If there is one thing everyone agrees on, it is that surfing is a beautiful activity.
It allows you to spend hours outdoors while enjoying the beautiful water and stunning landscape. That makes surfing an attractive sport, but its health benefits are the cherry on top.
If you are not in great shape, it may be a way of getting closer to looking lean and fit. And if you are already satisfied with how fit you are, surfing will help you stay in shape.
Let's take a look at how that will be possible:
1. Work Your Core Muscles
Surfing may not seem like a demanding sport, but you will change your opinion as soon as you have your first experience with the surfboard.
As you are probably aware, surfing requires you to practice balance. It is one of the keys and the most difficult things you need to do.
You can't practice balance until you get out there and try to stand up on your surfboard. You will repeat that numerous times throughout the day.
While you are keeping your balance, you will work on both your legs and core muscles.
You may not even feel it because it is an exciting activity, but you will notice the difference in core and leg strength quickly.
These are some of the major muscle groups that you will strengthen while surfing.
2. Back and Shoulder Strength
Standing on the board and riding the waves is the cool part of surfing. The other part is paddling, which is often not the favorite of beginners.
However, you may love it if we tell you that it will boost your back and shoulder muscles.
Upper body muscles are those that you usually work on in the gym, but a surfing session can be the most intense training you ever had.
If you are dedicated to surfing, you will notice a positive change in muscle size in a couple of weeks, and you can also use this sport to stay in shape and keep that beach body you worked hard to achieve.
3. The Swimming Factor
Swimming is a big component of surfing, which is a positive thing because it will help you work on different muscular groups.
The list includes:
- Shoulder and deltoid muscles;
- Lower back and abdominal muscles;
- Forearm muscles;
- Hamstring and glute muscles;
In short, swimming and surfing overall will work on all major muscle groups, and the best part is that you will work on developing your body without a lot of direct resistance.
You also cannot neglect the fact that you will become a better swimmer over time.
4. Sunlight Can Boost Your Bone Strength and Overall Health
If you are surfing, the chances are you will spend a lot of time in the sunlight. You will be outdoors for hours every day, which can lead to many benefits.
For starters, exposing yourself to the sunlight will promote vitamin D production, which can be crucial for your bone strength.
Your skin will also benefit from sunlight, which may help to deal with acne, eczema, and psoriasis.
It is interesting to note that sunlight exposure can also boost serotonin production, which may put you in a better mood and help you to fight depression.
The fact that you will feel more positive will ensure additional motivation to stay in shape.
5. Meet New People and Motivate Each Other to Get Better
You will probably meet new friends the first time you hit the beach to surf. It is one of the great things about surfing.
The fact you are fans of the same sport will immediately get you closer. Furthermore, you may even motivate each other to get better.
If you have friends who are avid surfers, you want to be at the same or higher level than them. That will motivate you to practice and get better and fitter.
However, keep in mind that friendship always comes first, and the important thing is that you can enjoy this activity together.
6. A Chance to See the World
It may not be a direct benefit, but surfing will enable you to see the world, which should help you to stay in shape.
If you want to visit different locations and countries and tackle challenging waves, you need to become and stay physically fit.
Surfing competitions are another excellent way to visit various destinations. However, you cannot appear in a tournament if you are not ready for it.
That is why you need to practice and stay in shape even out of season.
7. Sleep Quality Is Vital to Stay in Shape
You probably know that your body goes through the recovery process while you are sleeping.
The muscles use that time to repair and strengthen, which is why optimal sleep should be a priority if you want to stay in shape.
What you might not know is that surfing can significantly benefit from achieving optimal sleep patterns.
The math is simple - surfing is a relatively demanding physical activity that will wear you out during the day.
As a result, you will fall asleep easily and sleep like a baby. In the morning, you will feel re-energized and more powerful.
What You Should Know Before You Go
If you have a surfing beach nearby, you should know that thousands of surfers envy your location. However, even you need to spice things up occasionally, which can be done by changing beaches.
Depending on your location, there may be surfer beaches that you can reach with your vehicle.
These may be a great option if you have a surfboard, especially if you are a fan of water sports and have other equipment, too.
You can consider using a kayak roof rack to place your kayak for moments when you want to try something different than surfing or the weather doesn't allow you to surf.
You can even consider visiting distant destinations.
The only thing needed is to plan the vacation carefully and schedule your visit when the beach is ideal for surfing.
Words by Rebecca Siggers | Travel Blogger/Consultant