People love to spend time at the beach as it is known to offer therapeutic effects. Among the many beach activities, surfing is one of the most popular activities that attract all sorts of people. Surfing offers several health benefits from a physical, mental, and spiritual standpoint.
Surfing originated over 200 years ago and ever since there are over 35 million surfers worldwide. This sport is designed for people who want to harness the power and speed of the wave. While surfing has many interpretations in different parts of the world. It mostly involves standing on a surfboard and riding a wave while maintaining balance.
Surfing is exciting but individuals must learn how to surf with the right skills, techniques, and equipment. This guide by Ombe will help you in improving your surfing skills and enjoying your waves, see more here: https://ombe.co/how-to-surf-guide/
Now, let us explore some of the health benefits of surfing to understand more about this beach activity:
Cardiovascular Exercise
Surfing gives your body great cardiovascular exercise as it builds heart strength. When you paddle and stand on your board, your body uses different muscles so that it can efficiently catch your wave. Among the many muscles, your core muscles are developed the most which have a direct impact on your heart health.
It ensures that your heart stays active and continuously pumps enough blood through your system. When you have a healthy disease the chances of heart-related diseases reduce drastically and also give you the ability to take on more strenuous activities.
Mental Health
Stress is linked to several diseases that can even cause death and a great way to relieve stress is to surf. If you are someone who loves the beach and water-related activities, surfing can be a great companion to unwind and detox from the daily stresses of life.
It allows you to be free from your struggles and meditate in the serenity of the ocean. The release of cortisol hormone while surfing helps in improving your mood, your emotions, and even your mind.
Coordination and Balance
When learning to surf, coordination, and balance are the key to catching your waves well. It is one of the first things you will learn that can be tricky but once you get it, it will improve your surfing experience. Surfing improves your overall body balance, that is an important functional movement that you can benefit from.
Whether on a bike, yoga, or standing, good balance is important because falling can be a risk. For you to have a good balance, you need to concentrate and focus on your weight displacement on the board and coordinate well with your muscle strength. Once you perfect this, you will be able to surf your wave efficiently without any hassle.
Improved Sleep Cycle
Exercise has always been vital in having a goodnight’s sleep and if you are a surfer, you will have a better sleep cycle. When you sleep, your body repairs itself and refreshes your mind which ultimately increases your concentration and productivity.
Surfing is a strenuous activity that can leave you tired and exhausted that can help you sleep faster and longer. Being outdoors on the water also releases melatonin hormones that can improve your sleep pattern and promote restful sleep.
Stay Fit
Surfing is a great exercise that keeps you healthy and helps you stay fit. As you know surfing helps in building a bunch of muscles and gives you a great workout while on the water. Paddling the waves consistently for long hours can burn calories and strengthen your triceps, biceps, rectus abdominis, obliques, trapezius, deltoids, and so on.
When you surf regularly you will be able to burn roughly the same amount of calories as playing football, rock climbing, or even spending time at the gym. So if you are looking for ways to be fit, surfing is the best solution for you.
Self-Gratification
Surfing is easy to learn but it takes time, effort, and commitment to perfect this sport. When training, you will learn ways to balance, coordinate and use the right techniques to surf a wave.
Surfing gives you a sense of accomplishment as you learn to focus and regularly practice surfing. With every progress, a sense of motivation builds which can improve your confidence in every area of life.
Go Surf!
Now that you are aware of these 6 health benefits, you too can start surfing and catch your wave someday! It is a great beach activity that you can do with your friends, family, or even your children. Read this fun story where Bindi Irwin and Chandler Powell enjoy a baby’s day out at the beach.