The Surf Strong Show: Recent Episodes
Greg Finch
Conversations For a Healthy Community. Join us as we chat with people working in diverse areas and leading interesting lives.
I am committed to helping Surfers Surf Strong For Life and this podcast is dedicated to pushing the needle forward. I look forward to getting to know you and building our Surf Strong Show Community.
STAY SURF STRONG,
Greg Finch
Matteo is an author, meditation teacher, and conscious breathing guide. He's written numerous books, including the one which he'll speak about today/tonight, BREATHE HOW YOU WANT TO FEEL; YOUR BREATHING TOOLKIT FOR BETTER HEALTH, RESTORATIVE SLEEP, AND DEEPER CONNECTION.Matteo began his study of the breath over 30 years ago while living in Nepal and Tibet-at the time working for a human rights advocacy group.Informed by his study of Buddhism and Hatha Yoga, extensive periods of solitary meditation, and pilgrimages across the Himalayan landscapes, Matteo offers an engaged approach to ancient wisdom traditions.Matteo has a Masters's degree in Indian Philosophy from the University of London, and his writings have appeared in The Washington Post, BBC, Men's Journal, and elsewhere.Matteo and his wife surf and ride mountain bikes from their home in Encinitas.
Alo Slebir discusses his training and focus during the off-season as a big wave surfer. He emphasizes the importance of training out of the water and striving to be better in order to perform well in the next winter season.
He also talks about his circuit workouts, which include a mix of CrossFit and balance work. Alo explains the difference between off-season and in-season training, with a focus on building muscle mass in the off-season and maintaining paddle muscles during the season.
He also discusses the mental and physical challenges of big wave surfing, the importance of decompressing after a big day, and the role of jiu-jitsu in his training and mindset.
Alo highlights the connection between surfing and the ocean, and the importance of staying connected to the ocean in his life. He also talks about his tow partnership with Luca Padua and the trust and communication required in that relationship.
Alo shares his experience of learning and surfing Mavericks, and the challenges and rewards of pursuing big wave surfing. In this conversation, Greg and Alo discusses the intricacies of big wave surfing and the mental and physical preparation required. He emphasizes the importance of understanding the variables involved in surfing, such as swell direction and wave size, and the constant learning process that comes with it.
Alo also highlights the lifelong pursuit of improving surfing skills and the need to remain focused and calm in challenging situations. He shares insights into the safety protocols and checklists followed before tackling big waves, as well as the importance of the Junior Lifeguard program in fostering a love for the ocean.
Emily Hightower discusses her love for outdoor activities such as skiing, hiking, bow hunting, and kayaking. She explains the concept of skinning in skiing and the unique experience of being in nature.
Greg and Emily also discuss the power of water and the importance of being present and connected to the environment. They touch on the challenges of attachment to outcomes and the need to focus on the process rather than the result.
Emily shares practical tips for staying present and detached from outcomes, including visualization and down-regulating the nervous system. In this conversation, Emily Hightower and Greg Finch discuss the importance of regulating the nervous system and the role of breath and movement in managing stress and trauma. They emphasize the need to shift our perspective on stress and view it as an evolutionary tool rather than something to be avoided. They also highlight the power of reconnecting with nature and engaging in activities like surfing to improve overall well-being.
Emily and Greg share their experiences working with first responders and military personnel and how these individuals can benefit from breathwork and movement practices. They also introduce their company, Shift, which focuses on helping individuals understand and interact with their stress physiology to optimize healing and performance.
In this conversation, Sam Bleakley discusses the power of connection in the digital age and the positive and negative aspects of technology. He emphasizes the importance of in-person interactions and the value of surfing as a global connection.
Sam also highlights the significance of compromise and conversation in addressing challenges within the surf community. He explores the role of surfing in community and activism, as well as the inclusivity of adaptive surfing.
Additionally, Sam discusses the potential of integrating music into surfing events and shares his personal journey in the world of surfing. The conversation explores the themes of following your passion, the intersection of geography and surfing. Being present and grateful, future goals and hopes for the surf community, and sustainability and balance.
In this conversation, Brian McKenzie discusses the importance of breath training and its impact on overall health and performance. He emphasizes the need to understand and manage stress in order to optimize breathing patterns.
Brian also highlights the significance of walking as a foundational exercise and shares his personal experience with overcoming fear and trauma. Overall, the conversation explores the intersection of breath, fear, and performance.
Brian and Greg discuss the importance of prioritizing self-care and personal growth. They explore the concept of reordering priorities and letting go of non-essential tasks.
Brian shares his experience of investing in himself and overcoming codependency. They also discuss the dangers of multitasking and hyperconnectivity in today's society.
The conversation delves into the impact of childhood experiences on adult behavior and the importance of breathing and self-reflection. Brian shares his insights on the power of walking and connecting with nature.
They also touch on Brian's experience working with Tim Ferriss and Laird Hamilton.
Finally, they discuss the benefits and misconceptions of heat and cold therapy, as well as Brian's training block and approach to competitions.
Scott Harrison, a photographer, shares his journey of discovering photography later in life and how it has become his passion and career. He discusses his approach to photographing landscapes, waves, and surfers, and how he balances his love for photography with his love for surfing.
Scott also talks about the importance of having a mindset that allows for financial freedom and the ability to make choices. He shares his experiences of traveling in Southeast Asia and how it influenced his perspective on wealth and financial security.
Scott emphasizes the importance of being present and embracing the unpredictability of photography and surfing.
Philip, the founder of Rise Up Retreats, discusses the evolution of his surf retreat business and the challenges and rewards of running a people-focused company. He emphasizes the importance of creating a welcoming and supportive environment for guests and the value of connection and community. Philip also shares his journey of finding balance between work and personal well-being, as well as his commitment to giving back to the community through Rise Up Kids International.
Today we welcome Troy Cole former professional soccer player and owner of E-Motion Fitness. As a fellow coach and trainer I invited Troy on to discuss how his experience as a professional athlete and coach influenced his path as he took up surfing later in life over these last few years.
We welcome Taylor Knox back to the Surf Strong Show. Today he is joined by Matt Griggs. Together they run Nature of Success retreats in different locales throughout the year.
On this episode we discuss Nature of Success, Kelee Meditation, personal performance, and the joy of building programs with friends that help others succeed.
We were lucky enough to get Taylor Knox on the show. In this episode we chat about his 16 seasons on the Pro Tour, winning the inaugural K2 big wave challenge, his knee injuries, a significant back injury he had when he was 15, and how he works through those things at that age.
Continuing now into his fifty's what he does every day to keep himself surf ready and performing at a high level. It was really great to hear the routines that he does, what he brings, his approach and how we all can benefit from learning from some of those things and then applying them to our own routines.
We also discuss The Nature of Success events he's doing with Matt Griggs. How Keele meditation has positively influenced his life and really was kind of a pivot point for him in his life.
Born and raised on the North Shore of O'ahu Jamie Sterling has been charging big waves since his teen years, is the 2011 WSL Big Wave Tour Champion, and now own and operates Jamie Sterling Surf Experiences.
We chat about his time as a Professional Surfer, what he did then and does now to prepare for big wave conditions that demand so much physical and emotional focus, and what it was like being around and learning from the likes of Jerry Lopez, The Ho brothers, Mark Foo, and Johnny Boy Gomes.
Really excited to have Surf Legend, Artist, and Musician Corky Carroll on the Surf Strong Show.
Here's a bio of Corky from his bluemango website:
The greatest competitor of California’s Golden Age and surfing’s first real pro was five-time US Surfing Champion Corky Carroll.
Corky was right in the middle of much in surfing. Surfing in front of his family's beach house, he wanted a more durable swim trunk. He approached nearby Katin Surf Shop with his request. Nancy and Walter Katin got to work and created an industry.
As a student at Huntington Beach High School, Carroll took surf safaris with good friends such as Mark Martinson, Robert August, Mickey Munoz, Billy Hamilton and Mike Doyle. When Endless Summer was released, he travelled promoting the film.
Working for Hobie Surfboards, Corky found his niche interacting with the customers instead of in the back of the shop. In the water, Corky was so promising that Hobie Alter decided to sponsor him, paying Carroll to use and promote Hobie Surfboards.
During the mid-’60s noseriding era, he was as good as anyone. He was a champion paddler with keen wave judgment and a competitive spirit that usually paid off with high-scoring performances. In 1968, he won the Surfer Poll Award as the best surfer in the world. Few disagreed. “Of everything I achieved in my surfing career, winning the Surfer Poll meant the most to me,” Carroll said. “To be named the best by the people was the greatest honor. It is one of the only trophies that I kept for my kids.”
Corky was also at the forefront of the short board evolution, making the transition from long boarding that others could not. His Mini Model was the first production shortboard in America, and his Deadly Flying Glove model furthered the evolution.
Carroll was a great contest surfer, but he was also a gutsy big-wave rider. He surfed Waimea and huge Pipeline and he was in the water at Makaha on the day Greg Noll paddled into the largest wave ever ridden in 1969, pre tow. “I only rode one wave though,” Carroll said. “It was a monster, at least 300 feet as I saw it. I also got caught inside three times that day and spent hours swimming in.”
Carroll was one of the first to convert to twin fins in 1971 and was featured in a number of surf films in the ’60s and ’70s, including MacGillivray-Freeman’s Five Summer Stories.
When competitive surfing lost some of its luster in the early ’70s, Corky Carroll reached into his grab bag of talent and diversified into an array of livelihoods. He taught himself to play the guitar and was soon in the studio producing albums of original music. He wrote several books, spent 10 years as advertising director of Surfer magazine, six years as a tennis pro and a couple of years as a ski instructor. All the while, Carroll never relinquished the surf scene. An inductee into the Surfing Hall of Fame, he now operates his surf school in Costa Rica and is a fabulous surf columnist.
Steve Gwenin will be joining us on this episode of the Surf Strong Show. We are going live! That'll be fun. Steve is an Executive Surf Life Coach and founder of Surfer's Life Club. Through his signature Work Less Surf More program he coaches senior managers and executives to re-shape their life, surfing more and living the life they envision.
Today we welcome Mike Latronic to the Surf Strong Show. Former professional surfer and team coach for Hurley and veteran big wave rider. Since 2002 he has published FreeSurf Magazine and produces BoardStories TV out of his home base on the North Shore of Oahu.
This is the first of our Surf Express Episodes of the Surf Strong Show where we will talk about what's on our mind, answer listener questions, and any other $h1t we feel like discussing.
This episode we welcome Pepa Ivanoff to The Surf Strong Show here’s a description of who she is and what she does in her own words
“My name is Pepa, and I am an Australian born, Central America based Artist, Surfer and Traveler.
I have over 20 years of international experience creating digital and analog art.
My artwork is both inspired by, and a result of, my nomadic surfer lifestyle.
I have chosen a life less ordinary in pursuit of my creative passion and I want to inspire others to curate a life that is a work of art.
My Art and my Life is a constant and evolving exploration of travel, culture, nature, design, surfing, photography, tarot, colour, textures, textiles, taoism, and all things tropical.
I have painted 302 Murals in 8 countries, and I love to combine traditional analog art with digital techniques, and in doing so have created my unique style.”
We have a fun conversation of her growing up on the Gold Coast of Australia, moving to California in her early 20’s to advance a career in graphic arts, her decision to move to Costa Rica full time after 8 years in California, and how that opened the doors to becoming the mural artist and nomadic creative that she is today.
This episode is from a live stream where I talked about my path and journey as a coach and trainer. How injuries and early athletic experiences influenced me and steered me toward coaching. How the opportunity to connect with our surf community, give back, and coach surfers to stay strong and stoked in the water till their last breath is an absolute joy.
This Surf Strong Show is a fun extension of that mission. I'm having a blast with these in depth conversations with true experts in the surf community, who have so much to provide, and are just giving back so much.
This is a first of a series of live podcast events that I attend to do. Each will have a focused topic with an intention to keep them as quick takes around 30 minutes and hopefully full of actionable steps to real problems amd issues we face as surfers.
We will often answer listener questions that you can submit before. Since it will be recorded as a live stream you can submit comments from our Facebook facebook.com/surfstrongfit and we may get to them right in that stream.
On this weeks episode of The Surf Strong Show we welcome Dr. Angie Mueller to the show. She is a Dr. of Physical Therapy with a practice on the island of Kauai in Hawaii and developer of the Core Recovery Method.
We Discuss:
- Learning to surf later in life
- How it has allowed her to face some of her fears
- Hypopressive Breathing Method and how it allows us to access the involuntary side of our nervous system and reflexively trigger more fully our core muscle activation
- We go through a great breathing tool that you can do anywhere
Links to what we discussed in the episode
- Dr. Angie Mueller Website
- Core Recovery Method
- Dr. Angie Mueller on Instagram
On this weeks episode of The Surf Strong Elite Show we welcome Julie Cox to the show. She is the co-founder and owner of The Traveler Surf Club with 4 locations throughout California and a former 5th in the world ranked Professional Longboard Surfer.
We Discuss:
- Learning to surf at Leo Carrillo beach and how it still feels like her spiritual home
- What is different and the same about paddling out today and the first time
- Her time as the Executive Director of The California Surf Museum in Oceanside
- Starting The Traveler Surf Club and what's in store for the future
Today I am very excited to have Dr. Tim Brown on The Surf Strong Elite Show. He is one of the foremost experts and leading innovators in the world of sports medicine, going into his 50th year of working with some of the world’s most recognizable athletes.
Dr. Brown currently serves as the Co-Medical Director for the World Surf League, a Performance Expert for both the US Olympic Surf Team and RedBull High Performance athletes. As well as working with Ripcurl and NEUX to create cutting edge technologies.
We talk about being the original Medical Director of the first professional Beach Volleyball Association, the AVP In the early 80s and how that experience combined with his own time as a college football, pro beach volleyball, and surf athlete was the start of a lifelong pursuit to change the recurring injury, rehab, recovery and reinjury cycle he was seeing over and over again amongst the athletes.
Dr. Brown revolutionized the world of sports taping and soft tissue treatment with his innovative Specific Proprioceptive Response Technique. You may know it from the 2008 Beijing Olympics, when professional beach volleyball player Kerri Walsh brought SPRT to the world stage when she won a gold medal with Misty May-Treanor wearing a version of SPRT for an injured shoulder.
We discuss his 5 progression pillars of fitness, how what you Eat, Think, Do is what you become, and the next event of his Surf Movement Masterclass series.
Dr. Brown is responsible for influencing, training, and supporting countless athletes and the sports professionals that work with them. He is a personal mentor and I am honored to have him on the show.
This episode is an ask me anything show where I answer questions submitted from listeners like you.
Some of the topics I cover are:
- How to start improving a shoulder that is showing weakness and discomfort and starting to negatively affect their surfing.
- What my personal Surf Fit Program looks like
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- What approach I take with my personal nutrition plan and those of my clients
Full show notes can be found at:
https://surfstrongfit.com/podcast
In Episode 005 of The Surf Strong Elite Show Pro Surfer Teddy Navarro joins us to discuss:
- The amazing and crazy lineup at the Huntington Beach Pier
- His work helping children with Cystic Fibrosis through the Mauli Ola Foundation
- His path through early mistakes and struggles to a more present and positive life with his wife and children
- How losing his brother to alcoholism has greatly shaped his own choices in life
- How his Coaching By Ted surf instruction is a great source of joy for him
Listen to Episode 005 of The Surf Strong Elite Show with Teddy Navarro
In This Episode:
3:00 - How the ocean humbles and helps check your ego
8:00 Huntington Beach Pier surfing scene 12:00 You can't fast forward your surfing
14:00 Never stop learning
18:00 How Teddy gets his amazing first person barrel shots
26:10 Just paddle out no excuses
30:00 Starting Ji Jitsu and his weekly movement plan
37:22 How losing his brother to alcoholism has profoundly shaped his life
49:00 Mauli Ola Foundation
1:02:00 Coaching With Ted
In this episode of The Surf Strong Elite Show we talk with Michael Rintala. He is a chiropractor based out of San Diego, California and an expert in DNS or Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization.
Michael explains how DNS concepts can feel difficult to connect to in the beginning and then takes us through some practical applications to start with. Our hope and focus is to plant a DNS seed, if you will, so you continue to pursue the concepts and give your practice time to develop.
DNS is really powerful and a great way to compliment any other work that you're doing on your own or with other health and fitness professionals. It helps assess and is a wonderful check in tool.
Michael takes us through a great three-step breath check in tool to identify how well you are, or are not, connecting to your diaphragm. The protocol gives tactical and real time feedback on whether your diaphragm is descending correctly and if your rib cage is expanding effectively through respiration.
We discuss the critical intersection between breathing and stability, define what compensatory patterns are and why you need to know what the functional gap is if you want to perform to your fullest potential.
This week's conversation is with Mike Clancy author of the book surf trip a coming of age story in the Golden Era of Surfing
Most of his career was spent at the US Navy's Fleet numerical meteorology and oceanography Center in Monterey where he worked for 28 years and retired in 2011 as the Director.
Mike is also in front of the camera in the upcoming feature film a long road to Tao. Inspired by the book Tao of Surfing: Finding Depth at a Low Tide.
We talk about these, surf forecasting, and how he stays in the ocean in his 8th decade.
This week's conversation is with Peter Park, owner of Platinum Fitness in Santa Barbara, California and an elite trainer for over 2 decades.
Peter has trained the best of the best — Lance Armstrong, pro surfers Kelly Slater, Lakey Peterson, and Major League Baseball stars Giancarlo Stanton and Justin Verlander to name just a few.
His personal ultra endurance achievements include 3 time winner of the “World’s Toughest Triathlon”, current record holder for the Catalina 50 Mile Ultra Marathon, and numerous Hawaii Ironman Triathlons.
We discuss his work ethic, how it helped make him successful and why it’s also what makes a balanced life difficult.
- How working with Lance Armstrong was like a PHD in aerobic endurance training.
- Peter lays out a plan to get you ready to get everything out of your next surf trip.
- Here’s our conversation with Peter Park
On the first episode of the Surf Strong Elite Podcast I talk with Dr. Mark Kozuki Physical Therapist for World Surf League, MLB, PGA, and Olympic athletes and owner at Elite Performance Physical Therapy in Costa Mesa California.
He also helps mere mortals like us stay strong in the Ocean. Join us as we discuss his morning routine, pre and post surf prep, most gifted books, and his favorite wave in the world.
Mark introduces his Ki Release technique. This therapy is something that he has been pioneering with his patients over the last few years. It has had a profound impact on him and the path of his therapies.
Learn what Ki Release is and how it is delivering amazing results to his patients.
Really excited to announce Surf Strong Elite. It’s our new podcast which is going to center on conversations on how to keep our community healthy, strong, vibrant and moving forward.
We are going to do it live. Live is fun but it is not perfect. We'll try to keep the ums and the ahhs down but who knows what will happen and that's part of the fun.
We want to invite you to listen and watch live. We will have it streaming on our:
Facebook page - https://facebook.com/surfstrongfit
Surf Strong Fit Community Facebook group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/surfstrongfit
Surf Strong Fit YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6yJY28ibPxRq_JfXZLK7bQ
Join live, ask questions and interact. It will make the conversation more interesting and dynamic. We want to answer your questions and bring you the content you want.
Together let’s push our surfing forward. So stoked to have you here and I look forward to talking to you soon.