Bethany Hamilton was sort of an average Hawaiian surfer girl until a fateful trip to the water when she was 13. She was attacked by a 14-foot tiger shark, which severed her left arm and required multiple surgeries to save her life. Just a short month after the attack, the teen was back on her board, and by the age of 17 had become a world-renowned professional surfer.

Also known as the Soul Surfer, Bethany’s story is one of inspiration, proving that no hurdle is insurmountable.

We recently had a chance to interview the now 22-year-old professional surfer and learn more about how she keeps fit, motivated, and how she enjoyed a recent appearance on NBC’s The Biggest Loser.

Click through to see our interview with Bethany!

Stand up paddling (SUP) or “Yoloing” is the perfect combination of traditional canoeing, surfing and kayaking, but even better. Stand up paddling offers an incredible core workout with a cadence much like swimming or cycling. Yolo Boards, founded by Tom Losee and Jeff Archer in 2006 in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, is the custom paddleboard of choice. “Yolo” stands for “You Only Live Once”, and when you first try stand up paddling in a lake, ocean, or bay, this name makes perfect sense.

People of any age, from 5 to 85, can do this. While traditional surfboards are 20 inches in width, stand up paddleboards are 32 inches wide. You can learn by starting on your knees and go from there. What is truly great is that it is something the entire family can do together.

Here are 3 new fitness trends in Stand Up Paddling:

1. Stand Up Fitness and Paddle Fit founder Brody Welte, says, “SUP” is one of the greatest forms of exercise that exists. It focuses on upper and lower body and core strength. It is as challenging as running, swimming and biking from a cardio perspective. It has virtually zero impact, is gentle on the body, and improves your balance as well.” SUP is an exercise like no other. Getting out on the water gives you a true serenity, challenge and good time.

2. Stand Up Paddle Yoga is becoming a top yoga trend as well. When I asked Stand Up Paddle Yoga Instructor Gillian Gibree why she thinks this is becoming so popular, she told me, “Stand Up Paddle Yoga takes the workout out of the studio and into nature. Doing a true sun salutation on a floating mat on the water is so refreshing and meditative. Yoga and SUP are two amazing practices that are great for the body, mind, and spirit!”

3. Racing in Stand Up Paddle is becoming a sport as well. You can find the latest information for races around the United States on at SupEvent.com and iTunes.

For more information, you can also see Brody’s innovative Paddle Fit digital guide launched last year, which gives step-by-step digital instruction on getting fit while stand up paddling. He has also launched an entire Paddle Fit certificationof classes, held in different areas of the country. For your next vacation, see if your resort offers SUP like Sandestin and 30A in NW Florida.

Alison Lewis is a nationally known Cookbook Author, Magazine and Internet Food, Travel, Fitness and Health Journalist, Speaker, Travel and Food Photographer and Owner of Ingredients, Inc., a Media Consulting company in Birmingham, Alabama who is on Facebook and Twitter.

When you think fitness, what comes to mind – fun or drudgery and effort? Do you imagine dragging yourself to the gym, dreading every work out? Do you make up ways to avoid getting it done? Are you tired of using the same equipment over and over?

Fitness doesn’t have to be an effort. You don’t have to dread the cardio equipment and fear the weights. Boredom is one of the top reasons that those who begin a fitness effort stop. If you’ve just begun your fitness journey, take heart. It doesn’t have to be this way. There are plenty of fun activities that do double duty, getting your heart rate up while being enjoyable. A workout that teaches a new skill can build self confidence, and the reality that you are improving in your new area of study makes you more apt to stick with it.

“Exercise doesn’t have to be boring,” says Shawn M. Arent, director of the Human Performance Lab at Rutgers University in New Jersey. “It can be fun and addictive in a good way.”

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“Om dude” are not two words that you often hear together. But for surfers, the ancient tradition of yoga offers a host of benefits that can complement their love of the waves.

Whether you ride your board every day or once a year, you are familiar with the aches and pains that spending a few hours gliding on the rough and tumbling waves can bring to your body. But surfer-specific yoga moves provide relief to sore and banged up muscles while also improving surfing performance.

Here is what you need to know about yoga for surfers:

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I moved to California a little over a month ago and have picked up the hobby of surfing. Surfing requires an extreme amount of core strength, stability, and balance as well as upper and lower body strength. If you have never been surfing, I totally recommend it. It is a great way to get away from the stresses of the world and to enjoy nature at its best.

Of course, safety is a big issue, but if you take a lesson or play it safe you will be more than fine. I also recommend starting with a long board then upgrading to a shorter one once you get better.

Below is a total body workout that I have put together to strengthen the muscles and parts of the body necessary to concur the sport of surfing. I have incorporated several core movements as well as upper and lower body exercises.
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