When teaching Surf Lessons in Oceanside CA, I get all ages from 8 to 70 years old. Seniors can start surfing if they are used to physical activity. So many people are filling their bucket lists. People see surf movies or have watched them all their life and say some day, I have to do that.
As Crowley and Lodge say in their book Younger Next Year, age is functional not chronological. Everyone over 30 should read it. I have adults with the same difficulties for surfing after 30 years old.
The first notable difficulty is every one is a bit stiff from not stretching. Stretching is important for everything in life. One test is putting your palms on the floor without bending your knees. You need to stretch your hamstrings, lower back and buttocks. All get stiff from sitting and from doing exercises without warm up or warm down stretching.
The next obvious one is upper body strength. People that are over weight and have not been doing push ups are going to feel the effects when trying to do pop ups on a surf board in the water. It is more difficult than practicing pop ups in your living, though, this is the way to start. I love doing push ups on the big bouncy balls you find in the gym. Those really test your wrists, arms and shoulders.
Balance is a useful talent for most any sport. In surfing, if you can land the pop properly, you don’t need as much balance as people suspect. One exercise I treasure is my early morning yoga pose where I lift one leg in front of me and hold my toes while straightening my leg. Maybe enough of this exercise and you could exercise on the balanced beam. I am amazed by people who walk the strap they tie between two trees in the park.
Your core is important in most anything you do. People get back problems from being out of balance mostly. Muscles can pull the spinal cord when your front and back muscles are not trained. (Drs. jump in here). We naturally use our backs for lifting and most motions during the day and so we should be training our stomachs for balance support.
Stamina is a key that dooms most people when they get older. I have had people quit quickly because the first few rides into the beach already have them gasping for breath. Like most sports there is exertion and then recovery. Most people are not going to be surfing stamina trained, but recovery is important. Each time we exert, our body can have the energy reserves to do it again. Any aerobic exercise is good. I bike and try to run on the beach. Swimming, treadmills, classes, basketball, running, and even yoga are all good.
Getting in shape for surfing is preparing to live longer with a higher quality of life!!