⁠Ian Walsh's fitness routine has nutrition & mental health

⁠Ian Walsh’s fitness routine has nutrition & mental health

Posted by Admin January 17, 2025 Fitness

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Some chase storms, others chase waves.

For surfer Ian Walsh, there’s no bigger thrill than finding, riding, and documenting the biggest waves the ocean has to offer.

Ian Walsh surfs huge waves at Jaws

But to track and surf enormous waves around the globe, one must be physically and mentally tough— qualities that Walsh, who at 19 was the runner up at the Billabong XXL Awards, works on each day.

There are two parts to Walsh’s training: in-water activities and out-of-water activities.

”What happens in the water—along with surfing—is working on breathing and other stuff in a controlled, well-supervised pool environment,” Walsh said. “Out of the water [training] is a lot of time in the gym, specifically working on endurance and building strength.”

“It’s about keeping everything moving independently through your spine. For the shoulders, they get a lot of miles on them when you’re paddling session after session. When you fall, oftentimes your shoulders are the first point of entry into the water, so they get ripped around.”

Ian Walsh training in Los Angeles

© Maria Jose Govea / The Red Bulletin

That’s why Walsh emphasizes the importance of shoulder care to prevent injury and maintain a healthy surfing career.

The key, Walsh said, is to work on movements that open your shoulders, back and hip flexors like lunges, bear crawls, stretching and mobility exercises.

But it’s not just physical exercises that Walsh incorporates into his fitness routine. Taking care of his mental health is also a big part of his overall surfing preparation, and he recommends note taking and visualization as two tools that can help surfers strengthen their mental game.

“When you’re competing, sometimes jotting down a quick note on what you learned and some positive takeaways can be helpful,” Walsh said. “If you got caught inside [a wave], broke your board, and got washed all the way through the entire lineup, a positive takeaway is that you now understand what that feels like for the next time it might happen.”

Ian Walsh during a training session

© Nicole Sweet

Walsh recommends taking time to pause and think about where you want to go and what you want to achieve with whatever you’re about to do. “If you actually take a minute to stop and think about what you’re doing, it really opens up a positive outlook on everything that we get to do and are fortunate to be able to do as athletes,” he said.

In terms of being fortunate, Walsh gets to train in Hawaii, which he said provides a great balance of indoor and outdoor training.

“I live on Maui, where we have beautiful weather the entire year,” he said. “If the waves are good, I’m outside more, but if the waves are bad, then it’s a little bit outside and a little bit inside. I spend a lot of time in the gym toward the evening so I can use all of the daylight in the ocean.”

But recently, Walsh and his partner—fellow surfer Olivia Jenkins—left Maui for Los Angeles, where he’s had to adapt his training routine to a different environment.

“My girlfriend Olivia is going through a six-month chemo treatment for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma,” Walsh said. “We uprooted and moved to Los Angeles to take care of the treatment process, which changed my approach to summer. There’s a much different cadence and intensity to some of the surfing here in Los Angeles, but it gave me a chance to really hone in on some different things I like to work on at the gym.”

During the winter, Walsh is focused on building strength, improving his cardio, and gaining muscle—training alongside Jenkins.

“For Olivia and I, training is really important to both of us,” Walsh said. “We spend a ton of time in the gym together, and when we go on the road, we create our own little circuit workouts. Olivia’s heart rate is much higher going through this taxing chemo process, so it’s balancing creating things that work for her while also finding things that work for me.”

Whether he’s training with Jenkins or training solo, Walsh likes to incorporate Red Bull into his fitness routine.

“I use Red Bull in my training sessions, either right before or in the middle of my endurance days,” he said. “And I’ll have a Red Bull when I’m surfing to help fuel my big surfing days.”

Beyond the waves, Walsh is a huge fan of cooking, particularly when it comes to fueling his body with nutritious meals. The food that fuels Walsh the most is something from the Mediterranean diet which he’ll pair with berries.

“Blueberries, blackberries, raspberries—basically any berry or fruit that can stain your shirt,” he said. “I’ll use a handful of those and eat them with every single meal.”

It’s all part of Walsh’s desire to find healthier snacks to pair with his fitness routine.

“If I haven’t eaten properly throughout the day, I’ll find a bowl of greek yogurt, some honey and some berries instead of sliding into that bag of chips I want to have,” he said.

But for those who do slide into that bag of chips, Walsh offers some wisdom on how to get your fitness routine back on track.

“For anyone restarting their fitness journey, take it slow,” he said. “You don’t need to jump into your max effort or what you think your max effort should be. Start the movements slowly and build. It’s better to be consistent than not to do anything. Try to remove expectations and take it one day at a time—and one movement—at a time.”

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