Maintaining your health as a surfcaster
 

I was having the discussion the other day that being a surfcaster really keeps you in shape... it requires tons of walking, hiking, physical movement, etc. But then there is the other side of the coin that I feel completely negates any of these benefits: Sleep deprivation, terrible night time diet, repetitive casting, holding the rod in the same position (possible surfcaster's carpel tunnel?) standing on a tiny rock for hours while favoring one leg, crawling on slippery boulders and loose bowling balls, the list goes on and on... Do this 5 nights a week, plus island commando trips, and your body is going to feel it! We've all had cups of coffee laugh at us, as if to say "I can't help you buddy!" I want to still do this into my 50's and 60's...

What I am looking for is some shared info of what you guys do to help maintain your health throughout the season... any of you do specific exercises, particularly any helpful stretches, seeing as my neck and casting shoulder are really stiff... also, any preventative measures/advice from guys who have been in the game a few decades would be great... I feel this thread can be an excellent resource for many... because Honestly, without your health, you're out of the game.

i completely disagree with the notion that surfcasting keeps you in shape or is good excercise. i'd say that the cons outweigh the pros significantly in terms of overall health. the only arguement that one could make to say it will keep you in shape is to compare it to doing absolutely nothing - and by that logic going or a 15 minute walk everyday in a pair of shapeups will keep you in shape.

if you want to stay healthy and be able to fish or do other activities as you age, a good total body weight routine and some type of metabolic conditioning are what you should be doing IMO.

I hear you on this. My body is beat to shat. All the years of nasty sports injuries, bad, I take that back, horrendous dietary habits, and sleep deprivation are catchin up to me.
Livin on Rockstar, Skoal, a candy bar , and a couple of Bud Lights before bed to reverse the effects of the caffine and nicotine that was keepin me awake so I can sleep for a solid 3 hours a night is destroying me. I can't do it anymore. Middle age has caught up with me. Add a couple of nights of walking a few miles sweatin my stones off in a wetsuit, even worse lugging fish, and it is gonna be an early retirement for me.
But I still stand solid to my life long commitment to intentionally avoid lifting heavy weights, ie working out. That's work to me.

I agree with Clogston. I see plenty of surfcasters who don't look to be in good physical shape. While casting and walking are better than doing nothing, it's not going to improve your cardio much, if at all. I sit at a desk all day, so to get excercise I run on a treadmill at least 5 days a week at home. I also swim a lot during the summer, although it's mostly just splashing around with my son.

I agree that it isnt much of an excercise. And the diet thing is right on the money. A lot of empty calories are consumed. Just look at my jeep when i get home from a trip. Dunkins, Mcdonalds etc. But i try to add a piece of fruit every now and then. If im going to be on the rocks i try to stretch my legs/hips in particular, and will do a few windmills to loosen up the shoulders.

Your diet is the easiest thing to control. Just bring healthy stuff with you. I always bring a couple bottles of water, an apple and usually a granola bar or small bag of nuts or something. The only unhealthy thing I refuse to give up is my cigars.

Yeah if you think going fishing 4 times a week is an exceptable replacement for a consistant cardio or weght training program ou are WRONG. Go to your local gym and have your metabolic rate tested. I bet youd be frightened.

BUT.....if you are walking the surf, IN THE SURF, then you are getting some exercise.
I'd say the worst part is the dietary intake.
My own regiment for surfcasting is simple: I keep at least one case of bottled water in my truck at ALL TIMES. I make it a point to eat fruit and veggies when I can. I do the "salad luch" thing, but I also snack on nuts & berries, apples, bananas, peaches (when in season) and watermelon.
I don't want to sound "holier-than-thou" because I ain't.
I USUALLY have a pepsi and either cheetos or doritos for the ride home.

As for preventative measures, whenever I feel the strain coming on, I exercise similarly as I do for carpal tunnel syndrome. That's usually just basic stretching and flexing the hands, wrists, arms, shoulder and back.
After my first bout with "casters' elbow" I decided that I didn't want to HAVE to stop fishing due to poor conditioning.

I have similar methods for pre-kayak season and ice fishing season.
Nothing sucks more than getting injured during the height of a season all because you didn't take care of yourself.
(I learned that a couple years back when I had to have knee surgery in September. I was lucky enough to salvage the second half of October, but I made me rethink my tactics.)

I hope this was helpful.

I'm 34 years old, weigh 165, and have great genetics passed down from my father who is an absolute terminator at age 68... he's in better shape than I am! But I still feel achy and groggy as hell, and I shouldnt at this age... (I wish I started fishing when I was 22, but I'd probably be a single, tired nerd who cant hold a conversation with a woman about anything other than how to rig an eel or load a needle) Maybe I should do some jogging, but I hate repetitive excercise done JUST to stay in shape... I like staying in shape by DOING STUFF... not driving to the gym and wasting my time. Swimming is good.

What SPECIFIC stretches do some of you do for your casting shoulder? Do you find your lower back hurting from leaning to one side, with most of your weight on one leg?

My shins look like i've owed the MOB a lot of $ for while.

It definitely keeps me in shape. I tend to walk a long way and try to remember to bring healthy food with me.

I knew it was keeping me in shape when I rode my bike 10 miles in 35 minutes at 3am to meet my buddy for an 8 hour trip on the on the boat in 3 foot seas and wasn't sore the next day.

I'm also a big fan of 20 minute naps between spots.

Depending on what’s going on with your shoulder and neck stretching may not be the answer and could just make the problem worse by re-tearing whatever is injured. If it’s a persistent problem you should ask your doctor or a sports doctor about it. You might want to try icing the area to see if that helps.

I’m a runner and it definitely helps with the long walks and long nights standing on the rocks. I also do strength training a couple of times a week but I still get sore/tight especially my lower back after many hours of casting from an unsteady perch.

First off relax. Have you seen the YOY indexs? Just what do you think you'll be fishing for in your 50's?

Secondly, 24 is young, 34 is not.....and 40 is the beginning of the end.

Thirdly, anything that involves standing on one leg for hours is not exercise, it is a waste of your life. Lose the eels.

Fourthly, women are happy to learn how to rig eels and load plugs if they get a car and credit card out of the deal.

Fifthly, age makes caffeine superfluous......pain works better at keeping you awake.

Sixthly, when you get over 50 and get up in the morning you are damn glad things hurt.......cause that way you know they are still attached.

Seventhly, in a few short years you won't be wasting as much energy on sex so you'll have more for fishing..... and bowel movements.

Eighthly, you can always buy a boat.

Amen, brother. That, and a few good beers, none of that mass produced watered down swill that's sold as beer :kewl:.
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i'm no expert, but heres my opion:

preventative shoulder exercises and stretches: scapular wall slide, scapular push up, lying (or kneeling if you have access to a cable machine) dumbell external rotation, sleeper stretch, broomstick peck mobilization, face pull with external rotation, any type of pulling excercise to help counteract the postural issues most of us have from sitting all day. i rotate all of these in and out of my workouts.

if you lower back bothers you, i'd suggest seeing a PT. you probably have some alignment issues and tight spots that are leading to bad posture. for me, it was tight hip flexures (see sitting comment above) leading to an anterior pelvic tilt (most of the population has this condition to at least some degree). if your back hurts now, its only going to get worse if you don't address it and it will certainly sideline you in the future.

also focus on standing up straight and pulling your shoulders back - holding a rod in front of you tends to make you lean forward, putting alot of stress on your lower back.

that is why I choose the 8th. fishing while seated, with food and drinks with in arms reach and being lazy all rolled into one:uhuh:.

Agreed. I had herniated disks about 3 years ago at cutty and could hardly walk. After a few courses of steriod shots, I went to PT to learn to stretch. I also do core excercises. Both are very important. I also think that laying on a bad couch and/or mattress can bother your back. I got a sleep by numbers bed (or something like that) and that seems to help also.

I go to the gym 1 -2 times in the summer and 2-3 in the winter. I ride a bike with rides 40 - 50 miles on Sat/Sun. Fishing alone isn't going to keep you in shape (for the most part).

Ivan Rather than surf casting why not try fishing instead.
Let me explain since i remember being where you are now.
While walking along a desolate beach why not make a few casts and then rest. I Would lay on the sand and in doing so i would notice that the seagulls where siting as well and would only get of the ground when there was a chance of picking up food.
What i,m trying to say is go slow and keep your eyes open It's amazing what you notice with more looking than casting.
My love for the beach is such that i try to go year round,sit at the top of a dune and keep looking.You will pick out the spots that you want to cast or fish at instead of the Barron stretches that you and i both fished before. Will you miss a fish??yes but in the long run you will wear yourself out in more productive areas
Hope this helps

About now i expect Capesams to give me a c- for every thing i just suggested to you

I lost 20 pounds riding my canal bike? Just sayin'!:uhuh:

So its wrong that when you have had your 4th nos energy drink, and half a tin of skoal and you feel like your hearts about to pump out of your chest thats a bad thing?

All in all the damage I do surfcasting I wouldnt trade it for the world no matter hom much damage is done. Thats why I try to enjoy the finer things while am out there.

I've realized my health plan is not worthy for others to follow :devil2:

Just saying.

Stretching before you start is important. You really should stretch anything that gets cramped up after too. Many stretch before but few after. The after will work miracles as far as reducing the stiffness that sets in. Also after fishing hard take a really hot bath and stretch everything after the heat soaks into your muscles and joints. It really helps.

Surfcasters are physical train-wrecks that tend to die young. But I think this is more symptomatic of the people who participate, rather than the physical toll. The sport tends to appeal to people who have antisocial and addictive personalities - they would have died young anyway.

Bad diet and sleep deprivation is not good, not matter the sport. I like to push the my self, but I have learned the hard way that I need to listen to my body. When I do not listen, I pay for it. :-(. My $0.02.

There are no health benefits to surfacasting aside from mental ones...

This is a problem I had once I got into shape. Hobbies with no fitness element are difficult to justify for those who need that element to stay healthy.

-spence

Some of the not so junior surfcasters have a rep for going at it hard.I heard you have to run to keep up with DZ in his turf.Same with Numby and SK.The days of me taking waves over the head are over.My hat is off to those who can endure this type of fishing.

Chris, true indeed. I use to fish over 100 nights a year with a 120 mile round trip drive. Then work all day flying someplace for a meeting. Even was know to fish from 2 to 5AM then change and jump on a plane to Chicago for a meeting.
Those days are gone. It was fun but probably not worth the toll it took on my body. 40 years surfcasting just wears you down.

you'll sleep plenty when you are dead
why waste time doing it now?

Don't go by DZ as your example - he's skinny as a twig and does not seem to have the bad habits of your typical surfcaster. He'll spend the night circumnavigating Block Island on foot and then run with the deer in the morning and subsist on fallen crab apples.

short cuts and payback:

when you drink lots of coffee or energy drinks
this is a just a short cut and eventually
there's gonna be pay back time

so maybe you can go two nights or three even
and then you CRASH hard....exhausted... REPEAT

this is a very poor substitute for health....

your fishing in a very dangerous environment and
need to have your wits in top shape to make good decisions

Pure whey protein is the rejuvenation food to repair
all the damage done by repetitive tasks
and this repair is done mainly during sleep

Nutrients: Zinc to think, E for sore muscles, vitamin A foods
and or lutien for eyesight, melatonin for better sleep and sleeping with Music
that is designed to make you sleep deeper is highly recommended.

Jacuzzi after wards to relieve sore Muscles because when your body is being floated
by bubbles its much easier to do stretches than standing.