need to walk like a mile to get back to ur spot. Now surfers r not suppossed to complain, & l thank u for the opportunity for me to do so. The hardest part is paddling back out after u caught a wave.

So ur shoulders get worked out from paddling & the rest of ur upper body, u got to constantly balance (sitting, standing, laying.. falling), & when u wipeout, u need to get back ur board as quickly as u can. Surfing is not an easy thing to do. It takes a lifetime of practice.

Yep. Really good exercise. The only thing l find consistently lacking is enough exercise for my legs (but l think that has more to do with not living at J-Bay).