011: CRIS MILLS - Surf Strength Coach
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Show Notes for The Surf Mastery Podcast: Building Strength, Mobility, and Balance with Cris Mills
Do you know how your body’s health and fitness can directly influence your Surfing performance? This episode dives deep into practical ways to elevate your Surfing and overall well-being.
Join Michael Frampton as he interviews Cris Mills, founder of Surf Strength Coach, for an insightful discussion about optimizing physical health to surf better. From addressing shoulder injuries and pop-up technique to exploring the role of nutrition, sleep, and recovery, this episode is packed with advice for surfers of all skill levels. Cris also tackles modern challenges like blue light exposure and EMF, providing actionable tips to harmonize your lifestyle with better Surfing outcomes.
Here’s what you’ll gain by tuning in:
Improved Surf Fitness: Learn how to prevent common injuries, improve strength, and enhance mobility to maximize your time in the water.
Balanced Nutrition Tips: Discover how to fuel your body with real, whole foods and indulge in guilt-free treats like dark chocolate and banana bread.
Holistic Lifestyle Adjustments: Get actionable advice on sleep optimization, mitigating EMF exposure, and creating balance between stress and recovery.
Discover how to boost your health and Surfing performance by listening to this episode now.
Notable Quotes:
"Human capacity is about being healthy enough to do what you want in life, whether that’s Surfing or building better relationships."
"If the foundations of movement aren’t in place, the rest of your Surfing will suffer."
"Mother Nature has the answers. Modern living isn’t always healthy, so it’s about balancing the good with what truly supports your body."
"You need to think of training and recovery as yin and yang. Eating a piece of cake is as much a stressor as pushing too hard in the gym."
"Real food is the foundation of health. Cut the processed stuff, eat whole foods, and your body will thank you."
Cris and I talk about surfing, strength training for surfing, surf fitness, surfing injuries and rehab, health, nutrition, & diet. We also discuss how lifestyle choices like EMF exposure, water quality, sleep, blue light exposure & meditation all effect human health - therefore your surfing capacity, longevity & performance.
Show Notes:
Thoracic spine mobility: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=so9kxCJmbcE
Shoulder mobility https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_eFCw4oYOE
More about Yoga and surfing here: http://surfmastery.com/podcast/2016/5/8/008-peggy-hall-yoga-for-surfers-founder
http://www.yogaforsurferstv.com/
Cris's Surf Training Success: http://www.surftrainingsuccess.com
More on the Paleo diet here: http://surfmastery.com/podcast/2016/4/12/006-pete-evans-chef-health-coach-author
Some thoughts on water and water filters: https://www.jackkruse.com/setting-up-your-water-system/
Learn more about EMF (electro magnetic frequencies) and health here: http://www.emfandhealth.com ...and here: https://www.jackkruse.com/emf-5-what-are-the-biologic-effects-of-emf/
Paul Chek's '4 Dr's' vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh4qRD6nu1k
More on meditation here: http://surfmastery.com/podcast/2016/3/7/003-matt-griggs-elite-performance-coach
Blue light and sleep: https://chriskresser.com/how-artificial-light-is-wrecking-your-sleep-and-what-to-do-about-it/
f.lux: https://justgetflux.com/
Cris's Website: Surf Strength Coach: http://surfstrengthcoach.com/
Key Points
Chris Mills is the founder of surfstrengthcoach.com and works with surfers on rehab, strength, and conditioning to improve their movement and surfing ability.
Common issues Chris sees in middle-aged surfers are shoulder and lower back problems due to overuse injuries.
For shoulder health, Chris recommends working on posture, spine mobility, and flexibility practices like yoga and stretching.
Chris emphasizes the importance of strength training, especially for the lower body, to handle the forces involved in high-performance surfing.
Chris recommends a paleo-style diet focused on real, unprocessed foods for optimal health and surfing performance.
Other lifestyle factors like adequate sleep, stress management, and limiting exposure to EMFs are also important for overall well-being.
Chris offers surf trips that combine surfing coaching, strength and conditioning, and technique analysis to help surfers progress.
Chris believes in a balanced approach to health, allowing for occasional indulgences like dark chocolate or banana bread.
Outline
Chris Mills' Professional Background
Chris Mills is the founder of surfstrengthcoach.com and a multifaceted professional in surfing and physical training.
They are a surfer, personal trainer, and strength and conditioning specialist with expertise in pool check courses, integrative neuromuscular therapy, and functional movement screening.
Their primary focus is working with surfers on rehabilitation and strength conditioning to improve overall movement and surfing performance.
The philosophy 'move better, surf better' emphasizes the connection between efficient body movement and surfing prowess.
Surfing is likened to dance and gymnastics due to its three-dimensional physical demands, necessitating efficient movement for higher performance.
Common Physical Issues Among Surfers
Shoulders and lower back are identified as prevalent areas of concern among surfers, particularly those aged 32-50.
These issues often result from years of athletic activity and cumulative effects of injuries.
Shoulder problems frequently stem from poor posture, extended desk work, and the physical demands of surfing.
Addressing overall posture is crucial as it impacts joint alignment and range of motion efficiency.
Modern lifestyles characterized by prolonged sitting and device use significantly contribute to postural issues and subsequent injuries.
For surfers aged 35-50, focusing on spinal mobility, especially in the thoracic region, is recommended to enhance shoulder girdle mobility and overall surfing performance.
Injury Prevention and Performance Enhancement Strategies
Yoga and flexibility training are strongly recommended, especially for older surfers, with an emphasis on finding knowledgeable instructors and committing to consistent practice over 12-18 months.
Foam rolling and self-massage techniques at home can complement yoga practice and improve overall mobility.
Lower body strength is essential for high-performance surfing maneuvers like floaters and full rail turns, with exercises such as deadlifts, kettlebell swings, and plyometric work being beneficial.
Upper body strength and shoulder health can be enhanced through pull-ups.
Cardiovascular exercises like swimming, biking, jump rope, or sprinting should be included to maintain overall fitness.
Dedicated flexibility sessions or daily stretching routines are important for maintaining mobility.
Video analysis and technique coaching are advocated to identify and correct surfing habits and improve performance.
Dietary Recommendations
A paleo template is recommended as a general dietary guideline, emphasizing real, whole foods like meats, vegetables, eggs, and fruits while minimizing processed foods.
Individualization in diet is stressed, noting that nutritional needs vary based on personal health conditions and goals.
Occasionally incorporating vegetarian meals can be beneficial, and consuming high-quality animal protein is emphasized for those who include it in their diet.
Key Lifestyle Factors for Health and Performance
Hydration is critical, with a recommendation to drink clean, filtered water using a high-quality filter like a reverse osmosis system with mineral re-mineralization.
Quality sleep is vital, with a recommendation of 8-10 hours per night for optimal recovery and performance, creating a sleep-friendly environment by removing electronics from the bedRum and turning off Wi-Fi at night.
Incorporating meditation or mindfulness practices helps manage stress and improve overall well-being.
Minimizing exposure to electromagnetic frequencies by turning off Wi-Fi at night and reducing electronic device usage, especially before bedtime, is suggested.
Using software like f.lux to reduce blue light exposure from screens in the evening can help improve sleep quality by not disrupting natural melatonin production.
Online Training Programs and Surfing Trips
Online training programs guide surfers through comprehensive fitness routines, including the 'Surfing Training Success' program, which progresses from foundational fitness to performance training.
A flexibility program covers the fundamentals of stretching and mobility work.
Organized surfing trips combine technique coaching, physical training, and surfing practice, offering a holistic approach to improving surfing skills and overall fitness.
Transcription
Just improve your overall human health and capacity so you can surf.
Welcome to the Surf Mastery Podcast. We interview the world's best surfers and the people behind them to provide you with education and inspiration to surf better.
Michael Frampton
Welcome to the Surf Mastery Podcast. Today my guest is Chris Mills. He is the founder of surfstrengthcoach.com. Chris is a surfing, personal trainer, and strength and conditioning specialist. Chris has done Paul Chek courses. He's done integrative neuromuscular therapy. He's done a functional movement screen, blah. But Chris, when someone asks you personally, what do you do? How do you answer that question?
Cris Mills
You know, a business coach recently told me I need to refine that. And it usually kind of ends up in a ramble. But essentially, I work with surfing for the most part in terms of rehab or strength and conditioning and just making sure their bodies can move well.
Michael Frampton
Okay. And I see on your homepage you've got, you say, move better, surf better. I love that.
Cris Mills
Yes.
Michael Frampton
Because surfing is essentially movement, isn't it?
Cris Mills
You know, I look at it and, I mean, I often, when I talk about the movement mechanics and capacity of surfing, like I equate it to dance and gymnastics. It's just so three-dimensionally demanding. And so, yes, you need to be able to move and move very efficiently just because, you know, if you want to surf at a higher level, higher capacity, you need to be able to move well. So, yes, they go hand in hand.
Michael Frampton
Yes. And you work with athletes of all levels, right?
Cris Mills
Yes, absolutely. And actually all from other sports spectrums as well. And even still occasionally like your standard, you know, grandmother, dad, mom, but it is primarily athletes and primarily surfers of those athletes.
Michael Frampton
Yeah. So you mentioned rehab. Do you get a lot of sort of middle-aged surfers coming to you with surfing overuse problems?
Cris Mills
Probably 75 to 80 percent. I'd put them in like the 32-ish, you know, where the body is kind of starting to not slow down, but, you know, injuries are a bit more prevalent through the spectrum of like up to 50, 60 even. And, you know, you get to that age and you've been active, there's going to have been some injuries and ongoing injuries. So, yeah, the large majority of people I see are either coming off of some type of previous injury or currently have some type of pain for sure. Overuse injuries, you know.
Michael Frampton
What's the most common issues you see in that group?
Cris Mills
Shoulders are huge. Lots and lots of shoulders, probably followed by low back. And then, you know, throwing the hips and knees in there as well. Shoulders and low back are probably eating up most of that pie chart. Just about any of those joint complexes, you know. Again, if you've been an athlete in your younger years and active, by the time you hit 35, 40, 45, you've done some damage to some joint complex or multiple joint complexes. So, yeah, there's going to be a few in those checkboxes of previous injuries generally.
Michael Frampton
I mean, shoulders are so common. What's some advice for people out there to keep their shoulders mobile and pain-free?
Cris Mills
You know, it's a loaded question. First off, I'd say you need to look at overall posture. And posture isn't going to necessarily be the holy grail of pain relief. But, you know, posture equals joint alignment. Joint alignment allows for efficient range of motion. So, you know, you see it. You're in the health field and training. And modern life just erodes our ideal posture. And when you take that ideal posture and you collapse it, you know, like we're staring at our phones, staring at computers, it just really offsets the spine and the neck and the shoulder girdle. And things will inevitably start to grind and break. And that generally hurts and results in some type of shoulder injury. So posture, get your posture in check. And on top of that, you know, I'd say you kind of need to start looking at the age spectrum of where they're at in terms of giving some more advice. You want me to elaborate a little more?
Michael Frampton
Yeah, let's go with between 35 and 50.
Cris Mills
35 and 50, I'd say spine. You need to get your spine moving as efficiently as possible. I mean, this extends to even younger. But by that age, you know, if you've spent the last, let's say 35, and you've been working since 20 at a desk, 15 years sitting at a desk, and then compound that to 55, and you've spent 25 years sitting at a desk, your spine is very likely not moving the way it should be. And once that spine, especially thoracic spine and ribs, stops moving efficiently, it just doesn't allow your shoulder girdle to move.
So get the spine going. And then I'd say adopt some type of flexibility practice, whether it's just stretching in your home, rolling on some lacrosse balls, tennis balls, foam rollers, and even some basic yoga practice. Get the spine going and just regain some flexibility and mobility of the upper body, lower body as well. But when we're talking shoulders, you know, make sure you can move your arm pretty well without pain and, you know, through full range of motion.
Michael Frampton
Yeah, paddling is important.
Cris Mills
It's a bit relevant to the sport. Yeah.
Michael Frampton
So yoga, you recommend yoga?
Cris Mills
Yeah, 100%, man. I am not a yoga instructor by any means. I have done quite a lot of yoga. I've worked with a lot of yoga practitioners, in fact. And like anything in the health realm, you know, it depends on the instructor. But I think for that older age demographic, just getting into some general flexibility where they're doing it once, twice, three times a week is a good idea. And, you know, getting some kind of expert insight from a good yoga practitioner that kind of understands surfing and has been in the game for a while and understands injury and getting people back to it rather than just throwing themselves into, what is it, Bikram where they do it in the hot room? I think that spins me out. I think that's a bit silly. But, yeah, I think yoga can be really good, man, for the older crowd. If they go at it slowly and with the intention of, I'm going to change the way I move over the next 12, 18 months, two years, yeah, absolutely.
Michael Frampton
Well, it takes that long?
Cris Mills
What do you think? I think so.
Like it could. It depends where you're coming from, you know?
Michael Frampton
Yeah, no, I agree. I agree, totally.
Cris Mills
Yeah, like you see it. Again, like you being a trainer, people, media has given people this concept that you're going to change yourself in 30 days, you know, or two weeks or 60 days. And it's just not going to happen, you know, especially if you're trying to undo 20, 25 years of neglect and misuse. It needs to be on the spectrum of, let's see what we can do with my body over 6 months, 12 months and beyond, you know, to really make some long-lasting impacts.
Michael Frampton
Yeah, so I guess ideally someone would have a one-on-one assessment with someone like yourself or maybe a local personal trainer or physical therapist, physiotherapist. But some general advice would be find a good yoga instructor.
Cris Mills
100%, man, yeah. I think some good basic yoga, like go to a class a few times to find a couple moves that you like, you know, that feel good for your body, that you're not having to force yourself into and feel like you're tearing things. And that, in conjunction with laying on a foam roll at the house, can do a lot of good. Absolutely. And there's so much content out there on the internet. You can easily find a 10, 20-minute YouTube video going over some yoga. Just start exploring and going at it with that educational mindset.
You know, you're going to learn some new things. It can make some big impacts for sure.
Michael Frampton
Yeah, there's a lot of stuff on the internet. A lot of it's pretty average, to be quite...
Cris Mills
Honest. Yeah, that was pretty kind.
Like I've been reprimanded in the past couple of months about my use of profanities on my blog and videos. And so, yeah, you know, you said it nicely. I would have probably been a bit more harsh. It's just there's so many mouths, you know, and opinions, social media. The blessing of the internet has allowed everybody to have a voice. And some of those voices aren't necessarily the best and brightest.
Michael Frampton
Yeah, the thing I like about your website and your YouTube page is, I mean, obviously you've done a lot of courses and studying human movement and the human body. You know, you've kind of summarized a lot of stuff and given good... You've got a lot of good quality videos that are relevant for surfing.
Cris Mills
I appreciate that, man. Thank you very much, first of all.
Yeah, you know, I have waded, just like yourself, waded through a lot of course material over the years just out of personal exploration and curiosity and just wanting to learn more. And yeah, I've tried to take professional and expert kind of level advice, you know, technical stuff, and just boil it down to what somebody without anatomical knowledge can start utilizing because that's what it's about, you know.
Like you and I could sit here and nerd out about anatomy and physiology, but that's not going to have any relevance for most of the average folks. So just trying to make some videos and articles of stuff that is usable, you know, and rational.
Michael Frampton
Yeah, and relevant for surfing. That's exactly right, because it's not relevant.
Like if you're surfing every day, it's not relevant for you to jump on a paddling machine.
Cris Mills
No. Because you're already paddling loads, and you kind of need to do the opposite of paddling to keep your shoulders healthy, right?
Cris Mills
Yeah, 100%, man. Start working all the external rotation, scapular retractors. That's where surfers and the whole, the surf fitness thing, you know, like I am part of the surf fitness, you know, beast in a sense. And a lot of it just kind of drives me nuts because a bit of it, a lot of it's silly. But the surfing fitness thing, people need to understand they fall into this spectrum, a bell curve of surf fitness if you want to put it like that. And so at the high end, those that are surfing a whole lot need to be doing entirely different things from the person that is working at a desk all week and surfing for two hours on the weekend, you know? And while there might be some similarities, there are opposite spectrums of that bell curve and need to work on entirely different things, you know?
So like you just say, so a guy who is surfing all the time, he needs to work on probably staying loose, recovery, shoulder health would be, yeah, the opposite of paddling, getting all the scapular retractors, external rotators and stuff going. Whereas the desk worker needs to probably work on just mobility and flexibility and maybe some paddling work, you know, to build up some work capacity. But yeah, no, you're totally right. Very different ends of the spectrum.
Michael Frampton
Yeah, and I mean, you've got videos for both of those people and everything in between.
Cris Mills
Yeah, 100%, man. And articles that kind of go into things, you know, they should be working on and differences. And so, yeah, again, just trying to put out info that is applicable to surfing of all ages, skill ranges, and issues that they may be dealing with.
Michael Frampton
Yeah, and I'll put a link to your website and your YouTube page in the show notes for those.
Cris Mills
Cheers, man, appreciate that.
Michael Frampton
And what's some things that you've done physically, training-wise, that have made an impact or that have made the greatest impact on your surfing personally?
Cris Mills
That's a good one. Because it's been, again, it's been a spectrum. And over the last couple of years, like I've surfed in lots of spurts and then there's been dry spells. And so that kind of changes things. I'd say for the lower body, like let's take lower body for a moment, overall joint range of motion.
So lots of stretching and kind of active mobility, deep squatting positions, hip rotations, kind of yoga-esque stuff to make sure hips and ankles are moving really efficiently. But then throwing on top of that, some heavy strength work for the lower body. Deadlifts, kettlebell swings, plyometric work.
So I've got a pretty healthy lower body, like haven't had any major joint issues. And I think it's attributed to a layering of strength as well as flexibility. Upper body, I've had a pretty good list of shoulder injuries, one of which was a full reconstruction.
So I've spent a lot of time working on upper body strength, posterior shoulder endurance. And I think pull-ups are really good for people to get to for just basic upper body strength. I think all the hanging and pull-up work that I've done has been really beneficial. And that's a tough question. I'm kind of rambling a bit. Was some of that insightful?
Michael Frampton
Yeah, no, I totally agree with the hanging and the pull-ups. As I get better at surfing and I start attacking the lip, and especially in more powerful waves, I'm really starting to realize how strong your legs need to be.
Cris Mills
Massive. And just in terms of injury prevention as well, you need more strength. If you're trying to do floaters, that force absorption, like you said, a full rail turn. If you're surfing some proper five, six, even bigger foot surfing, and you're doing full rail turns, I'm sure somebody has done the research to see the force that's going through the lower body. But you absolutely need some strength through that lower body to just hold.
Yeah, absolutely. For higher performance strength surfing, faster, more powerful, there needs to be some quality strength and conditioning work for the lower body.
Michael Frampton
Yeah, especially if you're not surfing that often.
Cris Mills
Yes.
Michael Frampton
And then when you get that swell, and you take a couple of days off work, you want to be ready for it.
Cris Mills
That's it. I think that's the biggest thing I probably preach about is just making sure your body is capable of doing what you want to do.
So in my case, in your case, we talk about surfing a lot. But it could extend to anything. If you're an avid rock climber, there's a lot of things you should and could be doing other than rock climbing. If you're a dancer, same. Gymnast, same. What I'm trying to impress upon people is, hey, spend some time rolling on a foam roll, spend 30 minutes in the gym twice a week. It's so you can keep doing what you're intensely passionate about. Because most of us surfing, we're fanatics about it. You need to keep yourself capable.
Michael Frampton
How much time per week? Let's take the average, let's take a middle-aged average surfer who may be surfing a couple of hours during the summer during the week and then surfs a bit more during the weekends, but at the same time has access to a gym during the dark hours. How much time do you think they should spend in the gym?
Cris Mills
If you're doing a quality training program, I would have most of my clients out of the gym in probably 45 minutes. Hour tops. Tops.
Michael Frampton
And... Per?
Cris Mills
Day? Yeah, 45 minutes as a training session. I'd like to see at least two, preferably three sessions a week if they're not surfing lots. If they're surfing a lot, that could probably scale back. I'd like to see no less than two. But if you can get into the gym two to three times a week, awesome. Four, even better if you can handle that type of load with your surfing. But what I tell most of my guys in the 35 to 45 range is I want them doing something probably four times a week. If they're surfing more, that scales back. Two of those sessions are probably going to be strength sessions in a gym. One of those sessions is going to be some type of cardiovascular output.
So swimming, bike, jump rope, pool, whatever it wants to be, sprinting in a field. And then another one of those would be like a pure flexibility session. And mind you, they're doing flexibility work throughout the week with their training or spending 10 minutes a night on a foam roller or doing a bit of yoga at night. That's kind of the general, again, middle of the bell curve. That's what I would like to see in kind of an ideal world.
Michael Frampton
Okay. And you've got some products online that can help guide people through that sort of workout, don't you?
Cris Mills
Yeah, 100%, man. I have a training program called Surfing Training Success. Kind of a dorky name, but it's a several-month-long training program. It takes people from a start to a finish, building back up and then working in towards more performance training. Really applicable for just about anybody. The only caveat I would say is if you have a current health issue, like injury, you need to either contact me or have your kind of health practitioner take a look at it. And I have a full flexibility program as well, walking people through the basics of everything they need to know about stretching, from the fundamentals to the dynamic stuff. And with both programs, I'm a firm believer that people just need more understanding of their own body. There needs to be more of that, like an educational base, so that you only have to seek out professionals when something kind of goes wrong or if you need a bit more clarity.
So that's the biggest thing, just give people the information so they can really start applying it and learning a bit more about how to keep their body operating at a higher potential.
Michael Frampton
Yeah, we've got to have some sort of maintenance program, don't we?
Cris Mills
100%, man. Look at people and their cars. There's usually more concern and consistency with looking after their car than there is their own body. 100%.
Michael Frampton
Yeah, that's so true. Just looking at that, you've got some surfing trips coming up. Yes. It looks interesting.
Cris Mills
Man, totally pumped on those. So this has been an idea I've had for a long time actually. Seeing how the things that have helped me progress and seeing people I've worked with progress, we started taking those ideas and eventually I met with some really fantastic people where I thought we could pull it off rather than just trying to go at it. I really do feel the people I've brought in on this are top of the field.
So yeah, we're doing surfing trips. This year we've got one coming up in Morocco. We've got one coming up in the Mentawais again. We bring some surfing along and it's myself, and I bring along a technique coach. We work with people and their bodies and their surfing the entire trip.
So not only are you having a hell of a surf trip, but you are beginning to work on all the things you need to really kind of take your surfing to the next level. I'm sure you've worked with coaches and the body stuff. People kind of stagnate. They hit a plateau and they don't know why. It could be a component of skill and technique, but there could be a body component to that.
So we kind of attack it at both angles. Lots of video filming and footage and us in the water yelling at you to turn better or whatever the case may be.
Yeah, the trips are sick, man. It's honestly a dream coming to fruition for me. Really fortunate for that one.
Michael Frampton
All of the things that you could imagine to help improve your surfing are in this trip.
Cris Mills
Yeah, full on. I've used the word spectrum a lot today and I just realized it is the full spectrum of what I think and the other coaches I work with think people need to work on and become aware of to surf better. We all want to surf better. I'm a firm believer that you can surf better through your 40s and 50s than you did in your 20s. It's just more knowledge and skill and precision.
Michael Frampton
Yeah, definitely. I've only recently committed to doing some surfing coaching. Wow, I reckon I progressed in the last 18 months more than I have in the past 10 years.
Cris Mills
It's huge, man. It's huge. The first time I had video analysis and coaching, I've worked with a few.
Like anything in the field, you've got to weed through the mediocrity. It just jumps to the next level rather than begrudgingly trying to figure it out and never figuring it out. It just leaps and bounds and steps people up. On our last trip in the Mentawais, we saw some people so drastically change their surfing that it really blew me away. It absolutely blew me away because people just get stuck in these habits and don't know what they're doing wrong. Until somebody shows you and tells you, you're just going to keep doing it. It's incredible. I get excited about it. Everybody should get a technique coach. Do some filming and video analysis. It'll make you feel like a total kook at first and then really give you the path to getting a bit better.
Michael Frampton
This trip, like you said, has the full spectrum. For example, what's really common that we see as a surfing coach is, and people often don't want to work on it, but it's the pop-up. When you start seeing how bad and slow and mistimed your pop-up is, you can start working on it. But most often the time, it's not the actual timing and speed of the pop-up that needs the most work. It's actually just the pure mobility of it. That's something that you guys are obviously working on outside of the water during this trip as well.
Cris Mills
Absolutely. Even with clients, the pop-ups are a big one. It goes back to being seated too much. Once the hip loses its potential range of motion, the pop-up's gone. Same with a lot of people who are coming off hip and knee reconstructions. It really drastically affects the pop-up. Then there goes the rest of the wave, especially if you're surfing some reef breaks with some fast, chunky take-offs. We come at it from the skill and technique aspect. Maybe you just need to tweak the process of your pop-up, or maybe your hip can't move the way you need it to move. That's where I say to really get better at your surfing, you need to come at it from the body angle, but the technique angle. Make sure the foundations of movement are in place, and then you can layer the technique and the skill on top of it. We had one guy in particular, we were surfing Macaronis. Fun wave. It can be a bit fast with a take-off, and his pop-up was just rocked. Couldn't do it. It just required some really thorough joint mobilizations and some heavy, aggressive stretching, and it cleared it up. Good to go.
Michael Frampton
Of course, if you want to improve your mobility, you've got to clean up that food.
Cris Mills
I've written about it a lot. If anybody follows my Instagram or Facebook, I talk about food a lot. I'm a firm believer that it is one of the most critical... It's a foundation of health. Human capacity, it is a foundation. Most people are just kind of fueling the fire of inflammation with their nutrition.
Michael Frampton
What's the diet you most often recommend?
Cris Mills
I'd probably say a paleo template, and I really want to strongly use the word template. If you ask ten people what paleo is, you're going to get ten different answers. It really just comes down to real food most of the time, like 80, 90% of the time. Eat real food that you have to cook. Meats, vegetables, eggs, fruits. People know what real food is. You're being naive if you tell me otherwise, and that's it. If you get real food most of the time, you are well on your way to having a good quality diet. I don't think people should explore the details and the dogmatic approaches of diet until they are doing real food the majority of the time. Paleo template, because again, people... That shifts. If you want to get into the details of paleo, I'm fine with eating some legumes.
Some people might not be. If they've got some autoimmune issues, maybe not the best idea. The template of real food, that's it. Cut out the processed stuff. People are childish with their nutrition, and it's silly. Totally silly.
Michael Frampton
You've written a lot about it, and there's some good stuff there. What do... Man, I'm the same.
Cris Mills
You tell people about nutrition?
Michael Frampton
Just eat real food. Yeah.
Cris Mills
It's simple. I've studied so much nutrition, man. Wild nutritional approaches. I've just come back to a real balanced approach most of the time, and only diving into the details and nitty-gritty when there are specific health issues or specific goals. Other than that, eat real food most of the time. That covers most of the bases.
Michael Frampton
I personally eat meat most days, but I eat a lot less meat than I used to. I think we overeat meat.
Cris Mills
I think it's very easy for Western populations to overeat meat. Look at the quality of meat the average person's eating. Sick cows don't make healthy steaks. I think most people overeat really low-quality meat. I am a big proponent of animal consumption. I think it's just a really nutrient-dense source of food.
Some people will be up in arms about that, but spectrum, there's that word again. Nutrition is a spectrum, and figure out what works for you. I eat some animal protein pretty much every day, but I have some days during the week where it's kind of vegetarian. I think with my output and goals and training, animal protein sources are just a really nutrient-dense option for me. I just love a good burger or steak occasionally, quite honest.
Michael Frampton
It's got to be balanced, doesn't it? Yeah.
Cris Mills
Absolutely. You've seen it. There are vegans and vegetarians that are just as unhealthy as hardcore red meat eaters. It's yin-yang, man. That concept of yin-yang is... I wanted a yin-yang tattoo when I was 16, and I'm now going to be 34, and I still think I might get a yin-yang tattoo. It's so prevalent. There needs to be a balance and an awareness of what you are doing and if it's working for you. People just get stuck on one end, and it becomes potentially negative.
Michael Frampton
Yeah. What about the quality of water?
Cris Mills
I recommend most people, if they've got cash, get a water filter. I even had a client that worked for one of the big water agencies in testing. He said I was absurd for having a water filter, that it wasn't necessary. I think from the things I have heard and seen, I think it really is necessary. There's testing showing pharmaceuticals in municipal water supplies. Then people might say, but there's such minute doses. Then I look at it, and this goes back to nutrition, the whole kind of role of epigenetics in a sense, and the amount of things that we come in contact with—chemicals, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, things in the water, chlorine, fluoride, whatever. Our modern bodies are exposed to a lot of things that human physiology has never had to deal with previously. Who knows what might flip some type of genetic switch in my body compared to your body or whoever else's body? I just think it's a good idea to err on the side of caution, just rational caution, and get a water filter. It's not that expensive. Water is pretty critical to the human organism, so I want to drink some clean water.
Michael Frampton
Definitely. When you do start drinking clean water all the time, and then you have a glass of tap water from a big city, it doesn't really taste very good.
Cris Mills
It tastes totally different. You can smell the difference. Absolutely.
Yeah, again, going back to if somebody's got the cash—if you're driving a Mercedes, you should have a really good quality water filter. It's again that yin-yang, where's the balance of that, just the total lack of rationality about health.
Michael Frampton
Yeah, there's a lot of debate about which type of water filter as well. What do you recommend?
Cris Mills
You know, man, it's kind of a tough one. That's where the health world, I think, gets confusing, especially, again, us in the Internet age. There's so much information. Reverse osmosis, I've heard, is fantastic. The last water filter I had was, I believe, an RO filter, reverse osmosis. What's your take on that, man? I haven't dove into the details of that in quite some time. I've actually—my last couple of water filters were just brands and models that had been recommended to me by some trusted sources.
Michael Frampton
Yeah, we've got a reverse osmosis at home, and I like it. Yeah. It goes through a second stage filter where it goes through some mineral stones.
Cris Mills
Yes, right.
Michael Frampton
On. Just a plain reverse osmosis can take a lot of the minerals out of the water as well and actually make it acidic. Ours goes through some mineral stones and brings it to a balanced pH, and it just—yeah, I mean, it tastes clean. That's the main thing.
Cris Mills
If people would just get a quality filter and then just start drinking more water in general—like, the average person is chronically dehydrated and drinks nowhere near enough clean liquid. If they would just start drinking water, and especially filtered water, they're going to notice a difference in just the way they feel, their mental clarity. It does—again, the human organism is pretty damn reliant upon adequate hydration, and most people aren't adequately hydrated, and so it makes a big difference.
Yeah. So, the nutrition, that's a huge one.
Michael Frampton
Yeah. What other lifestyle changes do you recommend for clients?
Cris Mills
You got to figure out where they fall into, and you can't just throw a tight paleo diet or something at somebody that's way off in the deep end. So just start cleaning that stuff up. Big on sleep, huge on sleep, and that varies from person to person as well.
Like, I preferably have 8 to 10 hours a night. Some people are good on 6, but the whole sleep health, you know, get a good quality bed, get rid of all the electronics outside the bedroom, shut off the Wi-Fi. I think we're going to—this might sound a little bit woo-woo, but I think we're going to really start finding out that Wi-Fi and all the electromagnetic frequencies we've got around us don't do good things for the human body.
So get rid of the Wi-Fi and the TV. So sleep more. Big on meditation or just being aware of thought processes, you know, just kind of slowing down.
And then, yeah, the other lifestyle stuff, again, it kind of starts to get individualized in a sense. Some things we talked about earlier—develop some type of kind of stretching, flexibility, like body health routine, you know, where you're spending maybe 10 minutes in the morning going through some movement routine or 10 minutes meditating. Those are probably the biggest ones. Those are just kind of foundations of—are you eating well, are you sleeping well, do you have, you know, overarching positive mindset? Because, you know, your thoughts impact your physiology. Anybody who tells you otherwise is lying essentially. Those are probably the overarching ones, but I see those as, like Paul Cech talks about, those are the six foundational principles, and those things need to be in order. And if they're not, physiology is going to be impacted.
Michael Frampton
Yeah, I totally agree. Paul actually reminds me of—Paul's got a good little YouTube video, maybe it's even a video series of the four doctors.
Cris Mills
Yes.
Michael Frampton
Yeah. Yeah, that's a good one for most people to have a dabble, a look at.
Yeah. I'll put a link to that in the show notes. And I've been doing a lot of research on EMF stuff as well at the moment. It's...
Cris Mills
Gnarly, man. Like, they're starting to, I think, make some big shifts in Europe regarding EMF frequencies.
You know, you look at it—the body, the nervous system, electrical impulses, right? We are energy. And if we are surrounded by a bunch of other frequency and energetic waves, that could potentially offset our own innate systems' frequencies.
You know, that's again, the simplistic way of how I look at it.
Michael Frampton
Yeah. Yeah.
So those that are trustworthy and have common sense, just turn your Wi-Fi and turn your phone off at night. And those that want to geek out, I'm going to put a link to the show notes on some of the research on this stuff.
Yeah. And point people in the direction of Jack Cruz, who talks about it a lot. He talks about water and magnetism and light. And...
Cris Mills
He's got some deep thoughts, doesn't he? It's impressive.
Yeah. Yeah. Deep thoughts. But yeah, it's again, like I was talking about the epigenetics of nutrition and water. It's just modern life. Our bodies are exposed to a lot of things that from an evolutionary perspective we haven't been exposed to. And so again, the EMF—err on the side of rational caution. And yeah, like you said, turn the Wi-Fi off. Turn it off in the entire house. Get rid of your phone.
You know, I think it's a good idea. And we're going to come to find out that it's a very good idea.
Michael Frampton
Yeah, it's pretty easy too. You just buy a $10 timer for the plug of your Wi-Fi, and it's off from, you know, 11 o'clock to 5:30 a.m. It's pretty easy.
Cris Mills
Yeah. No, that's a really good idea.
Yeah, throw those notes up there, man. People need to read that stuff and become aware.
Michael Frampton
Yeah, and there's blue light at night.
Cris Mills
Yes, I just installed Flux on my laptop. Yeah. Ridiculously enough, I had never heard of it before until I just posted recently on Facebook. They had some research coming out showing exposure to blue light at night offset glucose metabolism.
So think of how that relates to, you know, diabetes and things like that, inflammatory disorders and stuff. So yeah, the blue light. Stop staring at a TV all night, you know.
Michael Frampton
Yeah.
Cris Mills
Yeah, the blue light stuff is interesting. So yeah, I installed Flux. That's cool. I think most people should throw that onto their computers and phones if they've got a compatible software.
Michael Frampton
Agreed. Again, I'll put a link to that in the show notes. But folks, what happens is when blue light or white light is penetrating your eyes, it tells your brain that it's daytime. It's as simple as that.
And then when that light starts going orangey-pink, like when the sun is setting, you begin to start releasing melatonin. And then that kicks you off for sleep sort of two hours afterwards.
So this program, Flux, will basically, when the sun goes down, your computer starts taking that sort of candlelight. It takes a little while to get used to.
Yeah, once you do it for a week, you can't go back.
Cris Mills
It looks a bit orange at first, but yeah, it's good. It's totally good.
Michael Frampton
Yeah. Sometimes I turn it off, and it kind of hurts my eyes. It's so nice on your eyes. It's a great program if you can download that.
Cris Mills
Yeah, get it. There's no reason not to.
Michael Frampton
Yeah, modern living is not healthy, really, is it? I always tell people, if you look at what... Mother Nature always has the right answer, I think.
Cris Mills
Yeah, it's just inherent. Look at it—nature's wisdom, the inherent intelligence of the body. For all the benefits modern life has brought, it's brought quite a lot of negativity as well. It's a funny line to walk and to see where human health and technology continue to interact and move forward. But it's just going back to the basics, right? If it wasn't happening 150 years ago in terms of the body and food and things like that, just go at it with some understanding and open awareness. Shift your perspective.
Michael Frampton
Don't be a guinea pig.
Cris Mills
Yeah, that's it? We all are too, man. We are a giant lab test, basically.
Michael Frampton
Yeah, anyway, Mother Nature has the answer, I think. We always should look there. When it comes to food, look at the Paleo diet, the primal diet that's blowing up at the moment. That's just essentially what you had to eat before supermarkets were readily available. It's that simple.
Cris Mills
Yeah, the simplicity of it. Somebody posted on one of my posts the other day that they just heard the Paleo diet was really unhealthy, so they weren't going to do it. I'd be curious to see what article or headline she read, but when I hear people bashing the Paleo diet, and mind you, it depends what your interpretation of the Paleo diet is, how can you go against the thought process of just eating real food? I know Paleo gets into the stipulations of no dairy, no legumes, etc., etc., but just the basics of eating real food. It's simple. Bringing it back full circle, we've gotten into some deep stuff, which is awesome, and I nerd out on it and love it, but it just all comes back to human capacity. That's what I try to impress upon through my writing. Human capacity. Are you capable and healthy enough to do what it is you want to do in life? Better relationships with your family, go hiking, and in our case, Surfing. It's this human capacity. All that stuff, all those lifestyle factors are hugely relevant and usually overlooked. People always just go at it from the fitness perspective. There's a lot more to that pie chart of what needs to be included in the realm of health and improving one's health.
Michael Frampton
I always look at it like, again, yin and yang. We need a yin and yang balance of stress and recovery. What people don't realize is that when you eat a piece of cake, that's stressing your body out.
Cris Mills
It's a stressor. Yeah.
Michael Frampton
If you want to eat lots of cake, then you're going to have less capacity to go Surfing. It's that simple.
Cris Mills
Yeah. People don't make that connection. They think cake, and it's totally disassociated from Surfing, but it's not because that cake is influencing every cell in the body in a sense. If you're eating cake every day over the span of a year, it's going to totally shift your physiology towards a negative end to that spectrum again.
Yeah. Joint problems, a 20-pound extra gut, none of that is helping somebody's Surfing. None of it's helping somebody's life.
Yeah. It's just bringing people to that awareness.
Michael Frampton
That's right. Although every now and then, I have a piece of cake.
Cris Mills
Man. Cheesecake or carrot cake, I will smash some cheesecake and carrot cake. But I'm sure you and I probably have that pie chart of health, that yin and yang is probably a lot more balanced.
Yeah. But, man, sweets, I will smash some good sweets.
Michael Frampton
What's your go-to choice for a sweet tooth?
Cris Mills
Yeah. Yeah, that's a big one. I think most people should probably be eating really good dark chocolate just from the standpoint of antioxidants and even magnesium. Love good dark chocolate.
And then I really like banana bread, really good banana bread. I just had a consult with a client this morning, as a matter of fact, and we were talking about desserts. I'm like, man, you need to be able to indulge occasionally. I told him, I was like, you need to—I sent him a bunch of links to recipes, healthier versions of recipes. I was like, once a week, cook a dessert.
Yeah. Have it in the fridge, you know, and that yin and yang. Go to that yang of sweet tooth now and then. Just cook it yourself. Cook it yourself so you can control what's going into it. And eat some banana bread, some dark chocolate, and some cheesecake.
Michael Frampton
Cool, man. All right.
Yeah, bro. We talked about a lot. I'm going to put a lot of links in the show notes for those that want to do some more research.
Cris Mills
Yeah. No, that was cool. And it probably wasn't all as fitness-related as one may expect, coming from a strength and conditioning coach and massage therapist. And, you know, we can—there's so much info out there. But it's all, again, coming back to just improve your overall human health and capacity so you can Surf and seek out some guidance and move and train.
Michael Frampton
Yeah, and like if you don't have the time to research, well, you don't have to because Chris has already done it. And he's made, you know, some programs and some videos.
Yeah, absolutely. That you can just crack onto.
So, again, go ahead and do that, people. And cool. We've run out of time, but thank you so much, Chris, for your time.
Cris Mills
I really appreciate it. No, Michael, man. Hugely appreciate it. It's awesome. I think it's fantastic what you're doing. And keep it up, man. Very much appreciate it. Yeah, cheers, bro.
Michael Frampton
Thanks, Chris. Thanks for tuning in to the Surf Mastery Podcast. Again, I'm your host, Michael Frampton. Make sure you subscribe so you can keep up to date with the latest interviews. Please share with your friends. Check us out on Facebook at Surf Mastery Surf. And if you're on iTunes, please go and give us a little rating. That'd be awesome. Until next time, keep Surfing.
11 Cris Mills - Surf Strength Coach
For the passionate surfer—whether you're a weekend warrior, a surf dad, or an older surfer—this podcast is all about better surfing and deeper stoke. With expert surf coaching, surf training, and surfing tips, we’ll help you catch more waves, refine your paddling technique, and perfect your pop up on a surfboard. From surf workouts to handling wipeouts, chasing bigger waves, and mastering surf technique, we’re here to make sure you not only improve but truly enjoy surfing more—so you can get more out of every session and become a wiser surfer. Go from Beginner or intermediate Surfer to advanced.