If you are a surfer and want to improve your fitness so that you can spend longer out catching waves, and increase your chances of getting your first tube pipe, then you most likely need to get fit for surfing. And here’s how you do it:

Swimming is really the best exercise to do to improve your surfing fitness levels. Being able to paddle through the wave quickly, without tiring, is essential for all surfers, so off season practice with a lot of swimming. Concentrate on front crawls with power - think Michael Phelps - build a stronger upper body so that you can get out to the good surf and still have the energy to stay on your feet, and on your board.

A good paddler will only need to dig their arms in twice to catch the wave, whereas weaker paddlers will flap there arms around and not really get anywhere. Dig deep when paddling, do not splash!

As well as plenty of swimming practice in the pool, we also recommend this “dry workout” to help build stamina and strength for both surfing and swimming:

Dry Workout for Surfers:

There are three parts to this workout, rowing, swiss ball and cross trainer/cycling.

1. Rowing Machine: Warm up, ideally on a rower for 10 mins, using moderate to high intensity. Remember to keep good posture.

2. Swiss Ball

The Swiss ball is the main dry fitness exercise for surfers - a combination of core strength and balance with upper body weight lifting, aim at endurance rather than muscle growth:

• Shoulder press: sit on ball and raise dumbbells up above your head. Do 2 sets of 15. Use a weight that is heavier enough to challenge you on the final 5 reps.
• Chest press: sit on ball and roll out so your head and shoulder’s are resting on it, keep your back straight and raise weights above your head. 2 sets of 15.
• Lat raises: lie with your chest on the ball and arms in front of your, wrists together, raise arms so they are parallel with your head. 2 sets of 15.
• Pylometric press ups: (not on the ball) like a normal press up but “jump” your arms off the floor when coming back up. 2 sets of 15 (this helps with popping up if you can do this, then actually pop up)
• Crunches: on floor or ball. You don’t have to raise your body or twist it. The key is to tense your stomach muscles then do little ones. 3 sets of 15.
• Sideball roll out: kneel on a mat with your knees together, have one of the balls to your side and rest your arm on it, then roll it away from you and back again. Works the side and back where most surfers get injuries. 3 sets of 15 on both sides.
• Back extension: lie on the ball on your chest and do small raises. 3 sets of 15.
• Toes to floor: this looks so silly! roll over the ball so only your feet are on it, kinda like when you do a wheel barrow race, then roll the ball using you legs till your feet almost touch the floor. Helps build balance and strength. 3 sets 10 on each side
• Superman: Lie on the ball on your stomach and then raise your left leg and right arm, then your right leg and left arm. Builds balance and strength. 3 sets of 15.

3. cycle or cross-trainer

Do 20-25 minutes on a hill/interval programme. This will help to keep your heart rate elevated with short powerful bursts.

Often surfing is a waiting game, and perseverance is essential. Building up a combination of stamina, agility, balance and upper body strength is essential to remain fit all day long. Many a surfer has gone home early tired only to here that they missed the best surf of the day.

If you wish to increase you strength further then check out the strength section which provides various weight training programs.

There has been revival in home fitness videos in recent months, as more people cancel their gym memberships and workout at home. Although there is now a huge array of fitness videos on the market, often by the latest overnight celebrity sensation, there is still a lot of interest in the original aerobics videos. To meet this renewed interest, Richard Simmon’s has re-released some of his most popular workout videos just in time for Christmas.

This year’s release is The Complete Collection of Sweatin’ to the Oldies. These fun home fitness workouts allow you to work up a sweat to some classic tunes. Originally released in 1988, it helped shoot Richard Simmons to fame, and he soon became a household name in fitness and health.

The DVD set includes 4 volumes of the original series, plus a bonus DVD containing Richard´s brand new, never before released show Love Yourself and Win, his new guide of six steps to improved self esteem and permanent weight loss.

Workout Songs in Each Volume:

Volume 1:

• He´s A Rebel •  Personality •  Great Balls of Fire •  Wipe Out •  It´s My Party•  Ain´t No Mountain High Enough •  On Broadway •  Peggy Sue •  Dancing In The Streets•  Beyond The Sea

Volume 2:

•  Loco-motion •  Breaking Up Is Hard To Do •  My Boyfriend´s Back •  Respect •  Windy •  Big Girls Don´t Cry •  Fever •  Jailhouse Rock •  Summer In The City •  Oh, Pretty Woman •  Rescue Me

Volume 3:

•  Louie Louie •  Rockin´ Robin •  I Get Around •  Gimme Some Lovin´ •  Build Me Up Buttercup •  Out of Limits •  The Name Game •  Do You Want To Dance? •  Born To Be Wild •  California Dreamin´

Volume 4:

•  Proud Mary •  Mony Mony •  Shout •  The Wanderer •  Dance To The Music •  Devil With A Blue Dress •  (Our Love Is Like A) Heatwave •  Shotgun •  Someday We´ll Be Together •  Up The Ladder To The Roof

More of Richard Simmons’ favorite videos:

	Richard Simmons - Disco Sweat Buy new: $13.49 / Used from: $9.19 Usually ships in 24 hours
	Richard Simmons: Blast & Tone Buy new: $12.99 / Used from: $6.49 Usually ships in 24 hours
	Richard Simmons: 80’s Blast-Off Buy new: $12.99 / Used from: $7.50 Usually ships in 24 hours

Videos are also available from the UK here.

Editorial: Richard Simmons has been reaching out to the masses for over 30 years with his unique wit, enthusiasm and charm. Considered one of the nation’s most revered fitness experts, Richard delivers a serious message with trademark humor, helping millions of men and women lose weight by adopting sensible, balanced eating programs and exercise regimes that are energetic, fun and motivating. Simmons’ success as a fitness expert and advocate has led to numerous local and national television and radio appearances, including a four year run on General Hospital followed by his own nationally syndicated series, The Richard Simmons Show.

Here is a round up of the best selling fitness DVD’s so far in the run up to Christmas. These make great stocking fillers, and are also a cheap alternative to costly monthly gym membership. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Richard Simmons are both featured, giving this year a bit of old school style!

Jillian Michaels - 30 Day Shred $7.49	The Tracy Anderson Method Presents Mat Work…	Yoga For Beginners $10.49
The Biggest Loser Workout: Cardio Max $6.99	Fat Free Yoga - Lose Weight & Feel Grea… $10.99	Workout: One-On-One Training with Jackie $6.99

Pumping Iron (25th Anniversary Special Edit… $4.99	The Complete Collection of Sweatin’ to the … $32.99	Power Yoga - Total Body Workout $7.99

1. Believe in Yourself and never give up. If not, you won’t be able to achieve your desired I results. There will be days when you feel close to giving up, but be determined to fight back.

2. Write down your goals. How can you get somewhere if you don’t know where you are heading? Share your fitness goals with others, that way people can provide you with greater support.

3. Set new goals every six weeks. After six weeks, compare your results against what you had in your original goals. Be critical of your own progress, but also be realistic. You will not always fulfil your goals, but it is better to aim high, and work hard, than to give yourself a task that is too easy. Challenge yourself.

4. Check Your Progress: Place a calendar on your fridge. Mark a back slash on the days that you followed your diet without cheating. Make a forward slash on the days that you trained. If you trained and followed a good diet on a given day, you should have an X marked on that day.

5. Look at Yourself: Place a picture of how you currently look somewhere that you will be able to see on a daily basis. This picture should provide you with additional motivation to follow this program. Or post a photo to your training log, so that others can see your progress, and give advice and encouragement.

6. Update Your Photos: Take pictures of yourself every 4 weeks and place them next to the before picture. This is to keep reminding yourself why you are doing this and also get motivated by seeing the progress that you are achieving.

7. Remind Yourself Why: Write down the reasons why you are following your fitness program and put them on your blog or profile.

8. Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Keep your house free from any foods that are not good for your program. Only on Sundays can you bring these foods in the house.

9. Preparation: Remember to prepare all your meals the day before, so that when you are at work, you already have all of the food that you will need for the day with you. That way you limit the amount of times you’ll be tempted.

10. Your Are In Control: Remember that only you control what goes in your mouth. Food does not control you!

Reference:

The Body Sculpting Bible for Men, Revised Edition: The Way to Physical Perfection (Body Sculpting Bible) by James Villepigue

Get In The Best Shape Of Your Life with these top 10 health and fitness tips. From healthy eating habits to exercise programs, these health and fitness tips will help you get smarter about weight loss, wellness and healthy living overall.

1. Drink more water

You hear this all the time and there’s a reason for that - because it’s important! Drinking water curbs your hunger, hydrates your body and nourishes you from the inside out, including your skin. Aim for half your body weight in ounces per day. i.e. if you weigh 150 lbs, you would aim to drink 75 ounces of water per day.

2. For faster fat loss and a stronger heart, try sprint interval training.

The basic format of sprint interval training is sprint/walk/sprint/walk, etc. Pick a stretch of road that is flat for 50 yards - sprint the 50 yards, walk back slowly, repeat - do this 10 times. Make sure you’re warmed up before you start sprinting and that you warm down when you’re done. Sprint interval training boosts your metabolism, burns more fat, and takes less time to complete.

3. Stay away from sugar!

When you consume sugar, it causes your body to release insulin - and insulin causes your body to store fat. That’s why those fat-free cookies with extra sugar are actually causing you to gain weight. Read the ingredients label and stay away from products heavy in sugar and high fructose corn syrup. “Healthy” breakfast cereals and bars are notorious for being high in these two ingredients.

4. Add more of the following foods to your diet:

Whole grains, olive oil, eggs, natural peanut butter, fish, poultry, berries, apples, almonds, protein powder and water. These foods will help you burn more fat, stay in shape and better your health. See The Egg Diet to learn why you should eat more eggs.

5. Add weight training to your exercise routine.

Adding muscle to your body increases your life span, makes you stronger and burns fat. If you’re looking to tone up, use a weight that you can lift 8-12 times; if you’re looking to add bulk, use a weight you can lift 4-6 times. Weight train 2-3 times per week and keep your weight training sessions to 45 minutes max.

6. Buy Multivitamins and fish oils

At a minimum, add a quality multivitamin to your diet and fish oil softgels (omega-3 fatty acids). Most people don’t get a sufficient amount of vitamins and minerals from foods alone so it’s important you compliment your healthy eating habits with a strong multi. The fish oil softgels are important because most people’s diets are severely lacking in omega-3 fatty acids and this is suspected to be a contributing factor to many health diseases, including obesity. Fish oil softgels are the easiest way to add omega-3’s to your diet - consume 2,000 to 3,000 mg of omega-3’s per day. Find a supplements shop.

7. Add more Wild Alaskan salmon to your diet.

It’s extremely high in protein and omega-3 fatty acids, and low in fat - an incredibly healthy combination. And Wild Alaskan salmon is very low in mercury, the one problem with regular salmon.

8. No Hydrogenated Fats

Stay away from foods that contain hydrogenated oils and processed foods altogether. Hydrogenated oils, or trans fats, wreck havoc on your body and some states are even banning them. Read the ingredients of the food you are eating - it will indicate if it contains hydrogenated oils - and if it does, toss it! Processed foods are the chemically-altered, packaged foods like many of the foods targeted towards kids nowadays. Usually you can tell a food is processed if the ingredients show a list of chemicals a mile long. Do you know your fats?

Stop eating before you’re full.

A simple way to keep your weight under control is stop eating before you’re full. Portion control is an easy way to make sure you don’t over eat and gain weight. If you continuously eat until your uncomfortably full, you’ll consume too many calories and stretch your stomach out, causing you to eat more often.

10. Give yoga a try

Yoga consists of 15-20 minutes of deep stretching and usually meditation. Your body will feel younger and you’ll have less stress - combine this with cardio, weight training and a healthy diet, and in 12 weeks you’ll be in the best shape of your life. Learn more about yoga. You’ll be amazed at the difference it makes when your body is limber and flexible, plus it will help reduce your chances of injury.

About the Author:
Ryan Cote is the owner of WeightLoss-Programs-Reviewed.com, a website that reviews the top 5 best weight loss programs. Health & fitness articles also available.