Exercises come in all shapes and sizes: The Water Edition
Hello everyone, this week’s entry is coming to you via Niagara Falls, where I am currently sitting at the top of a gigantic water slide. I am off today and so I am spending some time with friends and family at the waterpark. So since I’m currently sitting next to a 1,000 gallon bucket of water, I thought this would be the perfect week to talk about one of my favorite summer (canadian winter) fitness activities.
I love to surf. Years ago some friends and I were down in Florida for a few weeks and we decided to pick up surfing to kill some time. Turns out we were hooked and we have not stopped since.
Surfing is a great workout as you use alot of arm and back muscles to propel yourself through the water. Then you need your core and balance to pop yourself up on the board and finally you need good solid legs to stay up and manoeuver the thing!
The act of surfing aside, training for surfing is intense and features some of the cooler training methods I’ve ever seen. Has anyone seen the movie Blue Crush when they run under the ocean holding rocks to weigh them down?
Anyways if you have ever wanted to try surfing and don’t live in a coastal area, fear not. You can also surf the Great Lakes in the Fall and Winter time. Strong winds on the lakes cause massive waves to break at different locations depending on the windspeed and direction!
Now I have to point out that while there are some mild days in the fall, the prime season for Great Lakes surfing takes place in the dead of winter.
You end up looking like this guy:
Let me know if you want to surf and I can point you in right direction
Naturally then, my question for all of you out there this week is:
Have any of you surfed before and would you even think to consider surfing a frozen lake?
6 thoughts on “Exercises come in all shapes and sizes: The Water Edition”
This is so cool! I have never considered surfing on a frozen lake, however, now that this is brought to my mind, I guess it won’t be so bad. Sort of like sledding down a frozen hill I guess.
Sounds so cool! But I’m afraid of catching a cold after the ordeal.
It’s pretty cool because you can do it right here in Toronto! It’s sort of an underground scene at the moment but it’s been growing in popularity the last few years
It’s not so bad actually, partly because of the type of equipment you have to wear when you do it. You need an extra thick wetsuit and gloves and boots to make sure you don’t freeze!
I would love to try surfing, it’s actually the top thing on my buketlist. I’ve heard of surfing on the Great Lakes before though and as much as I would love to get my surf on, I don’t think that I would be able to handle the cold water for that long. However, if next winter ends up being as long and as rough as this year, I may as well find something fun to keep myself busy!
It’s alot of fun and everyone out on the water is super friendly and helpful. If you have the appropriate gear, you really won’t feel the cold as you will be well insulated. Let me know if you want to give it a shot and I can point you in the right direction.