Dave’s beach workout is almost as famous as Dave is. He’s been developing it since the mid 90′s as a way to meet the challenges of his demanding lifestyle. You might think a workout that meets the needs of such an outstanding athlete would be far beyond anything you or I might consider. You’d be wrong. It’s a great workout for me, and it would be great for you, regardless of your current condition. Here’s what Dave says:

Somehow my workout has gained a reputation of being incredibly difficult–but it’s not. I don’t think a workout that is just a nagging chore, or some kind of gut-buster is going to change your life. I started out with one simple thought: A workout that you stop doing won’t do you much good. So I designed and perfected it as a workout I would never stop.

That means no gym membership, no equipment other than a slightly tricked out rope, and a lot of choices about intensity, time commitment, and accommodating injuries. You can do it at ANY level.

What’s different about my workout is that I’ve always tuned up the exercises to help me be a better waterman. When I find a weakness or a new challenge in something I’m doing I add exercises to help me prepare for it. Over the years that meant windsurfing, big wave surfing, tow in, foilboarding, bodysurfing, short and longboard surfing, Stand Up Paddle surfing, racing, downwinding and endurance events, outrigger canoes for downwind, racing, and endurance events. In other words, anything a waterman might do.

These routines are NOT about doing the exercises hard and fast, and this really isn’t a workout. It’s part of a lifestyle. Something you and I can be doing ten or twenty years from now. I’ve taught these routines to people at all levels of fitness, from super-athletes (including the 2006 Women’s Olympic Ski Team) who add them to their own routines, to very unfit people who want to change their condition. You can start this at any level and keep going. Make it your own, do it where you want, make it fun.

In the spirit of making it fun we’ve put together a few silly trailers. Here’s one. I’m working on a trailer that give more of a flavor of the workout, and I think we’ll have the workout video and workbook ready in a few more weeks. In the meantime, enjoy.

[wpvideo bnUW7Ubc]

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On the same day that 81-year-old Hershel McGriff became the oldest driver ever to run a NASCAR race, golfer Tom Watson almost won the British Open at 59. At the grueling Tour de France, 37-year-old Lance Armstrong is in 2nd place after sitting out nearly four years.

Lance Armstrong says his inspiration was Constantina Tomescu Dita, who won last summer’s Olympic women’s marathon at 38. And then there’s 41-year-old supermom Dara Torres, who won three silver medals at those games. Or gymnast Oksana Chusovitina finishing 9th in the individual all around at 33 – twice the age of many of her rivals.

So what should the amateur athlete who is starting to feel those years take from all this. It’s very simple, if the pros can do it at the elite level, we can do it at the level we choose, regardless of age.

The trend is more than just a statistical blip or a few anecdotes. In track and field the average age of an American Olympic athlete has gone up almost 4 years, from 23.4 in 1980 to 26.8 last year. For amateur athletes the numbers are far more impressive. Historically a tiny percentage of marathon entrants were over age 40. Last year, it was almost half.

The question is, why? According to CBS it’s because nutrition and sports medicine have improved. According to Dr. Michael Kelly, chair of orthopedics at Hackensack Medical Center “They (older athletes) have core training as part of their fitness levels. They understand nutrition to a much better degree and they take care of themselves.” That’s certainly true, but there’s more to it that just that. In prior generations a certain gravitas was expected from older citizens. They were comfortable sitting out taxing activities and dangerous sports and just spectating.

Today Xtreme Geezers everywhere are ignoring the little aches and pains, training hard and smart, and enjoying their lives like never before. There’s simply no reason not to have the time of your life, for all your life.

Let’s look at it another way. How much exercise do I need to do to lose 1 pound of weight? Pretty simple, we know that 3,500 calories equals about 1 pound (0.45 kilogram) of fat, so you need to burn 3,500 calories more than you take in to lose 1 pound. So if you keep eating as you have been, and increase your exercise enough to burn 3500 calories you’ll lose a pound a week.

Obviously you could also cut 500 calories from your diet each day to lose about 1 pound a week (500 calories x 7 days = 3,500 calories).

But right here is where we start fooling ourselves and get into trouble. People say “I’m an active person, but I keep gaining weight, it must just be genetic”. It’s much more likely that the activites you are doing are not as intense as you believe, and you’re simply eating too much of the wrong foods. It’s the nature of the activities you do that determines how many calories they burn, and some activities that you would assume would burn a lot of calories, actually burn very few.

When you’re sitting around, doing office work, driving your car, or reading this article on your computer, you burn about 90 to 150 calories per hour, depending on your weight and muscle/fat ratio with 90 being a 120 pound person, 150 being a 250 pound person. The difference between the sitting around burn rate of 150 calories and the activity burn rate is what you are counting on to burn off that Big Mac meal. Let’s say you’re going take your 240 pound butt for a brisk walk. Great, that’s 414 calories per hour. But it’s the difference in calories that matters, so subtract the 150 you burn while sitting around and you’re down to 264 calories per hour. That’s 5.6 hours of walking to neutralize the Big Mac.

If you’re going to try to use exercise to lose weight you need to burn 3500 calories more calories to lose a pound a week? That’s 13 hours of walking briskly. The walking you already do doesn’t count–that’s built into what you weigh now.

We’re not saying you can’t compensate for eating a lot of food by increasing exercise–elite athletes do that all the time. But it takes a very large amount of vigorous activity. The best way to lose weight and stay or get fit is to both eat better and get exercise. And pick some activities that dial up the burn rate.

This chart shows approximate calories burned while doing various exercises for one hour three different body sizes. For most exercises, the heavier you are, the more calories you burn, but some sports minimize that difference. Specific calorie expenditures vary widely depending on the exercise, intensity level and your individual metabolism and muscle/fat ratio.

So obviously you’re not going to walk, golf, bowl, or ballroom dance your way to fitness. All those activities are fun, but they don’t present much opportunity for weight loss or fitness. Weightlifting is not very aerobic either, unless you work hard to make it so, but resistance training builds muscle and muscle consumes calories. For a more complete chart of calories burned during various activities click here

Unless you are regularly doing one of the strenuous activities listed, you can’t really count on your activities to keep you fit. You might wish to believe that surfing three times a week will keep you toned and slim, but look around. Lots of fat surfers. Surfing burns about the same amount of calories as playing golf with a cart or slow ballroom dancing. Lots of sitting around, and you rarely use your big leg muscles, it’s mostly arms and core. Worse yet, the exercise you get from surfing is very unbalanced. You see plenty of old surfers with humped backs.

Standup Paddle Surfing is too new to have an accurate calorie burn rate calculated, but it’s obviously more than surfing, especially flatwater or cruising. It’s probably in the range of Kayaking, though it engages the leg and core muscles more, and so is probably higher.

If you want to get fit and stay fit, you need to either adopt one of the high calorie burn activities and do it regularly, or add some form of workout to your routine.

1. Athletics (Track and Field)
2. Swimming
3. Rowing
4. Cycling
5. Triathlon
6. Weightlifting

Without further ado, a recent Australian study says: Weightlifting had the fastest and greatest decrease in performance ( The full study is “Aging performance for masters records in Athletics, Swimming, Rowing, Cycling, Triathlon, and Weightlifting” (Baker AB, Tang YQ) Department of Anesthesia, University of Sydney at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, Australia.

The study states:
Record performances for Masters sporting events for swimming, cycling, triathlon, rowing, and weightlifting were analyzed and then compared with the authors’ previously published results for Masters running, walking, and jumping sports events. Records were normalized using the 30s age records as a baseline, and studied through the various age ranges to the 90s.

All sports declined with increasing age, with rowing showing the least deterioration. Performances in running, swimming, and walking were reasonably well maintained, followed by greater decline with age for cycling, triathlon, and jumping events. Weightlifting showed the fastest and greatest decline with increasing age. Women show slightly faster rates of performance decline than men.

All these results show no greater decline with age for endurance events over the sprint events. While there are clearly physiological differences for performance deterioration other explanations such as training differences, smaller competitive bases and smaller numbers participating were not eliminated or otherwise compensated for by the methodology of the study.

In other words, keep it up. We suspect the biggest factor in performance deterioration is simply that so many people stop training as they get older.

Dave also does a few intensive training/teaching/having fun experiences at various places in the world–generally great resort locations that have surf and good facilities. These are moderately expensive multi-day learning experiences with relatively small groups. While I haven’t attended one of the “Kamps” as Dave calls them, I do know a bit about Dave’s remarkable ability to teach complex things. So when an acquaintance on the Stand Up Paddle forum I frequent asked me what I thought of the opportunity to go to a Kalama Kamp at Turks and Caicos islands I told it it would be hard to go wrong spending time with Dave. He was so thrilled with the experience he created a blog to talk about it (SUP Junkie), and gave me permission to post his articles here. A slightly edited version that combines the five articles begins here:

Club Med Beach Turks and Caicos

Ok, just a short intro, my name is Mike, I live and work in Coronado, California. I had the unique opportunity to attend Kalama Kamp in Turks and Caicos (British West Indies/Carribean) hosted by none other than Dave Kalama. The camp took place from November 13-21st of this year. I wanted to share my experiences so I decided to start my own blog, SUPjunkie.com where I plan on sharing my SUP experiences with anyone who may benefit and or enjoy my experiences. This was the second Kalama Kamp that Dave hosted, the first camp was in Florida. I originally heard about the camp after a couple months of following Dave’s blog.

Dave demonstrating paddle technique

I was intrigued by his blog postings on the Tahitian stroke technique that he adopted from the Tahitian outrigger paddlers. It seemed from what I had read/ heard that this particular technique might offer some much needed efficiency in my own stroke. I asked Dave during the trip why chose to develop this technique to others? His simple answer was that “when somebody using a different technique beats the Tahitians, I’ll consider something else”. In addition, Dave just believes that this particular stroke is the most efficient he’s found and since paddling requires so much repetition of movement, the smaller you can make each movement the faster and more efficient you will be!

Club Med Pool Scene, beautiful beach frontage.

So after talking to other paddlers that have had personal instruction from Dave, I pulled the trigger, booked my flight, paid for the camp, and counted the days until I would leave for T&C. I will admit, at first I was a little hesitant because of the cost but after factoring in that ALL the food, booze (yes all the booze you can drink), equipment and transportation was included, the camp seemed to provide good value. Besides, how often do us mere mortals get to learn from one of the best at what they do, and in paradise nonetheless?

As an avid SUP racer and surfer, my initial motivation was primarily to increase my speed for racing and improve my surfing technique, but little did I know the simple lessons about life that Dave would pass on to us.

I arrived on the island of Provo on Sunday around 2 pm, November 14th. After a quick ride to Club Med, I was greeted by a beach scene that can only be described as “spectacular”. I had never seen a beach and crystal blue/ green water anything like this my life!

This Iguana has his own little islanf

Cruising the Marngroves

So the camp is run by Dave Kalama, Brody Welte, and guest host John Denney. I don’t think you could ask for a more dynamic group of individuals to teach, entertain,and share good times with. Brody has a stand up fitness business called Standup Fitness, Inc. as well as a retail SUP store in St. Petersburg Florida.

He’s spent considerable time in San Diego, Kauai, and most recently Florida. Brody is one those guys that you can’t help but like, always spitting out his stream-of-consciousness, which ranges from funny, to odd, to just out and out weird. His love of stupid movie quotes, kept me on my toes the whole week.

John, on the other hand is this big, boisterous, teddy bear of a guy. John has been friends with Dave for a long time and is a well known big wave surfer/ waterman that resided in Maui for years before recently moving to Florida and opening up a SUP retail business called JuniperPaddleboarding.com. Brody and John, have a incredibly “unique relationship” in which they constantly try to one up each other. Keeps things interesting!

So I figured I’d give everyone a preview what the days were like for us during the camp. Each morning the group gathered on the beach for a Kalama beach workout. For most of us, working out requires going to the gym, using specialized weights/ equipment, and so on. For Dave who is a very fit individual takes a very simple approach. His beach workouts consists of deep sand runs on the beach, a variety of push ups/ pull ups/ dips/ crunches/lunges, etc. Dave’s passion for simplicity surfaced in his use of his use of $4 worth of rope that he utilizes to do a variety of upper body exercises using whatever he can find to serve as a post. I’m guessing Dave has access to state of the art exercise facilities, personal trainers and the like but I think for Dave, he favors the simplicity of being on the beach with like minded individuals using what our creator has provided. I assure you, the beach workouts were no easy endeavor for any of us. For those not accustom to beach runs and lunges, it’s a wake up call to what we should be able to do before stepping foot in the water. It seems that Dave has been able to accomplish extraordinary things by keeping very fit, both mentality and physically.

Phillip from Big Blue, the man with a plan!

Big Blue Marina

After workouts and group breakfast each morning, we would head to the Big Blue Unlimited headquarters. Big Blue, is a adventure company that provides visitors the opportunity to paddle, kite board, windsurf, scuba, snorkel, kayak, etc. It’s difficult to convey how awesome Big Blue is. One of the co-owners of 12 + years, Phillip, provided phenomenal personal service for our group, taking us by car and boat anywhere and everywhere that we wanted to explore. Phillip is quite a character.

Raised primarily in Turks and Caicos, Phillip spent much of his life on the island in between his boarding school education in England. Phillip is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the islands. He has a thorough knowledge of the workings of the ocean, sea life, the archeology/ history of the area, etc. In addition to being a great host, he’s quite a character and kept us entertained with his conspiracy theories!

So here’s the typical day at Kalama Kamp Turks and Caicos:

8am- Beach Workout

9:30 am- Group Breakfast

10am- Morning Session- Dave would typically start with a little discussion about technique for either surfing and or paddling. He typically did some short discussions, demonstrations, and even some videotaping. Teaching us the fundamentals of his stroke was of primary importance.

1pm- Group Lunch

3pm- Afternoon Session- We typically took out one or two of Big Blue’s boats to an outer reef where we would catch some waves, do some exploration from island to island by board, snorkel, or catch some downwind action.

Group photo post beach workout.

8pm- Group Dinner

10pm- Night Activities- Each night we did a variety of activities including the Club Med shows, ping pong, pool, juggling, and drinking.

12pm- I would try to get to bed by 12pm though, Ben from DC, Wes from Big Blue and I would typically try and find some trouble!

Great Surf

This photo is me dropping in on one of the smaller waves of the day.

On Monday we had some nice overhead surf.  Only about 5 of us surfed and we had an absolutely incredible afternoon.

Not much to say, Dave getting after it!

Dave proceeded to absolutely “rip and tear” it up. His ability to read the waves, get in quick pivot turns, pull off huge/ powerful bottom turns absolutely amazed.me .

Here’s Dave Kalama doing a text book cutback.

Funny thing, not once did Dave come out and take the best set waves but instead allowed the rest of us to get the best waves. He made a lot of effort to always make sure we got the best experience possible!

Unfortunately for us, we only got one day of overhead surf but we made the most of it!

Me dropping in again.

Here some of the guys with the Big Blue Quiver of Naish Boards

Although Monday’s surf session was definitely a highlight of the week for some of us, there were a lot of other equally fun activities including a group downwinder. We loaded up the big boat on Thursday and headed up wind to see if we could find a little wind and a good route back to Big Blue Headquarters. Exploring the islands was a great experience. As I’m from San Diego, I’m amazed at the beauty of the water, the reefs, and all that nature has to offer. Our little downwinder provided an ample opportunity to try out some brand new 14′ Naish Glides. The were definitely a new experience for me. I’m use to my 12’6 which has a displacement hull, as opposed to the Glides planing hull. The glides, including the 12′ were nice all around boards.

So we already know the Geezer part is easy–stick around awhile and you are one. The question is how do we start having more fun. For example, how do you go from work-focused to fun focused. How do you get a body that spends most of the day sitting at a desk ready for the stresses of vigorous and even dangerous activities. How do you manage the dangers and understand what you are up against.

Most of the answers you’ll find in various articles here, because each sport or activity offers different challenges. Since the site is all about BEING an extreme geezer, most of the articles will include some element of what it takes for older athletes to participate–it’s the reason this site exists. But here’s a basic roadmap:

Work-Focused to Fun-Focused
Life is not a rehearsal. There is no guarantee that your patience in keeping your head down and doing your job is going to pay off in the long run with the time and money you need to go play. The answer is pretty simple–play now. That doesn’t mean quit your job and move to Fiji, though it certainly is an option. It means figure out what YOU want to do for fun and start working towards that. For example, you might be working out every morning five days a week. What’s that for? If the answer is just “fitness” then no wonder you call it WORKING out. You need a goal that sounds GREAT to you, that you can think about when the time you’re taking and the effort you’re making just seems like too much. Make the time to work towards the fun goals, and make the goal fun-focused.

Suppose you want to learn to stand up paddle surf in big waves. you can start focusing your workouts on core exercises, shoulder and arm strength, and balance. Instead of working out five days a week maybe you work out three and swim two. Believe me, if you’re going to surf big waves you want your swimming tuned up. Go buy a standup board and paddle and spend time on the weekends or after work paddling whatever body of water you have near you. It’s great exercise, great balance training, and it’s focused right on what you want to do.

Make a Plan
The difference between being a kid and being an Xtreme Geezer isn’t what you’re able to do–if snowboarding a half-pipe looks like a blast to you, then it’s a worthy goal. But a kid will just jump in and do it. If they screw up, they’ll heal. As a Geezer you have different resources and you can take a smarter path to wind up at the same place. The difference is that you know injuries never heal. They come back to plague you years and decades later. You can start taking yoga to improve flexibility and doing pliometrics to improve your spring. You can take lessons from an expert who can bring you along in rational, progressive steps. And you can get the right equipment to make the effort more fruitful and less dangerous. In other words you can be smart and have a plan.

Get Off The Tour Bus
We use the “Tour Bus” as a metaphor for watching instead of doing. Television is the ultimate tour bus. Burns vast amounts of time with no return. I started using the term after my wife and I saw a vigorous-looking guy get off the Tour Bus at the Ho’okipa beach outlook in Maui and gaze at the surfers. I was glassing the waves to decide where I was going to surf. He turned to me and said “looks like fun, doesn’t it”. I said “It is fun, I’m going to go do it”. He looked at me skeptically, since I was clearly at least ten years older than him and quite a few pounds heavier. “We’re too old for that” he said, and he turned and walked back to the bus.

Not me, buddy, not me.

Take Lessons
We’re going to assume throughout the site that you have financial resources. I apologize for the impoliteness is that’s not true, but in general, people have more disposable income in their fifties than they do in their thirties. Take advantage of that and use some cash to buy expertise. You could paddle an outrigger canoe for ten years and all you might do is solidify the bad habits you formed the first few weeks. A good coach will show you proper form, which reduces injuries (VERY important for Geezers) and then move you along far faster than you ever could progress on your own.

I paddled Stand Up boards for four years before I took some lessons from Dave Kalama on paddle technique. I was basically doing EVERYTHING wrong. It’s a year later and I still fall into my crappy technique when I get tired or lose concentration, even though the proper technique increases my speed, decreases effort, and protects my muscles, joints and fragile shoulders.

Remember to Have Fun
It’s what it’s all about. If you get bored with the activities you choose, pick another. go through the same process–Focus, Plan, Take Lessons, Jump in. No point in continuing to do something FOR fun that no longer IS fun.

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Some time ago, in a moment of monumental stupidity I mentioned to Dave Kalama that I wanted to try his beach workout. I have no idea what I was thinking. For those of you that are not currently surfers, Dave Kalama is an extremely talented big wave surfer, who, along with Laird Hamilton, pioneered the extreme sport of tow-in surfing in giant waves, and foil surfing, and stand up paddle surfing, Dave is enormously fit, I am not. Dave looks about as soft as fire hydrant and probably has about the same amount of body fat. I know he teaches normal human beings his workout routines at his Kalama Kamps, and hasn’t seemed to kill anyone yet. But I figured he probably toned those down a bit. I’d be intruding on his personal workout on his home turf. Still, I’d opened my silly mouth, and Dave called my bluff, so I was committed.

I showed up at Baby Beach at the appointed hour: 7:00 AM. When I got there, Dave’s cousin Junyah was stretching in the parking lot. “Shit! I’m dead, I thought.” As imposing as Dave is, he’s a teddy bear compared to Junyah, who has a set of guns like a battleship and probably weighs 230 with about an ounce or so of body fat. I have no problem picturing Junyah with a six foot warclub, pounding fat dumpy haoles into the ground like tent pegs. He looks pretty scary. Naturally he’s about as nice a guy as you are likely to meet. Funny too, but the prospect of working out with two elite athletes like him and Dave had my guts churning.

I shouldn’t have worried. If I’ve learned anything about Dave it’s that he’s a great teacher, and that means he pays close attention to the limitations of his students. While we were stretching Dave quizzed me about my injuries and medical issues. After 63 years as an adrenalin junkie there’s a pretty big catalog, but the worst of it is my shoulders and some breathing problems: a badly deviated septum and a bit of athletic-induced asthma. He shifted the stretch to concentrate on some of my weaker points

Off we went. The most interesting aspects of Dave’s workout are that it is so complete, so oriented towards being a waterman, and requires such simple equipment. A beach, some trees, and a rope and a lot of sand. Miles of sand. Dave has been experimenting with his workout and his rope for many years. With a couple of strategically placed handles and a carabiner it adds amazing depth to his workout.

We started with a light jog on the beach. Understand that I DO NOT run. Not unless something is on fire. Beat up knees, dodgy hips, and breathing problems are all the excuses I need. But with Dave and Junya chugging away I stuffed my whining back into the excuse bag and shuffled after them. Gotta say, even shuffling in soft sand on a path cut in the face of the dune is a bit much, and I was reduced to walking quickly, but the running part is how one gets from torture station to the next torture station.

We made our way to the top of a little rise and kicked sand around to make a flat spot. Went through a number of crunch styles including straight, angled, cross leg, leg lifts, and angle lifts. Then we moved to a handy log and did dips and pushups, straight and raised. I did far fewer of each set, and popped a nice sweat to help the sand stick to me. Back to jogging down the beach, this time doing some variations of exaggerated leg lifting and strides. As we did each exercise Dave would comment on how the exercise related to surfing or paddling or swimming. No question, he has thought this thing out, tested it with results in the water, and modified the exercises to optimize results.

We reached another area, this time with various twisted trees and logs. The rope came into play, forming handholds for angled twisting one-handed and two handed pullups (I guess you’d call them) flys, and pushups from an angled position. Hard to describe, this whole adventure needs a video.

More jogging to another station, this time we were hopping over logs in various ways, doing more dips, and another set of crunches. While the routines were challenging, this was easily the most enjoyable workout I’ve ever had. Dave and Junya kept up a hilarious conversation, and the surroundings were simply great. I commented on how fine it was to be doing this on a beach and Dave said he had actually reworked the routines so they can be done in a backyard. I don’t think it would be quite as wonderful as Maui, but the idea of enjoying an open air workout that so perfectly suits water sport is interesting. I could easily continue doing this routine in Hood River.

Our outward leg concluded with jogging with progressive breath holding, which was very hard for me. I’ve been practicing breath holding while walking, but the soft sand and my already oxygen starved condition made it really tough. I reached holding my breath for five steps and beathing for five, but Dave and Junya were clearly in some kind of zen trance, jogging without breathing for a ridiculously long time. I had little popping sensations at the edge of my vision–enough of that for me.

Then we started doing lunges. I HATE lunges. My trainer in Portland was a lunge fanatic–my least favorite part of exercising. She’d love Dave. We lunged for what felt like a mile. I reduced the strain to five steps normal, five steps lunging, but Dave and Junya kept it up forever. Then we switched to side lunges, then back lunges. Then back to a torture station for more rope-assisted moves. We made our way back down the beach to our starting point. When we got close we did mule drags, where Dave stood behind me and we interlocked wrists. I dragged him down the beach as far as I could–which wasn’t far. When Dave or Junya was the mule it looked like a mini sand storm headed down the beach. Then we did some “bear runs”–uggh–running on all fours like a bear.

To my distress we went past the point we had started from and approached a tall sand hill. “We’re going to run the hill–take this at the pace you feel comfortable with.” I was pretty comfortable standing and watching them, but I wobbled up the hill, only to discover there was a narrow ridge trail on the back that Dave and Junya had disappeared down. I wobbled down and found them running backwards back up the hill. Yikes. I followed at a sedate pace. Back and forth a few times with crunches and pushups on the top. Finally we walked back down and jumped in the ocean. I thought to swim a little, but my arms and shoulders said “no way”.

Junya told me that he wanted me to come whenever he worked out with Dave because normally Dave was completely insane. Nice to know I had had the lite version. I felt pretty damned good though. Not only had I survived, I felt really invigorated. The workout was really fun, and I knew I could progress doing it–not to Dave and Junya’s level, but I could get better and stronger.

That afternoon I went over to the southside and found a nice little windswell running. I went out in my OC-1 (One man outrigger canoe) for a little easy ten mile paddle. But when I discovered I could catch the little swells with some sprinting, it turned into a hard paddle. Given my novice status as a canoe paddler my stroke is not efficient. I lean too hard into the Ama (the outrigger float) to keep the canoe from huli-ing (rolling over). So when I’m paddling to the opposite side of the Ama I’m in a very awkward position for the stroke. The end result of a tough workout and overdoing it in the canoe was vicious abdominal cramps and a lot of pain in my left side chest wall, where I strained to make good strokes against my clumsy lean.

I wound up spending five nights sleeping in a sitting position. Finally went to see the Doc and he said I hadn’t really damaged anything, just took all those muscles to the far edge. I told him I thought it was mostly the canoe paddling. He said “I know Dave Kalama. You’re nuts. He’s an animal.”

A few days after the pain finally quit, I was talking to Dave about something else and mentioned someone had swiped my canoe seat out of the Jeep and Kai Bartlett wasn’t going to have a new one for me for at least a week. “Hey, I’m going to be off the island over Christmas, you can borrow mine until you get a new one”. We agreed to meet at Ho’okipa the next morning since we were both considering surfing at Lanes. I got held up, and when I arrived at the beach Dave was paddling in. “It’s fun, but not worth spending hours at it. I’m done, want to do a workout?” I couldn’t think of an excuse quickly enough, so we did. It was clearly a little lighter-weight version, but still a challenge. Then we paddled out to Spartans and looked for the wreck. Spartans reef is named for a tramp steamer that wrecked on it somewhere near the turn of the century. When the water is clear you can see the ribs and some of the structure. We poked around but couldn’t find it, caught a few waves that kicked over the reef, and then came in when the wind rose.

I had no ill effects at all, from the workout or the substantial amount of paddling afterward. In fact I felt great all day and only a little sore that night. Nothing that being a lifetime member of Team Advil couldn’t handle.

I told Dave he really needs to video the workout. It’s the best I’ve ever had, and it would be great for anyone that wanted to raise their game in the water. He’s considering it though the investment in doing it well would be considerable. I think with a reasonable price it would be a hot seller. No need for a gym, no need for expensive equipment. A cleverly modified rope and a beach or backyard and you have an ideal waterman’s workout.

Let me know what you think, I’d like to encourage him in this effort. Comments gladly accepted or you can just send me your email via the form below and I’ll contact you if I manage to talk Dave into this. No commitment on your part, just an expression of interest and of course I won’t use your email for anything else.

cforms contact form by delicious:days

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I’ve been swimming since I was five years old–and haven’t improved much since I first started. Last summer in Hood River my friends were all on the Masters Swim Team, and were after me to join. After watching them swim I decided not to–they were way faster–but I decided it was time to get some coaching. I really had no idea how much my swimming skills had atrophied.

When I was in my early 30′s I lived in Long Beach, California and after work I would ride my motorcycle to Newport Beach, bodysurf sometimes at the Wedge, and then swim straight out for a mile or so, watch the sun go down, then swim back. I did that a few times a week most weeks. If I tried that now I’d be huffing and puffing in a hundred yards, but my recollection is that it was pretty effortless back then.

So now I’m back in Maui and hanging out with Bill Boyum a lot. Bill is an all-around waterman and a heck of a good writer. More about that later. But Bill swims a lot, and he called my bluff on giving me some pointers. So we met at Baby Beach to get things rolling. Bill swims with goggles and small bodysurfing-style fins. I happened to have the same fins, so I’ve got that going for me. I’m not interested in sprinting so much as distance swimming in open water. It’s a different discipline. I think my sprinting will ultimately improve as well, but for now I’m concentrating on distance.

Here’s what he showed me so far:

1. I need to keep my body as straight as possible in the water. My legs were hanging down some to compensate for my head raising too much. I was bending my knees too. When your body is straight in the water you can knife through a lot better, if your legs are hanging down or you are kicking from the knees like a frog you’ll have too much drag. Concentrate on bringing the head down so it brings the legs up. Your head weighs 8 to 12 pounds. Lifting that amount of weight out of the water when your body is at near neutral buoyancy is sure to make your legs drop. I’ve been trying to exaggerate this by getting my chin to my chest when I think of it.

2. Roll to breathe, extend to breathe. If you lift your head to breathe you’ll drop your legs which puts the brakes on. Instead, roll your shoulders and body to the side that has the arm extended. Glide and breathe in. Roll back flat and breathe out while you stroke. Roll, breathe in. You can breathe on every stroke at first, or every third which gives you a clean side to side alternation.

3. Reach, Dammit, reach–You need to get your arm way out there. Lose a couple of inches to reach to sloppy technique and you’re giving up five percent of your travel with each stroke. Multiply that five inches times ten thousand strokes and you’re a long way back.

4. Keep your legs in the slipstream. Leg kicks don’t do much for propulsion, their purpose is mostly to keep your legs up in the slipstream behind your shoulders. A gentle flutter kick that originates in the hips is optimal for distance freestyle swimming.

So I’ve been practicing this quite a bit, and I’m seeing some improvement. But in the course of looking at some swimming books I rediscovered a swimming approach called Total Immesion. And I can tell right away that Total Immersion is for me. The focus is on streamlining the body, gathering power from the core instead of just your arms. Practicing specific, non-intuitive moves to improve overall performance. I’ve ordered the distance swimming book and DVD, and I’m waiting impatiently for delivery. In the meantime I’ve been looking at videos on youtube and practicing the elements. I’m seeing substantial improvement already.

Here’s the books and DVD I bought:
[amazon_link id="0743253434" target="_blank" ][/amazon_link]

[amazon_link id="0743253434" target="_blank" ]Total Immersion: The Revolutionary Way To Swim Better, Faster, and Easier[/amazon_link]

DVD:

[amazon_link id="B003X2O79W" target="_blank" ][/amazon_link]

[amazon_link id="B003X2O79W" target="_blank" ]Perpetual Motion Freestyle in 10 Lessons[/amazon_link]

Here are six videos that provide an introduction into the techniques and philosophy of Total Immersion Swimming

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Not only are they a great adventure craft, but they can easily replace your gym membership and all that boring time you spend on a elliptical machine with a workout that’s fun to do, low impact and high results. Arms, shoulders, core, legs and back–all get a solid workout in a typical SUP session. While the boards are more expensive than a typical surfboard, they are still less expensive than good kayaks, and one board can last you for many years (though most people get addicted quickly and start adding specialized boards.

Stand up paddle surfing is a GREAT geezer sport. You can do something challenging without dealing with the flexibility issues that limit us in some sports. Learning SUP has dramatically improved balance, flexibility and strength for many people, even people with neurological issues. It appears to be highly therapeutic. My own brother has a tumor on his auditory nerve that caused vertigo, headaches, and limited the amount of work he could do. He couldn’t drive his car, sometimes fell during vertigo spells. He tried standup paddle surfing and steadily improved at it. He lost weight, his balance steadily improved. He says it completely changed his life, and he’s not the only one. This link is just the tip of the iceberg. I’ve heard from dozens of people on my other blogs who have found great thereaputic value. I think it’s the requirement for constant balancing that does the trick, but it’s probably also all the fine muscle control you have to gain.

Getting Started
Before you start paddle surfing you need to assess your swimming skills and your ability to handle yourself and your board in surf. Any watersport is dangerous, and good swimming skills are a necessity, even if you only do standup on flat water and lakes

Leash:
Wear one Even on a lake. When you fall you often give the board a kick that sends it zooming away. Then the substantial freeboard gives the wind something to push against and suddenly you’re all alone. In waves it’s even easier to be abandoned by your board. I had to swim in from the outer reef at Kanaha when my leash parted one morning last summer. It was after noon before I hit sand. Long morning.

It’s not just your safety that’s at stake though–you can kill or injure someone with one of these boards. A leash is not a cure all for that problem but it’s a start. More important though is the issue of where you practice. Don’t learn where there are other surfers. These are big boards and it’s easy for them to get out of control. You don’t need the best spot in the lineup, all you need is some sloppy waves to practice on. Don’t forget how long the board and leash are. If you get worked and are bouncing along in the whitewater your board can be 25 feet away from you. There’s no excuse for a rank beginner learning where there are people below you who can be hit by your board.

When you do fall in, pretend that you don’t have a leash. Do what you can to control the board. DON’T grab the leash though–if it gets wrapped around your fingers while you’re in the wave they can easily be broken or even torn off. It’s happened. It’s a good idea to have a grab handle on the back of the board. Handy on the front of the board for that matter though the leash will keep you from using a front handle as effectively. If you have a solid handle to hang onto then it’s much easier to keep your board away from people. The other big advantage is that you can get an occasional breath while you’re being bounced around–you’ll always be near the surface if you’re hanging onto the board. Make certain that you wrap your hand over the top of the handle, don’t hook it under. In the pressure of a wave the nadle gets forced to the board and can trap your hand.

While we’re talking about breathing and drowning, your paddle is actually a big help when you’re getting pushed down by a wave. Put it across your chest with the paddle blade above your head and the dihedral bent down. As you are pushed through the water the paddle will send you upwards. I’m not sure why this works, but every time I try it I’m amazed at how fast I pop up

Lifejacket:
It’s not unreasonable to wear a kayak-style lifejacket. The inflatable kind that are almost as narrow as a pair of suspenders are really handy. Some of the best big wave surfers in the world wear them today. Yes, you’ll look stupid, but you’ll be alive and stupid, not dead and cool.

Be aware of the wind and currents, you can easily be blown to sea by an offshore wind or find yourself fighting a powerful current. Start your learning experiences where there are lifeguards, and it’s highly recommended to have someone on the shore that’s paying attention to where you are and whether you are screaming or not.

Etiquette:
Once you get good enough to surf in a lineup, remember that you have a huge advantage over other surfers–and DON’T take more advantage of it than you should. You can start into a wave long before standard surfers can, you can get back to the lineup much quicker, and you can catch waves even when you’re out of the slot.

Don’t be a wave hog. There’s a backlash starting of surfers being pissed off about SUP folks coming into their favorite spot and taking too many waves. Of course for some of the territorial knuckleheads that think they own the beach, and any wave you take is too many waves. But there’s two good reasons not to irritate fellow surfers

First of all, you don’t need their waves. A SUP surfer can surf almost anywhere. Waves that are too small for shortboarders are just fine for SUP. Long frequency, no shoulder waves give long and fulfilling rides. You can SUP surf in a ski boat wake. You can also paddle long distances to get to outside breaks or breaks that aren’t easy to get to from shore. It’s fun and good exercise getting there, and you don’t have to dodge the grems.

Second, they were there first. No matter how stupidly they might assert their territory, you’re the new guy, even if you shortboarded that break for the last twenty years. Give them room.

In other articles we’ll cover the basic elements of SUP and the moves you’ll need to master, we’ll also cover some basic surfing, distance paddling and racing, as well as downwinding, touring on SUPs, SUP fishing, and SUP sailing. These are great toys.