Stand Up Jet Ski Exercises

Looking to get in better shape to ride your stand up jet ski? Nothing beats time on your ski, but these simple exercises help train important muscle groups while you are off the water.

Rather than bore you with explanations on how to do each exercise, I’ll list out particular movements that have the greatest benefits for riding stand up jet skis to get you on the right path. YouTube is a great resource if you need a demonstration for how to complete each exercise properly.

Body Weight Exercises
Perform all body weight exercises slow and controlled for greatest benefit. Moving slowly though the whole range of the movement allows you to find and work on your weakest “sticking point” of the exercise, instead of using momentum to blast past it. I prefer to do exercises to failure for greatest range of muscle fiber engagement, but you can do your research on what weight and rep combo works best for your body.

Squats and Lunges
Great active exercises to target quads (thighs) and glutes (buttocks). Lunges are especially good to balance out your strength if you have a strong leg and a weak leg.

Wall Sit
A static exercise that also works the quads and glutes, great if you have knee or hip joint pain when performing an active movement.

Glute Bridge
Targets glutes and hips. Alt: turn into a static hold at the height of the bridge. Advanced: single leg glute bridge for increased effort.

Plank
Targets the core, while also benefitting legs, back, and arms. A strong core helps with balance and recovery on a stand up.

Push Up
With a similar body placement as the plank, push ups are great for primarily working your chest and arms while engaging other stabilizing muscle groups.

Handstand
Handstands are phenomenal for strengthening shoulder, back, and core muscles, which in turn helps with balance and staying light on the bars/handlepole. They are a more advanced movement, but you can still get the benefits using a wall for stabilization.

Compound Exercises and Equipment
Body weight exercises can take you a long way without the need for extra weights or equipment. If you are looking for variety, these compound movements target multiple muscle groups with the benefit of some cardio to get that heart rate up! I’m including exercises that use relatively inexpensive equipment that does not require a lot of space for use/storage.

Kettlebell Swing
My favorite! These are a low impact movement that engage the lower body, core, upper body, and cardiovascular system with a free weight called a kettlebell. Similar to dumbbells, kettlebells are available in a variety of weights and feature a handle that allows them to be securely grasped for swinging and lifting movements. The reason they are my favorite is the kettlebell swing targets lower back and stabilizing core muscles that transfer over to better balance and the ability to sustain a more aggressive stance when riding stand ups. Work up to doing a set of 50 or 100 of them with a challenging weight and you’ll feel the burn all over. You can often find deals on Facebook marketplace or Craigslist for used weights in your area. I personally order smaller free weights off Amazon as the prices are comparable to stores like Academy with the benefit of saving you time and travel. For reference where to start with weight, I am a 150 pound woman and use 20 – 35 pound kettlebells. Kettlebells on Amazon.

Wall Ball
This combines explosive muscle engagement with the squat for lower body, core and back for stability, and arm muscles in the throw using a weighted, relatively soft ball that does not bounce. You typically want to throw the ball at a spot on the wall 8-12 feet up, and I personally use 10-14 pound balls. Wall balls on Amazon.

Box Jump
Another advanced movement that works on your lower body balance and explosivity. Box jumps are achieved by jumping from the floor to a wooden or foam box that can be rotated for varying heights. Best to start on the lowest box height to find your baseline and go from there. Like the kettlebell swing, if you do a set of 50-100 proper box jumps, you’ll certainly feel the burn in your legs and lungs! Wooden (have to be assembled) and foam (more expensive) boxes on Amazon.

Grip Training
Grip strength is often overlooked, but comes in handy (haha, lame) when trying to hold onto your ski in choppy water or a in a wipeout. Kettlebell swings, free weights, and pull ups work your grip muscles, but if you are looking for specific grip excircles you can get a grip strength trainer. They’re inexpensive and can be used just about anywhere to get a good grip workout in. Grip Strength trainer on Amazon.

Down the Rabbit Hole
The above exercises are a great launch point to help your riding while you are off the water, however, they just touch the surface of sport-specific fitness. Just like the jet ski hobby, you can go down the fitness rabbit hole as far as you dare. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to include this extra part, but screw it, if you want to go all in, let’s go!

The Big Three
If you have spent any time in the fitness realm, you might be have heard of the Big Three lifts – barbell squat, deadlift, and bench press. These three barbell movements work the entire body’s muscle groups and can be a quick and efficient way to get in a workout. As with any exercise using weight, proper form and controlled movement is mandatory to reduce the likelihood of injury. My favorite of the three is deadlift. After 6 joint surgeries, my mobility is not what it used to be and the deadlift works key leg, glutes, back, and shoulder muscles used for riding stand ups all in one simple movement. You’ll either need a gym membership, or if you have the space, a couple basic pieces of equipment to get the home barbell setup going. Just like free weights, you may be able to get bargain equipment on local Marketplace/garage sales in your area. If wanting to buy new, relatively inexpensive equipment I like this rack, Olympic barbell, bench combo on Amazon.

Pull Ups
Another plus of having a gym membership or the barbell rack setup above is the pull up bar. While deadlifts also work them, pull ups are excellent for targeting your lats (latissimus dorsi muscle). I find that the stronger I get my lats, the better I am able to hold on to and control the ski with a proper stance in rough water. If you haven’t done pull ups in a while, I’m pretty sure you’ll be surprised at how few you can do with proper form. That was my experience anyway!

Further Reading
That about wraps up my basic guide to body weight, minimal equipment, and Big Three exercise suggestions for targeted, off the water stand up jet ski movements. If you are looking for more reading material or audio books to listen to, definitely check out these books:

• Body by Science: A Research Based Program for Strength Training, Body building, and Complete Fitness in 12 Minutes a Week
• The Little Black Book of Workout Motivation 
• Deep Fitness: The Mindful, Science-Based Strength-Training Method to Transform Your Well-Being in Just 30 Minutes a Week
• Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity
• The Wim Hof Method: Activate Your Full Human Potential
• What Doesn’t Kill Us: How Freezing Water, Extreme Altitude, and Environmental Conditioning Will Renew Our Lost Evolutionary Strength
• Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable