Suzie Cooney, Indo Board Brand Ambassador and Team Rider, NASM Personal Trainer, SUP professional athlete, international SUP coach, the owner of Maliko Run, and longtime friend.

I  recently got to catch up with Indo Board Brand Ambassador and team rider, Suzie Cooney.  Suzie is the definition of a strong, intelligent, and beautiful woman, and I am proud to call her my friend. This is her story…

For the last 21 years, Suzie Cooney has made her home and career on the island of Maui. She is one of the early female pioneers of stand up paddling, a NASM personal trainer for 16 years, a SUP professional athlete and an international SUP coach who trains some of the best paddlers in the world. She specializes in downwind paddling as a coach and professional guide on the infamous North Shore of Maui, known as the Maliko Run. She owns MalikoRun™ .com.

Suzie has been with the Indo Board family since 2009 and continues to develop new and challenging exercises that not only elicits all muscles of the body, but she is also known for incorporating challenging dimensions for the brain.

Her mantra is #TheMindWinsFirst with the theory that if your mind is well trained, confident with laser focus, your body will follow to success.  The same applies to the creative Indo Board exercises she presents. The focus is the task at hand with the intention of separating the body in two dimensions, the upper half and the lower half. If you give the brain multitasks or a specific task, you must trust your lower half will find it’s way.

The  IndoBoard “floater”  (placing the small Indo Flo 12” cushion atop of the 24” Gigante cushion, with an IndoBoard of choice); was developed a few years back to over stimulate the brain with the intention of creating that floating feeling as if you’re pushing your surfboard or stand up paddleboard across the breaking white water of a wave.

“There is NO sweet spot; you literally float. When your brain cannot grasp where or how to keep you upright, it’s a nervous system overload. This is the exact brain stimulation I am trying to create, to force the lower half of the hips, knees, ankles, and feet to get it together and execute successfully and surf away!”

Now her clients are posting clips on Instagram but adding a new twist like Philip Ramstack from Iowa whom she has been SKYPE training for some time.  He is incredibly focused endurance SUP athlete and she is preparing him for a long distance race where his legs will eventually experience discomfort with choppy waters. The intention is to keep his brain incredibly focused on the goal and to ignore the burning in his feet, ankles and legs. Her goal is to break him down and demonstrate “how” his legs and feet will begin to feel at certain mile markers. His brain needs to shift and keep him going. He loves it! 

A couple years back I developed "The Floater" designed to train the brain to quiet the lower part of the body and to recruit the fine muscles around the ankle, knee and hip. This is brain/strength, neuromuscular control and training at the highest level. I've been SKYPE training Philip from Iowa for some time and we've got HUGE SUP paddling goals this summer. Small 12" disc on top of 24" — crazy difficult lots of videos on my website.Best practice and get the exact IndoBoard training gear on my Website 🏄🏼🏄🏼‍♀️in bio ➡️SUZIETRAINSMAUI "Top Gear Picks". There will be a contest soon and the prize is big. #themindwinsfirst #training #workout #inspire #strength #mentaltoughness #fitness #sup #surf #surfing #paddleboarding #standuppaddle #suzietrainsmaui @indo_board @studiosup @malikorun @michaelgervais

A post shared by Suzie Cooney (@suzie_cooney) on Jan 20, 2018 at 6:34pm PST

Here is another Indo Board workout for surfers and paddlers to catch more waves or downwind glides.

Getting Philip ready for Maliko Run @malikorun in May – Brain / Leg 🏄🏻 (intense focus, leg and foot burn, light feet – 2 + minutes ea leg)training for strong footwork transitions for #downwind and #sup #surfing . Here Philip Ramstack @studiosup is displaying excellent #focus leg #strength 👍🏻perfect posture and confidence. Get the @indo_board gear on my website in profile. 👉🏻💪🏻Suzie's Top Gear Picks" 👈🏻 Here the 24" Gigante cushion + Indo Board of choice. #TheMindWinsFirst #training #downwind #inspiration #malikorun #strength #workout #balance #fitness #motivation #performance #standuppaddle #paddleboarding #video

A post shared by Suzie Cooney (@suzie_cooney) on Mar 8, 2018 at 10:23am PST

This is designed to prepare Philip for a few days with Suzie on Maui to do the Maliko Run and to SUP surf. This exercise requires proper foot and leg stabilization in a different plane of motion, light feet, and brain trust. This move will help him excel in his footwork for proper foot placement to catch more waves and glides while downwinding.

Follow Suzie on Instagram for more training tips. www.instagram.com/suzie_cooney

For more information, check out her website for lots of great training articles at www.suzietrainsmaui.com.

She is also a SUP downwind racer and expert guide: MalikoRun.com

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Georgette Akai Austria is the Director of Social Media and Sponsorship and the writer of the Indo Board Monthly Newsletter. She hates talking about herself in third-person, and what she really likes to do is just go surf. Most of all, she is grateful that you’re reading this, and that, perhaps, you’ll sign up for the newsletter of which she would be so grateful.  Find Georgette on her facebook page here.