Russ Winter breaks down the factors that made him Europe’s most successful surfer and fitness guru Lee Stanbury takes things to the next level…

Training

Russ Says:
I started surfing when I was nine by the time I was 12 or 13 I was spending a lot of time boxing training, punching the punch bag a lot. I also spent a lot of time cycle training on my mountain bike. My family background is that my dad, and two older brothers were heavily in to Judo so I used to go with them and train in the dojo. So I learned a routine from them that would include sit ups, press ups and going and punching the bag. Just sets every day. I followed Judo until I got hooked on surfing but it instilled a really good training regime in me.

When surfing took over I was in the water every day, if it was unrideable then I would train. Because I didn’t spend a stack of time at school I’d fill my time training the whole time. I used to love punching the punch bag, thinking I was Rocky knocking out Apollo Creed ha ha!

I joined the local gym as I got a little older, concentrating on light weights, leg presses and the pec deck to push my fitness when there were no waves. Other than surfing, the training that you do you need to enjoy or you won’t do it. I love cycling and it’s so good for your legs. Sit ups, press ups and squats are easily done, you can do them any where and they don’t take long to get good results.

More recently started Ju Jitsu as well. Rolling around on the floor with another bloke a couple of times a week is really good anaerobic work out and excellent for your flexibility.

I’ve recently started using a balance ball as well which is a useful piece of equipment for different kinds of press ups and sit ups. The boxing training that I do, mainly punch bag work replicates surfing really well. Learning combos and being on your toes, using your arms and your legs, you get really tired quickly but it’s really intensive and explosive which is great for your surfing.

Lee Says:
One of the secrets to Russell’s fantastic surfing success is his attitude to land based fitness training. Many sports athletes all over the world supplement their training program with additional training types, and the benefits run far and wide, this type of training if done properly and specific to that sport is known as sports specific training.

Boosting your fitness for surfing performance can be of high value, and take your surfing to new heights. Any boxer in training will tell you that the training can be brutal; even one session of this type of training per week can be great! Your aerobic (with oxygen) and indeed your anaerobic (without oxygen) fitness will be taken to the max, your endurance can get a great boost, perfect for when its 5-6 foot and pumping!

In addition to the boxing training any other form of aerobic conditioning can be good; biking, running and of course swimming can really make a difference to your paddle power and endurance; using kit like the Powerstroke cords will help with aerobic fitness and paddle power. Resistance training in this way can be highly beneficial to surfing strength.

If you are working on your aerobic fitness then try to develop all areas it’s no good keeping your heart rate (HR) at a nice light beat, to get true benefits you must try to take your (HR) up to its max on a regular basis.

In addition to Russell’s great approach to aerobic training under taking a light weights high rep training program can give the surfer additional strength. Keep the weights low and the reps high to boost your endurance this will keep your range of movement
(ROM) good, go too heavy and you may find you pack on too much muscle, which could restrict your surfing performance, better to be a lean mean surfing machine!

If you’re still a young surfer try to hold back off the weights! At least wait until you are 16-17 years old. As you grow your body develops bones, ligaments and joints all need to develop properly, there’s plenty of time for a weight training program as you get older! Sit ups, press ups, and indeed pull ups are all great own body weight exercises and with no kit needed they can be done anywhere! In addition to this type of training balance training can be highly useful, many of the balance kit available today like the BOSU and the Indo Board can be multi functional, as they can be used for so much more that balance improvement.

Using balance kit like the BOSU or the Indo can be very helpful in improving so many areas of your surfing; intensive multi directional movements that raise the (HR) will allow you to surf longer. This type of kit can also be used for advanced functional training types that will aid injury prevention, boost your core strength and will improve muscle balance. Adopting a cool down flexibility program can leave you feeling fresh and ready for the next session, the benefits to a regular flexibility program for surfing are vast so adopt one today!

Stretching

Russ Says:
Due to my interest in Judo I’ve been stretching from as far back as age seven. I can remember being part of a Judo display when I was super young. I was always the only one that could do the box splits so I was last in the show and had to jump in the air and land in the splits. I’ve always been flexible but I’ve had to work at it. I can do the splits both ways, it’s got a little harder as I’ve got older but even after a few weeks of not stretching it soon comes back and I’ll be able to put my legs around my head and stuff quite quickly.

My coach used to really emphasise how important stretching was so I started doing it every night in front of the T.V. in the evenings. I had a booklet that I used to follow every night. It was the same as the Aussie pro’s were doing. Every night that I was doing it I was thinking about surfing and visualising how much it was helping my surfing. You really get in to thinking what it is all going towards. It was before yoga became popular, but with hindsight it was a very similar technique.

Lee Says:
Another reason for Russell’s success in surfing is his commitment right from a young age to stretching. Currently the research into the benefits is still growing however the fact is that a regular stretching program will definitely improve an athlete’s performance.

Stretching can aid posture, help prevent injury, aid in recovery even these few factors to start will improve surfing performance. There are many types of stretching some of which many not be suitable for all surfers, however adopting a regular flexibility program
from a young age will keep your muscles long and in good shape, cool down stretching after a surfing session will help return your muscles, ligaments and tendons back to a normal resting state, leaving you fresh and ready to rip the next day!

Visualisation

Russ Says:
One year when I was in the British team and we were going to the world titles in Japan, part of the preparation was visualisation exercises with a coach.

We talked about the waves we were going to catch, what was going to happen on each wave, keeping your surfing fluid and smooth etc. I still use those techniques but I do it while I’m watching the waves before I surf. I look at sections and mind surf them, it helps me get in the rhythm with the waves, plan moves in certain sections and get amped up to go out there and shred.

With new moves, especially with airs and more technical moves I study videos, especially surfers like Taj, Andy and Jordy. They give me the ideas to go out and do it. I don’t try to emulate them though. Because everyone’s style is different, some people surf more over their front foot, some one may launch differently etc. I just find that I am interested in how they launch in to the move and how they land. The bit in the middle is the bit that you do with your own style I find.

Lee Says:
Pre visualisation before any competition can be highly effective at preparing the athlete for competition. Thousands of athletes across the globe are using it to prepare their minds for the race or event; we’ve all seen the start of the men’s 100m sprint on the TV, at the Olympics or another major athletics event. The runners prep out there race in their heads maybe 2-3 times this indeed prepares the body for action, standing on the water’s edge just before your heat as with Russ is no different from that. In addition to visualisation skills being used just before you head out for a free surf or event, go over one move a day if you have a moment to yourself.

This is part one of a two part article originally published in Carve Magazine.