As a Pilates teacher and a surfer, I’ve spent the last few years studying the physical effects surfing has on our bodies. There’s the obvious, increased strength, stamina, and all those mental well-being bonuses that come with it (I’m always a better person to be around after I’ve had a decent surf). But also how it can eventually lead to pain in the hips lower back, neck and shoulders.
I love that between-the-shoulder burn that you get at the end of a good surf session. Tired, contented muscles that tell you it’s time to catch the last wave in, wander home in that post-surf afterglow, and crack open a well-deserved beer. As I’ve gotten older I pay a lot more attention to how I move, what aches and what doesn’t. How I can rebalance my body after the abuse of hours of paddling, duck diving, surfing, and wipe-outs? Surfing takes its toll on our bodies, it’s the price we pay for the rapture.
Sore Shoulders
Chronic pain in the shoulders is very common for surfers. Looking at the physical act of paddling I suppose the closest thing to it is the front crawl swimming stroke. Although the body position is different in that surfers paddle with their heads facing forward, arching out of their mid and upper back to get a deeper paddle stroke.
Paddling starts when your hand enters the water. We can break the movement phase down into a ‘pull’ and a ‘push’. The muscles used to move you through the water are your triceps, pecs, lats, and also your subscapularis (one of your rotator cuff muscles).
Your humerus (arm bone 🦴) mainly internally rotates and flexes in the shoulder joint, while pulling and pushing your body through the water. As surfers, our spinal erector muscles provide stability for forceful shoulder flexion and the extension of our elbows. They also help us to extend our upper back away from the board as we paddle around.
The only time your shoulder externally rotates is when the arm is out of the water. This means that the muscles which rotate your arms inwardly, the pec major and subscapularis are conditioned and strong from working against the resistance of the water, whilst your external rotators are only used against gravity. This leads to an imbalance between internal and external rotators.
With surfers suffering from shoulder issues, their external rotation range of motion and external rotation strength is impaired. The muscles that rotate the shoulders internally may be short and tight, leading to winging and tipping in the scapulae (shoulder blades).
Having tight pecs will also cause your shoulders to round, decreasing the amount of extension available to you in your upper back. The decreased thoracic extension can lead to shoulder impingement, and pain in your lower back as you arch to compensate, and can also lead to a forward head posture or kyphosis. Longboarders are more prone to shoulder impingement issues as they have a wider paddling stroke, emphasising the internal rotators.
Solutions
So how can you sort this out? If you’re not surfing, if it’s flat, blown out, or you’re surfed out, factor in some body maintenance into your training. When people work out, they tend to focus on the big superficial muscles and forget about the little guys (like the rotator cuffs) who help to get the bigger muscles moving but can be easily damaged.
Concentrate on building strength in your thoracic spinal extensors. Particularly look at strengthening and conditioning the rotator cuffs and muscles that rotate your shoulders and arms externally. Stretch out those tight internal rotators, and look at movements that will help you to build stability through your scapulae.
The muscles that support and stabilise the scapulae are like the core of your back. When balanced and strong they offer a solid base for powerful movements such as popping up, twisting and turning, and supporting your arms as you paddle.
Exercise systems like yoga, and more specifically Pilates, will help you build that scapular stability and condition and maintain your paddling muscles between sessions. Want some help? Book a Surf Strength & Mobility session and I’ll tailor the session to you and your fitness goals.