Question: How do I deal with a missed SUP workout? I have waves coming in a few days and I might need to surf in order tokeep my sanity in this crazy world. Do you just skip that day’s workout or stack it on the next day?

Anonymous, Carolinas, USA

Answer: The general rule for missed SUP training sessions is to skip them. Just skip them. Do not worry about them. Do not plan on makeup workouts.

You are going to have a business trip. You are going to get sick. You are gong to get stuck in traffic. Whatever happens in life, remember, you can miss 1 or 2 or 3 SUP workouts (or more) and the bottom will not fall out.  The world will not end. Your head, however, will be giving you fits as you convince yourself that your fitness is waning and if you do not get back in the water soon you are going to lose your mind.

The only time that missing workouts is not entirely acceptable would be if you were a professional athlete. If you were a pro, I would probably harass you for missing workouts because it is your job not to miss workouts. Again, that is not the case for most of us.

Now, if you are missing a workout because you WANT to, that is OK tool. Just be smart about it. Here are the guidelines.

1. Do your best not to miss a “key” workout. For example, in our 16-week programs, your long paddle, a second session in an overload weekend, or your weekly interval training.
2. If you need to miss a key workout but you can do it the day before or the day after, go ahead and shuffle your schedule to get in your key workouts. Do not stack other workouts and do not shuffle your schedule more than one day ahead or behind.
3. If you are missing a workout because you are going to be doing something else like surfing, you might want to make a substitution rather than shuffling workouts. For example, if you are getting a huge swell and you are going to be charging for 2 hours in big surf, just substitute that surf session for your interval workout. If, however, you want to go surf with your significant other and it is going to be a mellow day surfing 2 foot waves on your long board, you can substitute that session for a recovery day, a cross training workout,  or an optional second paddle day.

The bottom line on all of this is that it is OK to skip a workout… it is OK to make a sensible substitution…. but it is not OK to add in extra workouts or stack workouts back to back. If you add or stack workouts you run the risk of overtraining.

Roch