{"id":34896,"date":"2018-05-10T19:06:36","date_gmt":"2018-05-10T19:06:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/?p=34896"},"modified":"2025-06-04T13:09:52","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T19:09:52","slug":"improve-your-surfing-with-this-5-min-routine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/improve-your-surfing-with-this-5-min-routine\/","title":{"rendered":"Improve Your Surfing With This 5-Min Routine"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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By Nick Holt<\/b><\/p>

Moving well is crucial to surfing well. As you know, surfing requires the body to get into challenging positions, and if you\u2019re always tight, stiff, or in pain, surfing will be almost impossible. You need to be supple, loose, and flexible.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Here\u2019s a simple routine you can do every day to keep you loose. I like to call is a\u00a0morning mobility movement meditation.<\/em><\/p>

As my coffee brews every morning, I lay down a mat in my apt, set the timer for 5 minutes and I do this:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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I take deep inhales, deep exhales, bringing myself into the moment. How\u2019s my body feeling today? Man, my ankles are tight this morning. My lower back is a little stiff.<\/p>

I listen. I breathe. I scan up and down my body to see what\u2019s going on. I take it all in. I move. I flow. I breathe some more. After 5 minutes, I come to a seated position, take 3 deep breaths and then I think about 3 things I\u2019m grateful for.<\/p>

I sit up and slowly walk towards the wonderful scent that\u2019s flowing out of the French Press for my delicious cup of coffee. I pour my cup of goodness and I\u2019m ready to charge the day.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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This one habit has had the most positive impact on my surfing over the last 2 years.<\/b><\/p>

It\u2019s no more than 5 minutes and it literally changes the rest of my day. The days that I start like this are just amazing. For anyone who struggles with low back pain or general stiffness, these 5 minutes could very likely change your life.<\/p>

Don\u2019t Wait Until It\u2019s Too Late<\/b><\/p>

Here\u2019s the reality \u2013 if you\u2019re over 30 and you\u2019ve used your body in any physical way over the course of your life, and you haven\u2019t proactively done anything to stretch, recover with soft tissue work, address any nagging pain, then there\u2019s a very likely chance that many of your joints don\u2019t move that well.<\/p>

When joints don\u2019t move well, the body doesn\u2019t function as well.<\/b><\/p>

This becomes problematic when you want to push hard and do an intense workout, play some pick-up basketball, go for a surf, take a long bike ride, or even play a harmless game of tag with your kids. What happens when joints don\u2019t move well and you have extremely tight muscles, the body compensates.<\/p>

Muscles become overworked, tension builds, imbalances are created and nagging pain is the norm. At the very least, even if you get lucky enough to avoid injury, and can handle some muscle pain, your performance will suffer greatly. Without well functioning joints, you won\u2019t be able to do the activities you love as much.<\/p>

I don\u2019t know about you, but life is about living..I mean surfing, right?!<\/b><\/p>

If you want to move your body well, be pain-free, bulletproof your body from injury, and perform your best, you should check out this 5-minute routine below.<\/p>

Morning Mobility Movement Meditation<\/b><\/p>

Here\u2019s how it works. You find a quiet spot in your house or apt. Somewhere where you have enough space to lie down with your hands spread wide outside your body. You set a timer for\u00a04-5 minutes<\/strong>\u00a0and go through a series of movements below.<\/p>

You end the session with 3 things you\u2019re grateful for.<\/b><\/p>

I hate using the word \u201cshould\u201d in any coaching context. Who the hell am I telling you what you \u201cshould\u201d and \u201cshouldn\u2019t\u201d do? You of course need to make up your mind and decide what makes sense for you. You are in control. But here are 2 solid reasons why I strongly encourage you to do some kind of morning movement.<\/p>

1) Strong, Supple, Durable Body<\/b><\/p>

All I can say is that if you want a strong, pain-free body, then this 5-minute routine will work wonders for you. I know for me and many of my clients, this has been a complete game-changer.<\/p>

Personally, neglecting flexibility for many years put me in a position in my early 30\u2019s where I was tighter than a tin man. I could barely touch my toes. My hips were super stiff. My shoulders didn\u2019t move that well. My feet and ankles had poor range of motion.<\/p>

This 5-minute morning routine has allowed me to make so much progress with my flexibility and mobility. I feel lighter on my feet, my joints hurt less, and my low back pain is gone. I\u2019m able to do the things I love with my body that I wasn\u2019t able to do before. My Active Passions are full of life right now because of my 5 minutes in the morning.<\/p>

I\u2019m still using the heck out of my body and plan to for the foreseeable future.<\/b><\/p>

What you want to do with you body? Whatever that activity may be, doing this 5-minute morning movement meditation will set up to do that activity better.<\/p>

2) Small Morning Win = Success For Rest Of The Day<\/b><\/p>

It\u2019s not only that your body will feel good with a morning mobility movement meditation, but more importantly it\u2019s the psychological win that you get by doing something deliberate first thing in the morning. It\u2019s the little momentum that you get from the simple act of accomplishment.<\/p>

This small win first thing in the morning sets the tone for the rest of the day. It tells your subconscious brain, I\u2019m in control here. It\u2019s the same reason I\u2019m an avid bed maker these days.<\/p>

Life is not happening TO you. You\u2019re not living in some reactive mode where you are constantly pulled in 10 different directions. You\u2019re telling your brain that you\u2019re making stuff happen for you, you\u2019re taking a proactive step in the direction of better health. This is a huge difference. Think about it for a second. You are in control.<\/p>

Of course, stuff will happen, people will be rude to you, things wont go your way, but always always always \u2013 by doing your morning routine you\u2019ll at least have some positive part of your day already in the books.<\/p>

Morning Mobility Movement Meditation \u2013 REVIEW<\/b><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Perform each move for about 1 minute. Complete all 5 for total of 5 minutes.<\/p>

Hands and knees \u2013 arch and round
Hands and knees \u2013 hip rocking
Glute bridge
Dead bug
Standing toe touch to walk out and push-up
Finish with thinking about 3 things you are grateful for.<\/p>

The idea is to create a morning mobility movement meditation that works perfectly for you, your body, and your needs. The above basic routine will hit all the major joints in the hips and shoulders, 2 of the biggest problem areas of tightness for most people.<\/p>

What To Do Next?<\/b><\/p>

If you want to become more flexible, stronger, and catch more waves on your next surf trip, I created a special program called the\u00a0Surfer Body Program<\/strong>\u00a0that will help accomplish that goal. Catch more waves, last longer in the water with this 30-day fitness and nutrition program .<\/p>

And If you have any specific issues that you want some advice on, drop me a note at\u00a0Nick@saltwaterfit.com<\/a>. I love hearing from my fellow surf fans and I\u2019m happy to give you some personal feedback.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Nick Holt Moving well is crucial to surfing well. As you know, surfing requires the body to get into challenging positions, and if you\u2019re always tight, stiff, or in pain, surfing will be almost impossible. You need to be supple, loose, and flexible. Here\u2019s a simple routine you can do every day to keep […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":34901,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_front_end_style_editor":"no","ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"0","ocean_second_sidebar":"0","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"0","ocean_custom_header_template":"0","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"0","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","entry","has-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34896"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34896\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}