After 63 years surfing, I am convinced that surfing is the healthiest sport, even though it’s not a sport, that anyone can do. Don’t believe me? Consider the following:
1. HIIT
It’s well proven that the best way to work out is by going hard for a few minutes and then relaxing. It’s called high-intensity interval training (HIIT). You may not realize it, but that’s exactly what you’re doing whenever you paddle out through mountains of whitewater, heart pounding, nearly drowning, before sitting nearly motionless, waiting calmly to catch a wave.
Surfing is HIIT without the tight shorts or stinky gym bag. Why torture yourself when you can make your workout fun? Go hard. Rest well and go hard again. HIIT it!
2. The Sunshine Vitamin
We need about 30 minutes a day of sunshine to produce sufficient amounts of vitamin D3, which supports healthy bones, skin, immunity and heart. Overdoing it, however, could turn you into a wrinkled reptile or skin cancer victim. Other than that, D3 rules!
3. Negative Ions
Breaking waves create negative ions. In this case, negative creates positive, offering improved mood and reduced respiratory symptoms. The effects of these good vibrations linger, without the side effects of the drugs that attempt to mimic them. It’s both legal and free.
4. Upper Body Strength
Ever notice how lifelong surfers have that tapered look? Wide shoulders, rippling muscles, all leading down to twiggy ankles. The big workout in surfing, as any longtime surfer realizes, comes in paddling. Still, riding a wave well, especially a big wave, requires strong legs, and surfing alone won’t get you there.
It is therefore suggested you do some leg strengthening exercises. If that sounds as boring as it is, you might consider skateboarding. Skateboarding, born as surfing’s little brother, is such a good leg exercise, that surfing legend Skip Frye once said that skateboarding extended his surfing career by at least five years.
5. Meditation
One thing critics of surfing often say is that there’s a lot of sitting in surfing. This downtime can be used to focus on the beauty of this awesome water planet or make a friend. Since surfers by nature tend not to be team players, the friendship angle doesn’t always work out. Mediation always works, however.
6. Earthing or Grounding
“Earthing,” aka “grounding,” presents the idea that placing your naked foot on the land connects you to the earth like a cable to a car battery. The idea here is that both we and our planet are electrically charged. Now, if walking barefooted over land can do that, imagine what happens when you’re suspended in water, which is a great conductor of electricity.
7. Cold Water Exposure
Ice baths, because of their numerous health benefits, have become increasingly popular over the years. Now, if you live in a climate where water and air temperatures plunge seasonally, you can achieve roughly the same effect while the rest of the world is cuddled up beneath a pile of blankets.
Like they say, “When in doubt, paddle out!”
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