Laird Hamilton, the legendary big wave surfer, has not only conquered some of the world's most challenging waves but has also cultivated a lifestyle centered around peak physical condition and longevity. Paired with his wife, Gabby Reece, a fitness icon in her own right, Hamilton offers a compelling model for maintaining health and vitality at any age. This article delves into the dietary and lifestyle choices that underpin Hamilton's remarkable achievements, drawing from his personal routines and expert insights.
A Day in the Life: Nutrition and Activity
When a significant swell arrives, Hamilton's day revolves around intense physical activity and strategic nutrition. His summer workout routine, which combines 90-minute functional training sessions with innovative pool workouts, serves as a warm-up for the demands of big wave surfing. When he's in Hanalei Bay, the real work begins. Those who have witnessed Hamilton in action during these periods can attest to the relentless pace he and his tow-in partners maintain.
The Laird Hamilton Diet
To sustain this level of activity, Hamilton emphasizes healthy eating and proper nutritional supplementation. His diet, refined through years of experimentation, prioritizes whole foods and mindful consumption.
Hydration
Hamilton starts his day by drinking a large glass of water. This helps to kickstart his metabolism and ensures he is properly hydrated. Drinking enough water helps in every way: performance, recovery, flexibility, even sleep. Hamilton pays close attention to his body, because his hydration needs vary depending on his diet, his activities, and the climate.
Morning Fuel
Hamilton turns his coffee into a meal. He pulls three or four shots of dark-roast espresso and adds one scoop of his custom-blend coconut-milk creamer, one scoop of turmeric creamer, a teaspoon of ghee or raw butter, a half-teaspoon of fair-trade red palm oil, a teaspoon of raw coconut, and a mushroom blend that includes shiitake, maitake, lion’s mane, and cordyceps. This concoction provides approximately 200 calories to sustain him until lunch.
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Lunch: A Substantial Affair
Midday, Hamilton consumes a meal large enough for two people, as it's his first solid food since the previous evening. He centers his lunch around a high-quality animal protein, such as sustainable local fish or chicken, served on a bed of lettuce, cabbage, or kale. He then tops it with avocado or crushed macadamia nuts and dresses it with olive oil and vinegar. When available, he adds raw-milk cheese to the salad. Sushi and sashimi also feature prominently, often including up to eight assorted raw fresh fish and vegetable rolls, along with locally caught Ahi.
Dinner: Family Time
Hamilton always has dinner with his wife, Gabrielle. Their meals typically consist of smoked or roasted meat, such as lamb, accompanied by a generous serving of vegetables like broccoli and Brussels sprouts drizzled in olive oil, or cabbage and butternut squash tossed with coconut oil.
Avoiding Sugar and Alcohol
Hamilton avoids excessive consumption of processed foods, sugars, and refined carbohydrates, opting for healthier substitutes. He seldom eats dessert and finds he doesn’t miss it unless he just didn’t get enough calories or good fat that day. The less sugar he eats, the less he craves it. Hamilton also gave up wine almost 12 years ago.
Key Principles of the Laird Hamilton Diet
Several core principles underpin Hamilton’s dietary approach:
- Prioritizing Whole Foods: Hamilton focuses on eating foods as close to their natural source as possible. Pleasure is definitely a part of my diet, and I regularly eat delicious whole foods. But my main priority is to eat in a way that nourishes and protects my body and the planet.
- Embracing Healthy Fats: Hamilton emphasizes the importance of incorporating healthy fats into his diet, such as those found in avocado, nuts, and coconut oil.
- Limiting Sugar and Processed Foods: He avoids excessive consumption of processed foods, sugars, and refined carbohydrates.
- Listening to the Body: Hamilton pays close attention to his body's signals, adjusting his diet based on his activity level and the climate. He recognizes that everyone’s dietary needs are different, and it has taken him decades to develop nutritional habits that work for him.
Fitness Philosophy
Hamilton's commitment to health extends beyond diet to encompass a holistic fitness philosophy. He and his wife, Gabby Reece, prioritize foundational workouts, including strength training, cardiovascular exercise, and flexibility.
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Foundational Workouts
- Strength Training: Strength training helps build and tone muscles, contributing to bone density and joint health.
- Cardio Exercises: Hamilton and Reece include cardiovascular workouts to enhance endurance and maintain cardiovascular health.
- Flexibility: Flexibility contributes to improved mobility, reduced risk of injuries, and overall functional fitness.
Surf-Inspired Workouts
Hamilton incorporates surf-inspired elements into his fitness routines, including water-based exercises and dynamic movements. This involves pool workouts, underwater workouts, breath work, and balance training. Laird developed XPT's Extreme Pool Training to train during his off-season. The training was designed to help him prepare for being held underwater after wiping out on a giant wave, but it has, over time, developed into much more. The surf-inspired workout is not just about being underwater but more about your ability to move through the water more efficiently, confidently, and effortlessly. It involves breath-holding exercises, underwater weights, and dynamic movements in the water.
Innovation and Creativity
Hamilton infuses creativity into his workout routines through diverse modalities, unconventional equipment, and unique training environments. By creatively adjusting or adding a few elements, you can kick away monotony and challenge your body in new ways. His creative workouts include the use of unconventional equipment, underwater workouts, quick, high-intensity workouts, and extreme performance training (XPT).
Longevity and Mindset
Hamilton views age as more of a decision than a reality. He emphasizes the importance of maintaining an active lifestyle, embracing new challenges, and fostering a positive mindset.
Consistency
Hamilton compares fitness to brushing your teeth, make fitness an automatic part of your routine so that you don't have the option of skipping it. Once you practice brushing your teeth daily, you'll hardly wake up and think twice about whether to brush. Give yourself a six-week window in which you commit without expectations. Whatever you commit to, whether walking daily or doing resistance training weekly, just ride it out for four to six weeks to see how adaptable your body is when you stay the course.
Stress Management
Identify ways to manage stress throughout the day so that you can get even more from your exercise and diet efforts. Always remember how it feels after you go through with an exercise. Hamilton emphasizes the need to find balance and not push too hard in any direction.
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Lessons from Laird
Hamilton's approach to diet and fitness offers valuable lessons for anyone seeking to optimize their health and well-being:
- Find What Works for You: Everyone’s dietary needs are different, and it has taken him decades to develop nutritional habits that work for him.
- Stay Active: Hamilton and Reece also highlight the importance of extending yourself grace and learning to maximize the little opportunity available to do something good for your body.
- Be Consistent: The perfect diet is the most sustainable one that just becomes how you eat every day.
- Embrace Innovation: Coming up with new ideas keeps me young and excited
- Make it Fun: Having as much fun as humanly possible is one of the keys to staying young, so find activities you love.