Few activities are as enjoyable as surfing. It’s a sport that will help add finesse to your athletic abilities, while also allowing you to enjoy the salty ocean breeze and learning to become one with the crystal blue waves. It is intensely therapeutic in more ways than one, and it would be great to explore surfing before the weather gets too cold.
Few activities can be done these days safely, especially given the context of the ongoing pandemic, so if you’re not too far away from an ocean, it makes sense to pick up surfing and get some exercise while exploring something that feels simultaneously dynamic and calming. The following are a few of the incredible health benefits of surfing, some of which may surprise you. Hopefully, this encourages you to master it as soon as possible.
Strengthen and Tone Muscles
Surfing is the ultimate full-body workout since you’re essentially engaging your entire body and encouraging it to stay balanced on the board while riding against intense waves. Expect different key muscles such as the rotator cuff, biceps, triceps, calves, pectorals, and so on, to be strengthened and toned completely. Since you use your entire body weight while surfing, you’ll be getting an even bigger workout than perhaps even going at it for two hours in a gym. Your muscles will be trained to get stronger and more fit over time.
Burn a Lot of Calories
Sort of like biking or roller skating, you can burn a ton of calories while having fun and enjoy being outdoors. Why get stuck in a gym – most of which are closed these days due to the pandemic – when you can go to the beach and burn just as many calories, if not more. As the surfing gurus over at https://www.santabarbarasurfschool.com/ are sure to mention, surfing can burn at least three hundred calories every hour, depending upon your body weight. So, it is an excellent workout to help you get in shape and lose those last pesky pounds while having a lot of fun at the beach.
More Flexibility
Again, in the same way that biking can help to improve your balance and sense of flexibility, standing up on a surfboard force you to train your body to react in a different way. You will be fine-tuning your sense of balance, and your muscles will become extremely flexible as you are forced to perform something akin to yoga in order to stay on the board for a long period of time. Which is good, since this will help to prevent common injuries that may occur easily if you are not flexible.
Flex Your Brain Muscles
Learning a new, complicated physical skill like surfing helps to train your brain in a different way, akin to learning a different language. You are basically learning how to analyze the ocean, the weather, the waves, and getting to know how to manage tough currents and high tides. You may even learn how to avoid letting fish or jellyfish throw you off and scare you while on the board. It’s basically an obstacle course and you will need your mind to help steer your body in different directions to avoid any trouble. Think of it as reading a gigantic novel by David Foster Wallace – except you’re not just expanding your brain, but you’re expanding the way your brain helps control your physicality. In all cases, it’s a wonderful skill to master.
Improve Mental Health
Everything is so stressful these days. Life is hectic, scary, money feels limited, and our personal relationships are often more fraught than we care to admit. It’s hard not to feel overwhelmed all the time. Surfing is an amazing antidote that can have a wonderful impact on your mental health since it helps to alleviate anxiety. It combines the simple pleasures of being out in the sun, enjoying the water and sand, having fun with friends, with a vigorous exercise which helps to release all kinds of endorphins, which help to improve your mood and ease the pain. There’s a reason why the stereotype of the zen surfing instructor exists – it’s truly not that far from the reality.
While it may seem daunting to pick up surfing if you have never dabbled with it before, taking classes will help give you a leg up and you can master the sport soon enough. Provided, of course, that you have the drive and focus necessary to devote yourself to surfing. Given all the benefits to your health and physical wellbeing, it would be difficult to not find a compelling reason to learn as soon as you can.
