Subject: Stronger for the surf: how kettlebells rebuilt my body and my stoke

Besides sleep, our work and our hobbies likely consume much of our time. If we are lucky, our work is something that we love to do, which makes it not feel like work most of the time. Then our hobbies can become an avocation, motivating us and becoming important in our lives.

Stronger for the Surf: How Kettlebells Rebuilt my Body and my Stoke

What do we do when an injury challenges our work and our avocation?

 

Josh Neubauer, StrongFirst Certified SFG I Instructor, faced just such a challenge when confronted by an injury that impacted his work and his passion for surfing.


He begins:

I am 51 years old, and I've been surfing since I was a little boy. Surfing has always been a big part of my life—the connection to the ocean, the challenge, and the feeling you can’t really find anywhere else. But in 2015, everything changed when I suffered a disc herniation at L4-L5.

 

The injury forced me to rethink how I trained, how I moved, and ultimately, what strength really meant to me. And here's why: I make my living as a personal trainer. I wanted to stay healthy, mobile, and resilient so I could keep doing what I love for as long as possible.

Josh continues:

The deeper I got into hard style kettlebell training, the more I realized how much it mirrored surfing. They share the same foundation: patience, practice, humility, and skill. Both require you to slow down, enjoy the journey, and embrace the process of getting a little better every day.

Click here to read how Josh used kettlebell training to overcome his injury and return to surfing and work with confidence.

Editor’s Note: For those unfamiliar, stoke—to a surfer—is a feeling, a way of life. It’s that electric buzz you get when you paddle out at sunrise to perfect, empty waves. Stoke is what keeps surfers coming back, wave after wave, year after year.

 
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