While in LA for the world premiere of Nike's all-women surf film Leave a Message, I chatted it up with pro surfer Carissa Moore, one of the film's stars. With such a laid-back disposition and easy laugh, it's easy to forget that Carissa, 19, is a no-joke serious athlete and currently ranked the number one in the world of women's surfing.
Besides Carissa's obvious natural talent, I was curious at what takes someone from being great at surfing to being number one. Carissa's answer was similar to what you might expect from any great athlete: dedication, confidence, and hard work. Oh, and training — lots of training. For Carissa that means having a surf coach (her father) and a passion for fitness, "As I've gotten older, my body has changed tremendously. I have gained weight, lost weight. It wasn't enough to just surf," Carissa says. "I have a trainer now. I have a diet."
Depending on her competition schedule, Carissa works out with Hawaii-based trainer Lisa Stewart two to five times per week. When I spoke with Lisa, she told me that they focus on "cardiovascular training, corrective functional movements, core stabilization, and flexibility training." She went on to say that before Carissa started training, "her body was strong, but undefined and had many imbalances. With a lot of hard work and training, Carissa is on her way to becoming a specific athlete who is adaptable to any surfing condition."
While most of us aren't trying to get in shape for the pro surf circuit, we can still learn a lot from Carissa's training sessions with Lisa. Get the lowdown from Lisa on how to achieve a surfer girl beach body after the break!
