10 Reasons Why Surfing is Good for Your Health

October 05, 2016 | 0 Comment

10 Reasons Why Surfing is Good for Your Health

Surfing isn’t just a super fun pastime. It’s also a wellness activity that dramatically improves your health and promotes a balanced lifestyle! Here are all the ways that surfing makes you a healthier person. 

 

1. Strengthens your heart

Surfing is an intense cardiovascular workout that keeps your heart pumping strong the whole time. This is obviously great because it can prevent heart disease and even heart attacks and can also help you with shortness of breath.
 

2. Increases muscle tone

Want to get toned and build muscle without having to live at the gym? Surfing works out the muscles in your shoulders, back, core and legs all at the same time! You’ll find that surfing for a few weeks will get rid of that layer of flab in no time. And the best part is, you won’t even feel like you’re working out because surfing is so much more fun than hitting the gym!
 

3. Improve balance

One of the biggest things surfing teaches you is how to balance really well. This is important for your health, posture and lifestyle in general. Good balance can help prevent accidents, fractures and falling. 


4. Salt Water Can Clear Up Skin

Did you know that salt water actually has amazing benefits for your skin? It can cleanse cuts and sores and even help clear up acne! Plus if you haven’t noticed, dunking in salt water clears your nasal passageways if you’re feeling congested beforehand. Who knew going to the beach had so many beauty benefits as well? 

5. Being in the Ocean Provides Psychological Benefits

Science has proven that even just being near the ocean has mental and emotional benefits. According to PsychCentral:

“Minerals in the sea air reduce stress; negatively charged ions in the sea air combat free radicals, improving alertness and concentration; salt in the water preserves tryptamine, serotonin and melatonin levels in the brain, which aid in diminishing depression or increasing your overall sense of wellness; and research has demonstrated that the sounds of waves alter the brain’s wave patterns, producing a state of relaxation.”

That’s hard science talking y’all. There’s really no excuse to not be in the ocean.
 

6. Improve sleeping

It’s common after an intense, exciting surf session to immediately come home and pass out. For those who have trouble sleeping, doing a physically demanding activity like surfing will help you fall asleep easier, as your body needs to recover from its strenuous efforts. Try surfing for a few days and you’ll fall into an easy, regular sleep pattern in no time. 
 

7. Soaking up Vitamin D

Vitamin D is so essential and good for your body in many ways. Apparently vitamin D can prevent multiple diseases from Alzheimer’s, diabetes, osteoporosis and heart attacks. It also reduces your chances of depression and keeps your mood positive and happy. 
 

8. Boost Your Immune System

According to LiveStrong:

 “Seawater contains vital elements, vitamins, mineral salts, trace elements, amino acids and living microorganisms that can produce antibiotic and antibacterial effects to help promote a healthy immune system. “

Just swimming in ocean water keeps you from getting sick and even makes your immune system happy which is more than enough reason to go to the beach as much as possible! 
 

9. Builds stamina

Anyone who has paddled out to the waves over and over again knows that surfing takes lots of endurance. This is probably one of the biggest obstacles to people just starting out surfing for the very first time and it can take some time to build up the stamina stay on your board. But once you get accustomed to it, your stamina will be through the roof and help you do other physical activities in your life. 
 

10. Surfing teaches you patience and self-love

There can be a steep learning curve for beginners to surfing. There’s a lot of falling and tumbling and struggling before one can actually stand and ride a wave easily. Surfing requires patience, as even seasoned surfers have to wait around for good waves or the perfect weather conditions.

It also requires you to practice self-acceptance and love as you realize you’re not going to catch that wave every time and sometimes you wipe out and that’s okay. You learn to simply get back up and keep going and catch that next wave because that next wave is always coming. Let this mantra spill over to your life and you’ll find yourself happier and at peace with who and where you are!

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