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Why do my hips hurt after surfing?

Author

Emma Payne

Published Jan 10, 2026

When you are surfing, your hip naturally rotates toward the back foot, putting a strain on the hip flexor tendon at the front of your pelvis. The 'pop up' action can make this more painful.

Is surfing hard on hips?

Surfing creates tight hip flexors (i.e. muscles surrounding your hips) because straddling the board keeps those muscles contracted for long periods of time. Having tight hips can restrict how well you rotate during a turn. When this happens, it goes back to that knee pain.

Is it normal to be sore after surfing?

If you got too excited on your first post-lockdown surf, you may have overexerted yourself and caused excessive lactic acid build-up. Lactic acid is actually normal, being produced in the muscles, but it can build up and cause painful and sore muscles.

How do I loosen my hips for surfing?

-Stretch your arms out to the sides, cross your right arm over the left, bend your elbows, wrap your forearms and try to bring your palms together. If you can't wrap your arms around twice, you can touch the backs of your hands together. -Lift your elbows to feel a stretch across your upper back, and drop your hips.

What muscles get sore from surfing?

Consequently the muscles in the back of the neck, upper back, and lower back are in constant contraction, causing tension and muscular shortening of the trapezius and other neck muscles. A typical presentation would be a soreness will only arrive a few hours after the surf session, when the neck muscles go into spasm.

39 related questions found

Is surfing hard on your body?

Surf injuries are serious

Lacerations are common injuries and many surfers will receive stitches over the course of their surfing life. One hopes the cuts occur on the legs or arms rather than stomach or head.

How do I strengthen my lower back for surfing?

Lie on your back with both feet flat on the floor, knees bent and facing the sky. Start in a relaxed position, then press your lower back firmly into the ground as you activate your core muscles and tilt your pelvis. Hold for five seconds, return to the relaxed position, and repeat.

How do you train for surfing pop up?

Squats are one of the best surfing pop up exercises for beginners that help to tone the lower body for smooth pop up movements.
...
These exercises will help you work on the foundation for great pop up, which include:

  1. Flexibility.
  2. Pushing strength and power.
  3. Bend pattern (hip pull)
  4. Core integration.
  5. Skill integration.

How do you strain your hip flexor?

Hip flexors allow you to flex your hip and bend your knee. Sudden movements, such as sprinting, kicking, and changing direction while running or moving, can stretch and tear the hip flexors. Runners, people who do martial arts, and football, soccer, and hockey players are more likely to have this type of injury.

What to do after surfing?

  1. Dry Your Ears. Make sure to drain any traces of salted water. ...
  2. Stretch After Surf. It is very important to stretch your hamstrings, shoulders, and spine after paddling for waves. ...
  3. Eat Proteins. ...
  4. Drink Water, Not Beer. ...
  5. Check If Your Car Keys Are Safe. ...
  6. Get Your Surfboard a Fresh Water Shower. ...
  7. Dry Your Surfboard. ...
  8. Remove Old Wax.

How do you recover from surfing?

Luckily, there are several things you can do to help your body recover in record time so you can get back out on the waves.

  1. Rehydrate yourself ASAP.
  2. Eat lean protein, fiber, and carbs.
  3. Stretch out all your muscle groups.
  4. Get enough sleep.
  5. Allow yourself some time to chill out.

How do I stop being sore after surfing?

You should warm up by doing hip openers, and make sure to stretch the back of your legs and arms before entering the water; this will prevent you from injury. It is important to note that you should also stretch after surfing. Never forget to stretch your body both before and after surfing!

Can you tear your ACL surfing?

Whilst an injury to the ACL is not an uncommon occurrence in contact sports, it is rather rare in surfers. The ligament is one of the major stability structures in the knee, particularly for landing on one leg and changing direction during running, neither of which were involved in John's injury.

What are my hip flexors?

The hip flexors are a group of muscles, the iliacus, psoas major muscles (also called the iliopsoas), and the rectus femoris, which is a part of your quadriceps. The quadriceps runs down from your hip joint to your knee joint. Every time you take a step, you are using your hip flexor muscles.

Can you surf after a hip replacement?

But for a big-wave surfer who plans to continue surfing big waves, it isn't. After most hip replacements, there are motion patterns that one must avoid to prevent the prosthesis from dislocation. Any combination of hip flexion, adduction, and internal rotation could mean one very painful and dangerous dislocation.

How does surfing change your body?

Surfing provides many health benefits including: cardiovascular fitness – from paddling. shoulder and back strength – these muscles will strengthen from the paddling. leg and core strength – once you're standing up on the board, strong legs and a strong core will keep you up.

What muscles do you use the most when surfing?

Muscles used in Surfing

Surfing places a large emphasis on the core muscles, as well as the muscles of the arms, shoulders and back. The shoulders and triceps are used while paddling; hamstrings and quads help you to stand up; and the lower back muscles and obliques are used while turning.

Do you need to be flexible to surf?

Your flexibility is an important aspect you need to work on to enjoy your surf holiday in the best surf camp- Original Surf Morocco in Tamraght. Yea, you may ask “why?” Well, being able to bend freely helps you pop up freely turn, turn your board, and maneuver through the waves on top of the water.

Do pushups help surfing?

Pushups engage your whole body, strengthening the core, aligning the spine and improving shoulder control. When it comes to surfing, a strong upper body means easier pop-ups and duck dives, as well as shoulder injury prevention.

When should I pop up surfing?

The first indication that it is time to pop up will be as the nose of your surfboard dips down the wave face, this means you have matched the pace of the wave and gravity is starting to pull your bodyweight down the wave. Once you feel your board become weightless this is the time to pop up!

Is surfing good for your posture?

Surfing can help improve your posture, if you have good form and outside training. You can help improve your overall posture with surfing, as long as you have good form and balance your surfing with outside training.

Can you get paralyzed from surfing?

Surfer's myelopathy is a rare nontraumatic injury causing paraplegia which is paralysis below the waist. It is a spinal cord injury caused by hyperextension of the back.

How do you stop surfers myelopathy?

Induced hypertension for initial treatment can be helpful for improving spinal cord perfusion; therefore, it is important for early and long-term neurological recovery. Education and awareness are essential for preventing surfer's myelopathy and avoiding further deterioration of neurological function.