Frequently Asked Questions

In any sport other than surfing, physical training is part of the amateur and professional athletes sport. Whether it's basketball, American football, or field hockey, there is always some form of physical training involved to support the sport itself. Level Up has the mission to adopt this approach to surfing. Based on exercise science and the scarce yet evolving research on surfing, we help surfers of all levels lower their risk of injury, revalidate after injury, and reach their best possible surfing. If you want to Level Up your surfing or stay in shape for surfing so you can surf for the rest of your days, "train on land, perform on water" is the way to go!

Level Up offers online surf training programs, online surf video analysis and surf coaching trips. The surf training programs exist out of exercise videos with in depth instructions, that will improve your surf fitness. The online surf video analysis, can be bought separately or in a package with the surf training program. During video analysis, the surf clips that you send through get deeply analyzed, and you will get structured drills to work on your surfing technique during your next surf ressions. During a surf coaching trip you get the full experience including all things surfing and surf specific training. During all services you are in direct contact with your coach.

No, in fact, you don’t even have to have surfing experience to start training with the Level Up surf training app. By doing our training sessions, you will become stronger, more flexible, and improve your overall physicality. Surfing is mostly paddling, and the biggest reason beginner surfers quit is because they are not fit enough for surfing. By doing Level Up training, you will improve your physicality for surfing and be able to spend more time in the water, catch more waves, and improve your surfing way faster thanks to a strong physique developed for the impacts surfing has on our body.

When signing up for the surf training app, everyone has to fill out a consultation form and perform a movement screening that you have to send via the in-app chatbox. Everyone gets screened before starting with training. With that information, Keith is capable of making a program that fits your needs as a surfer. This individualized approach will make sure you don’t do exercises you shouldn’t be doing and that the time you spend training is well spent.

All Level Up programs are made by Keith Marcantuoni, who is an experienced surfer with 18 years of surfing experience. Keith is also a professional personal trainer, and he understands like no other the unique needs of a surfer. That is why most programs or exercises that you will have to perform don’t require you to have equipment. At most, you will need a pull up bar, rings, some small weights, and a resistance band. When you sign up for the training app, you always have direct contact with Keith, so you can always ask for inspiration to build your own materials or even to adjust your exercises.

Keith knows very well from his years of personal training experience that people don’t always have time to do long training sessions. That is why the training programs at Level Up are personalized. If you want shorter workouts, Keith can make them for you. It is also possible to have a combination of longer and shorter training sessions so that you can choose from day to day whether you do a long surf training session or a short one.

Yes, you can. Allot of the riders that train with Level Up also do other forms of training. Because of the personalized nature of the programs, Keith can perfectly make a program for you that fits your other activities.

Yes, you can. Although the technique of the pop up needs to be practiced in the surf, you can improve your pop up by doing land based training. The pop up is a skill, and in order to perform that skill, one needs specific strength and flexibility. If you lack these strength and flexibility abilities, you cannot do the pop up. Again, the technique you will have to practice in the surf, but the physical attributes that help you do the pop up we can develop with Level Up training.

Yes, you can improve your paddling with Level Up training. It doesn’t matter what level of surfer you are, most of the time during a surf session, you are paddling. That is why a big focus during Level Up training is improving strength and mobility for paddling. Based on the data we have, Level Up training is built around improving your paddle performance like no other surf training program. Whether you are an advanced paddler or a beginner, you will be able to improve your paddling abilities with land based Level Up training.

Yes, you can improve your duck dive with Level Up training. The skill of duck diving you must develop in the surf, but Keith knows very well, thanks to his personal training experience, that not everyone has the strength to do a duck dive. That is why Level Up has specific exercises to strengthen your arms and develop the mobility needed to do the duck dive. Instead of just forcing yourself and asking your body to do something it isn’t physically capable of, Level Up helps you to develop the strength and mobility so that your physicality can’t hinder you from learning the actual duck dive in the surf.

Level Up training is built by surfers for surfers. The biggest bang for your buck is if you surf or if you plan on starting to surf. However, Level Up training can benefit anyone who is seeking improvements in their physical abilities, regardless of which sport you practice. If you really want a specific program for other board sports than surfing, we advise you to contact us, and we will see what we can do for you.

After signing up through the website, you will be able to download the app and install your personal account. Within 24 hours, Keith will contact you to start your surf training journey.

Within the app, there are over 400 different exercise and informational videos. In all videos, Keith will give detailed instructions. A program consists of different exercises, each with its own unique video and detailed instructions. You will perfectly know what to do, for how long, and when. This is by far the most detailed surf training you can get.

Any form of credit card, Visa, Master Card, Apple Pay, Google Pay…

Yes, he can, and there is even a youth coaching program he can sign up for. Parental consent is required for every sign up under 18 years of age.

Yez on all our surf coaching trips and during the online surf video analysis we teach surfing technique. In the surf training app we focus only on developing the physical attributes a surfer needs in order to perform optimally.

All coaching in the surf training app is in English. Direct communication is possible in both English and Flemish. The surf video analysis and surf trips can both be in English and Flemish.

Altough coach Julie is a master in physiotherapy and rehabilitation, and Keith is a personal trainer with loads of experience in helping people recover after injury. We at Level Up advise anyone to always see their doctor whenever they have an injury. To start training in the app, we also encourage anyone with an injury to first ask their doctor for permission to start training.

You can see a video of how the online surf video analysis coaching works by clicking THIS link. If you have any more questions afer this don’t hesitate to reach out.

To join a Level Up surf coaching trip, you need to be between an intermediate and an expert surfer. Coaching trips can be focused more on one level of surfing, so we recommend you contact us if you are not sure about your surf level.

Yez, you need to have your own surf gear to join a Level Up surf coaching trip. Level Up does not provide any surf gear for riders that join the surf coaching trips.

You can see whatisincluded in each surf coaching trip by clicking on THIS link. If you have any more questions don’t hesitate to reach out.