Surfers get the most out of two to three strength sessions a week, 40 to 45 minutes each, built around four movements: a hip hinge, a single-leg exercise, a pulling exercise, and anti-rotation core work. Mr PT Fitness is a private home studio at 35 McIntosh Road, Dee Why, run by Matt Reilly, a personal trainer with 10+ years' experience, a few minutes from Dee Why Point, Curl Curl, and Long Reef. Surfers who train here lift for two reasons only: paddling longer and staying off the injury list.
Why does strength training make you a better surfer?
Strength work does three specific things for a surfer: it builds the pulling endurance that gets you onto more waves, it makes the pop-up and bottom turn feel lighter, and it gives the shoulders and lower back enough capacity to absorb a heavy session without breaking down. Surfing itself is not a great way to get strong. It is intermittent, unpredictable, and heavily weighted toward the same few muscles. Everything that decides whether you catch the wave happens before you stand up, and that part is trainable on land.
The surfers who lose the most water time are rarely the ones with the worst technique. They are the ones whose shoulder or lower back gave out after a big week, which is a capacity problem, not a skill problem.
How many days a week should a surfer lift?
Two to three sessions a week is the answer for almost every recreational surfer on the Northern Beaches. Two is your maintenance number when the swell is running and you are in the water four or five times a week. Three is your build number through a flat spell, when the extra recovery is available. Here is the split most surf clients run:
- 2 days a week: one lower-body focused session, one upper-back and core session
- 3 days a week: add a third full-body session with heavier hinge work
- Session length: 40 to 45 minutes, warm-up included
Going beyond three sessions rarely helps. It eats surf time and recovery for a return you cannot feel in the water.
Which exercises actually carry over to surfing?
Four movement patterns cover almost everything surfing asks of you: a hip hinge, a single-leg exercise, a horizontal pull, and an anti-rotation core exercise. Build each session from that list and the details matter less than people think:
- Hip hinge (Romanian deadlift, trap bar deadlift): the engine behind the pop-up and every bottom turn
- Single leg (split squat, step-up, lunge): you surf on one leg at a time, so you should train that way
- Horizontal pull (dumbbell row, cable row, inverted row): the direct paddling builder and the main shoulder protector
- Anti-rotation core (Pallof press, dead bug, suitcase carry): resisting twist is what holds a turn together
Three sets of six to ten reps on the strength lifts, two to three sets on the core work. If you are new to lifting, start with the structure in the 4-week beginner strength plan before adding surf-specific work on top.
Want a programme built around your surf schedule?
Free 15-minute consult at the Dee Why studio. Book here or call 0422 745 334.
How should you train during a big swell week?
When the swell is good, training drops to one short session and the legs stay fresh. When it is flat, training goes up and gets heavier. The water always wins the priority argument, and the programme should be written that way from the start:
| Flat spell (build) | Good swell (maintain) | |
|---|---|---|
| Sessions per week | 3 | 1 to 2 |
| Load | Heavier, 6 to 8 reps | Moderate, 8 to 12 reps |
| Lower body | Full hinge and squat work | Light, or skipped before a surf |
| Upper back | Standard volume | Kept in, it protects the shoulders |
| Session length | 45 minutes | 20 to 30 minutes |
Heavy squats or lunges the day before a good forecast will leave your legs slow through the bottom turn. Move that session, do not just push through it.
How do you keep paddling shoulders healthy?
Do roughly twice as much pulling volume as pressing volume, and train the upper back every single session. Paddling is thousands of repetitions in one position, and the front of the shoulder takes most of it. Rows, face pulls, and band pull-aparts balance that out. Bench press and overhead press are not banned, they just sit behind pulling work in the queue.
If a shoulder or lower back is already painful rather than just tired, that is a physio question first. Training around a genuine injury is done alongside a physio, not instead of one. There is more on that approach in training with a bad back or a sore shoulder.
Does this fit around a normal Northern Beaches routine?
Yes, because two 45-minute sessions a week fit almost any schedule, including a dawn patrol one. Most surf clients at the Dee Why studio train early, before work and after a surf, or in the middle of the day on a flat, onshore afternoon. Sessions are 1-on-1 from $55, or small group from $25 per person if you train with mates who surf the same breaks. The programme is written around your forecast, not against it. You can see the full list of session formats on the services section of the homepage.
Frequently asked questions
How many days a week should a surfer strength train?
Two to three sessions a week of 40 to 45 minutes is enough for almost every recreational surfer. Two is the maintenance number during a run of good swell, three is the build number through a flat spell. More than three usually eats into surf time and recovery without adding anything you can feel in the water.
Will lifting weights make me too bulky to surf?
No. Two to three short sessions a week with moderate loads builds strength through the nervous system long before it adds noticeable size. Gaining real bulk takes a large calorie surplus and much higher training volume. Most surfers who lift twice a week get stronger, paddle longer, and weigh close to what they did before.
Should I train legs the day before a good swell?
Keep it short and light, or move the session. Heavy squats or lunges the day before a surf can leave the legs slow through the bottom turn and flat on the second wave. If a solid swell is forecast, do a 20-minute session of upper-back and core work instead and save the heavy lower-body work for the flat days.
Paddle longer, surf more waves
Free 15-minute consult. We'll build a lifting plan that works around the forecast.