I first learned to surf a few years ago when I quit my job and flew to India to work in the café of a surf and yoga retreat
(Yes, hello, hi, I'm a cliché.) I was supposed to get paid in surf and yoga lessons, but we didn't get that many proper surf lessons as guests always had to come first, so we were often left to our own devices in the water, and I grew into a bit of an apprehensive surfer
Armed with the basics, I've been fannying around in the water ever since, trying to get better at reading the waves and knowing where to position myself
But the main thing I've realised is – you need to be really fit. And have confidence
It's not enough to be running fit or cycling fit – you need strong arms and well-oiled shoulders for paddling (something I suck at), as well as good cardiovascular fitness, and you need to loosen up your hips to get that smooth pop-up
Paddling is my weak point and I get so frustrated in the water each time I fail to match the speed of the wave
Then, each time I fly back from whichever tropical destination I've been surfing at, I lose any paddle power I've gained, and feel like I'm back at square one every time I get back on my board
I do yoga, running and cycling on the regular, but these just aren't enough to put me at my peak
So, when I was invited on a SurfFit retreat in Saunton, Devon with big wave surfer Andrew 'Cotty' Cotton and his mate and fitness coach, Andrew 'Blakey' Blake, I was down to clown
I don't have any desire to be a big wave surfer, but it's one of the only sports I love watching
There's something about the physical and mental resilience of the surfers that blows my mind
Andrew Cotton is something of a legend. In fact, the British surfer hit the headlines last October when he broke his back riding a 50ft wave at Nazaré, a popular big wave surfing spot in Portugal
If I'm going to reach my peak surf fitness, there's no better duo than these two, surely? So, I arrived at Chalet Saunton in Devon last Friday night, ready for a weekend of physical and mental workouts, to see if it could help my fitness and confidence
Here's what we got up to. Strength and conditioning I'm not a gym girl. I like running and cycling, stuff outside that gets me from A to B, and I like swimming (so long as it's outside, and for very short periods of time as I get bored) but I find the gym intimidating
So when we rocked up to the Chalet's cliff garden and there were medicine balls, Pilates balls and TRX equipment, my eyes widened
We were here for bloody circuits, weren't we? Turns out circuits are a really effective way of working out (who knew? Oh, everyone) and the next day my body was hurting in places it had never hurt before
Inner legs? Lower abs? Where did you come from? Plus, circuits are perfect for people like me, who have short attention spans
There were six stations and each had two activities, like doing press ups on a Pilates ball, doing burpees then squatting and throwing a medicine ball to your partner, and doing pop-ups
You ended up doing each activity once for 30 seconds, then again for 20 seconds
Let's get this straight – I came back from Devon on Sunday. It's now Thursday and my abs still hurt when I sneeze – a sure sign that Blakey put me through my paces
Sand dune training Now, technically this is part of strength and conditioning but it deserves its own section because…have you ever done sand dune training? Have you? Have you? Don't
This was the most brutal part of training. First, we jogged down to the beach. Fine
We jogged across loose sand. Fine-ish. Then we got to the dunes and had to do running relays up them, and then bunny hop relays
It was really, really tough and I was panting and absolutely covered in sweat and sand by the end of it
Now, running on loose, dry sand uses 20-60% more energy than running on the road, and forces you to activate muscles in your lower leg that you wouldn't normally use
Plus it's lower impact, so it really is an effective workout. Even if it feels like torture
But it's comforting to know that a professional athlete agrees. 'I hate running – sand dune running is the worst,' Cotton tells me
'But I have a weird thing where I hate it the most but I enjoy it the most as well because it's the most brutal
After you've done it, you feel like…yes.' Sadly, I don't live near the beach so can't do this regularly…*smirks* Yoga and flexibility There are two types of yoga on the retreat – surf-focused vinyasa and restorative
Yoga teacher Bex taught us a much-needed restorative class after our circuits and dune training, and it was blissful to hold postures for longer, to let our muscles recover
Yoga and surfing really are a match made in heaven – surfing can leave you feeling pretty stiff, and yoga helps stretch and balance you out
Plus, the stronger vinyasa classes help build strength in the body – and core strength is absolutely necessary for staying on that board
'I've got more and more into the yoga,' Cotton tells me when I ask what his favourite form of training is
'I think because I'm getting a bit older and I find it's been the most beneficial for all the injuries I've had
Over the years it's been yoga that's been most beneficial. I spend so much time at physios but the stretching and that sort of thing has really helped
' Plus, yoga is a moving meditation, and helps calm your mind, which can be handy after a mad sesh being thrown around by the sea
Breath hold training Now, this is what I came for. I had a pretty hairy moment in Bali a couple of years ago where I got held under much longer than I'd have liked, and ran out of air
I ended up breathing in water, panicking as I thought I was drowning, and then sitting on my board shaking and crying as soon as I resurfaced and got out back again
That experience really knocked my confidence, so it makes sense to try and increase your breath hold
And who better to teach us than someone who has to be able to hold his breath after a 60ft wave wipeout? 'We do land-based breath hold training at the beginning of retreats to get everybody's confidence up,' explains Cotton to Metro
co.uk. 'People generally think they can only hold their breath for 30 seconds or a minute, when actually everyone's capable of doing one minute 30 or two minutes, maybe even three minutes
' He also explained that the average hold-down (for small wave surfers) is 10-20 seconds, so knowing that you can hold your breath far longer than that is an instant confidence boost
Cotton taught us to breath in for three and then breath out slowly for 10. We then practiced holding our breath with lungfuls of air ('You'll probably start to feel lung convulsions now, but you don't need to breathe,' he says around the 90 second mark) and then with no air
It's good to practice both, as you never know if you'll get a chance to breath before you're swallowed by the sea
Weirdly, I found it much easier to hold my breath with no air, which i wasn't expecting
Clearly, laying down on a yoga mat on dry land is very different to being tossed around underwater, so on the longer week-long retreats, attendees are then taken to the pool to practice holding their breath following swim sprints, and then during lengths
'Obviously that's a lot harder,' Cotton says. 'That's mimicking more of why you have to hold your breath in the water
' Mindfulness and meditation Getting churned up by a wave isn't fun. But there's absolutely no fighting it – you just have to wait until it's done with you before you can resurface and y'know, breath again
However, it can obviously be a disorientating and scary experience, and your natural instinct is to…fight it
But fighting the sea uses oxygen, and you kind of need that when you're under water
A yoga teacher friend of mine told me that it's mindfulness (and flexibility from yoga) that helps her whenever she wipes out, as it enables her to just relax and go floppy when being tumbled
Regular meditation practice can help you learn how to control your mind, and as Blakey points out, it's useful for everyday stressful situations, and not just in the water
Plus, when you're surfing, you're often in incredibly beautiful locations and mindfulness can help you stay in the moment and appreciate that
Namaste and all that. Surf safari Obviously if you come to a surf fit retreat, you're likely to have some interest in getting wet
However, you could easily come along with no experience – in fact, there were a couple of people on my retreat who'd never surfed before
If you've never surfed, you can get a lesson, and if you have, you can go wild in the water, and get pointers off the instructor
The surf safari is led by local surf school Walking on Waves, who drive you way down the beach in their Land Rover, to a part where other surfers can't be bothered to walk
'It'd take you about half an hour to get down here walking with your board,' the instructor tells me when I ask him
So we had the spot all to ourselves. Surfing for me is really psychological – I often suffer from bouts of low self esteem where my brain tells me I'm rubbish, and it sees surfing as a hard thing to do, so tells me I'll be useless at it
Therefore, predictably, something I really struggle with in the water is confidence, and I'm so afraid of going for a wave and messing it up when someone else could have had it that I usually hold back – so it was great to have a quiet spot where I could get back into it after a year off
I had such a great time and I wasn't rubbish and it reminded me that aside from everyone's safety, the most important thing about surfing is having fun
Because there really is no rush like riding a wave. Food and nutrition You are what you eat and all that, and my body felt like a very satisfied temple during this weekend
I am all about the food. Food is life. I always arrive at catered-for trips with a bag full of snacks as I'm vegan and never know if I'll be catered for, but I had absolutely nothing to worry about here
Brunch at the retreat was bountiful, with fresh coffee, fresh fruit, muesli, granola, pastries, an array of bread (including gluten-free), avocado, fish, eggs and tomato
All dietary requirements were catered for, and I was super excited to see almond milk and vegan cream cheese
Dinner was provided by local restaurant The Glorious Oyster and oh my, it was a dream
There was so much to choose from and most of it I could eat, which was a pleasant surprise
There was fritatta, scallops, salads, everything. There were also three puddings, and the vegan chocolate brownie with coconut ice cream was absolutely delicious
Dora from The Home Grown Catering Company made lunch on our final day and it was glorious
There was plenty for me to eat, with an array of delicious salads, grains, peanut kofta and seedy crackers, and there was also a wheel of brie and a ridiculously delicious looking pie for the veggies
Plus, she made epic cacao protein balls with fresh strawberries for dessert. I could happily live off food like this forever, and it's absolute proof that healthy food can also be drool-worthy delicious
Rest Rest is obviously imperative to being your healthiest self and being fit and alert in the ocean
I've developed sleeping problems from living in a large, noisy house share full of musicians, so it was worth coming here for the comfy beds alone
I normally struggle to sleep in new places, but I slept like an absolute baby each night here
Chalet Saunton is beautiful, and really made me hate my own home. Apartments sleep up to six and are huge, light and airy
We all piled into one of our apartments of an evening to relax, crack open a few beers and watch, er, Love Island
It was the perfect place to recuperate. Plus, the apartments have balconies overlooking the surf too, so you can wake up and enjoy a coffee while you check the waves
Such bliss. I will always be a small wave surfer and you absolutely don't need to have big wave desires to take something from this retreat
So, what kind of person normally comes along? 'We've had people who want to become big wave surfers, the whole range really,' says Blakey
'The problem we've had actually is that there's a misconception that you have to want to be a big wave surfer to come to the retreat
' 'It's more about getting confidence in the sea whether you want to surf one foot or 10 foot, or whatever,' adds Cotton
'But also, realising potential.' And that's exactly what I left SurfFit with. I love surfing but I was actually dreading the surfing part due to my aforementioned psychological block
But this weekend made me realise that a) I'm not crap and b) I do have potential, and I can maximise this by using the skills they taught us
While you won't find me doing circuits on the regular, I am now aware that I do need to branch out with my fitness, and I'll definitely be doing breath hold training by myself
As with many things in life, confidence is key, and – as well as keeping your body maintained – believing in yourself really can take your surfing up a notch The Fix The daily lifestyle email from Metro
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