If, like me, your teenage TV diet heavily featured Home and Away, you probably longed for the lean, toned limbs of the surfer girls and guys on the Aussie soap. But living in a leafy London suburb meant the closest I ever got to surfing was the wave machine at the local leisure centre. Now a new exercise class claims to be the answer to my teenage prayers: the Roxy beach body workout is based on surfing moves designed to give you a buff body in weeks, even with no beach available. With summer holiday season in full swing, could it get me surf-fit, or would I face a total wipeout?
What’s it all about – urban surfing?
Not exactly. The new workout is designed with surf experts Roxy and is aimed at giving surfers and non-surfers alike a full body workout. The 45-minute class at Virgin Active gyms is based around the pop-up – the bit where you go from lying on your board to standing up. You need a strong core, stable legs, speed and stamina to carry out the move properly, so the class is aimed at building on these essentials.
The exercises themselves are based on real training techniques used by pro-surfers. “We found out what moves surfers were using in their workouts and decided which elements we would put in the class,” says Virgin group exercise co-ordinator Gillian Reeves. “It focuses on strength, balance, flexibility and power. Even if you don’t go surfing, it’s a great way to work out your abdominals, glutes, leg and chest muscles, and improve your general fitness.”
What happens in a class? Do I need a swimsuit?
Luckily, no bikini is required. The class is carried out in a gym studio and involves working at different stations to target certain muscle groups. It’s similar to circuit training, but with a specific goal in mind. After a quick aerobic warm up – which left me pretty sweaty – the class divided between four stations. The first involved kneeling on all fours, doing alternate leg raises and push-ups. The second station used small gliding discs placed under the feet. Sweeping your legs out to the side and then bringing them back into your body works your buttocks and balance, and I could feel both being pushed to their limits. We then had to kneel on all fours with the discs under our hands and slide them slowly away from us. By now, my stomach muscles were screaming and my impression of surfers had changed rapidly from “chilled-out slackers” to “men and women of steel”.
The third station involved slow sit-ups on a Bosu ball (something that looks like a Swiss ball cut in half), then standing on the ball and “dipping a toe into the water” on either side. “This is really good for your core, balance and ankle strength,” said Reeves. “Everything may look a bit gimmicky, but the exercises really work.” The final station consisted of lunges using a ViPR – a piece of equipment that looks like a short plastic log – then holding the ViPR above your head and swinging it back down between your legs. It was really hard work, but also really effective. I’m a regular exerciser and I felt my muscles working harder than they have in a long while.
That doesn’t sound too surf-tastic to me …
Well, after we’d pushed ourselves with the circuits, the class formed a long line across the room and we had to perform the pop-up in one sweeping move: springing from lying face down on the floor to standing in the classic ‘surfing’ position. It’s a lot harder than the pros make it look. Once we’d got the hang of it, we performed a mexican wave of pop-ups up and down the room. It was great fun and a great way of making the point that the exercises weren’t frivolous – I could feel the exact muscles I needed to make the pop-up as smooth and as fast as possible, and it made me strive to better my technique.
We finished the class with some yoga stretches, that surfer vibe echoing through the session to the end. The following day my stomach and buttock muscles were complaining, but I’d enjoyed it so much, it’s one of the few new workouts I would add to my regular routine.
Can it actually improve my surfing technique?
Candice O’Donnell, the British longboard champion, says: “It definitely won’t hurt! The class builds up the same muscles used in surfing – your upper body and legs – and I would do the class in-between surfing sessions if I was in the UK long enough.” O’Donnell adds that surfing involves a lot of waiting around for the next wave. If you’re not fit enough to spring into action when that wave turns up, you can miss it or even put your progress back.
“If you’re fit and prepared, you’ll grow a lot faster as you’ve done the training,” she says. “Surfing can also be quite tough, so if you’re not fit enough before you begin, you can give up within the first half hour of learning and believe you’ve failed.” Think of the class like a ski-fit class: you’d take a few lessons before hitting the slopes, so why not do some surf-fit classes before hitting the water? Or even if you never get on a board in your life, the workout can still boost your fitness levels in time to hit the beach.
Best for …
Wannabe surfers or those looking to mix up their usual fitness routine. Or anyone with an Aussie soap fetish.
Best avoided …
If you don’t like themed classes or prefer exercising alone.
What else do I need to know?
The Roxy Beach Body Workout is available at Virgin Active gyms for members nationwide. See virginactive.co.uk for details of local classes.
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