Morning Micro Habits for Lifelong Surfing

Surf Strong Show Express with Greg Finch

Most surfers think they need a “perfect” 2-hour morning routine to level up their surfing. In this Surf Strong Show Express episode, Greg Finch makes the case for something way more realistic—and way more effective: 10–20 focused minutes of breath and movement that keep you surf-ready for life.

Greg breaks down how to start your day in a way that actually supports your surfing, instead of just checking another box on a self-help checklist. You’ll hear why surfing is such a high-demand activity on your body and nervous system, and how a few simple micro habits can keep your movement, breath, and mobility tuned so you can keep paddling out for decades.

You’ll also learn why your brain secretly wants you to stay on the couch, how to work with that resistance instead of fighting it, and why “First breath, not first screen” is one of the most powerful performance cues you can use—both in and out of the water.

In this episode, we get into:

• Why routines are overhyped—and how to swap “perfect routine” pressure for simple, repeatable micro habits.
• The true demands of surfing on your movement, breath, and mobility—and what it really takes to maintain them as you age.
• “First breath, not first screen” – a simple morning reset that downshifts your nervous system and sets the tone for your whole day.
• A go-to breath pattern (4-second inhale, 6–8 second exhale) you can use in bed, in the lineup, in the car, or in the grocery store line.
• A quick Surf Strong Primer you can do in 5–10 minutes:
  • Gentle spine + hip wake-up (cat–cow, hip circles, thoracic rotation)
  • Deep squat holds to check in on your lower body
  • Push-up / pop-up variations that don’t wreck your shoulders
  • Dead bug / crawl-pattern core work that trains you to breathe under tension
• How tiny, consistent actions act like compounding interest for your surf fitness, resilience, and recovery.
• Why your “evolved mind” is wired to avoid effort—and how to design habits that sneak past that resistance.

Who this episode is for

This one’s especially for you if:

• You’re a surfer who wants to keep surfing hard into your 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond
• You feel stiff, tight, or beat-up in the mornings after a couple days of surf
• You keep meaning to start a morning routine but get overwhelmed or fall off quickly
• You want simple, doable structure—not another perfectionist plan you’ll abandon next week

Big idea to take with you

You don’t need a flawless two-hour routine.
You need 10–20 intentional minutes that:

• Start with breath, not screens
• Wake up your hips, spine, and shoulders
• Remind your brain, “Hey, we’re surfers—we stay ready.”

Come back to your breath. Come back to the fundamentals. Build from there.

If you’d like help turning this into a tailored plan for your body, your schedule, and your surf goals, I’d love to help you map it out. If you're open to it, we could jump on a quick call this week, find out exactly where you are, what you want to achieve in your surfing, and lay out a plan to get you there.