Laird Hamilton Quotes

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Laird Hamilton

Profession : Athlete

Birth : March 2, 1964

When I've helped out-of-shape friends get back into shape, the first thing we do is get them more accustomed to struggle. You train hard, which is uncomfortable, and then you get sore - and then you're uncomfortable because you're sore. But you have to keep going.

Laird Hamilton

I've always had a huge pain threshold - I've broken legs and dealt with it - and the ability to deal with the pain of injury allowed me to heal faster.

Laird Hamilton

The first time you do some new exercise, you're sore and tired in a way that you hadn't been before. But do that same exercise for three or four months, and you have to do twice as many reps and with more weight to feel as though you've accomplished anything.

Laird Hamilton

Everyone gravitates toward what they're good at. If you've got big legs, you're going to go squat. If you've got big pecs, you're going to go to the bench press. It's just what we automatically do.

Laird Hamilton

Being upside down is the ultimate counterbalance to the repetitive motions we do in our vertical lives - walking, standing, paddleboarding, sitting upright.

Laird Hamilton

Usually, working out is about aesthetics - six-pack abs and biceps and pecs - instead of true functionality. True function has a different aesthetic appeal.

Laird Hamilton

If I'm doing serious swim training, I like fins, a snorkel, and a mask.

Laird Hamilton

I love swimming in rough water, usually along cliff lines and places where the waves are really banging on you.

Laird Hamilton

Swimming is the root of surfing. The first board you ever have is your body.

Laird Hamilton

While swimming is a great workout, it's also one of the best activities for recovery. It improves the flexibility in your arms and shoulders, and surrounds your body with pressurization.

Laird Hamilton

Paddle boarding is like walking on water. Standing atop a board in the middle of the ocean, you see everything from sea life to the coastline and across the channel. Having that sweeping expanse in front of you, you just want to go exploring.

Laird Hamilton

Like swimming, paddle boarding is an all-body workout. It strengthens your core and stabilization system, requiring your connective tissue to generate power through your hands and out your feet.

Laird Hamilton

All the exercise in the world won't get you into good health if you eat nothing but sugar and carbs.

Laird Hamilton

There hasn't been one diet in the history of diets that has worked on a large scale. That's because good nutrition has to be part of a whole lifestyle shift.

Laird Hamilton

Whether we're trying to cut out processed foods, get fit, or lose one bad habit or another, the biggest obstacle is always mental.

Laird Hamilton

There are lots of aspects of our lives we don't have control over, but we do have control over ourselves. That's one thing you can own.

Laird Hamilton

I learned about the importance of feet the hard way - by breaking my left foot more than 10 times, as well as all the metatarsals and arches in both feet. I know that if your feet are hurt, you're done; without them, you're immobile. And now I appreciate them and treat them with the respect they deserve.

Laird Hamilton

There isn't a sport in the world - including swimming - that doesn't involve the foot, so when we train the whole body, we have to include the complex system of muscles, tendons, and joints around the ankle and foot.

Laird Hamilton

Standing on golf or lacrosse balls and rolling them through the arches is a painful but seriously effective way to warm up and strengthen the feet.

Laird Hamilton

You won't find a better place to get your heart rate up and strengthen your entire body than the beach. Compared with the pounding that exercising on blacktop, trails, or even grass delivers to your joints, the beach goes easy, and causes less muscle inflammation and fewer post-workout aches, too.

Laird Hamilton