Understanding the benefits of surfing will help you determine whether or not this is the right water sport for you.

First and foremost, do you know what surfing is?

Surfing is a unique activity involving the riding on a wave or riding along a wave using a surfboard. One of the best methods of cross training for the purpose of surfing is to take up swimming. Most of your surfing time is actually going to be spend paddling and swimming than actually riding any waves, and this is an important consideration if you are serious about taking up the sport and seeing what it has to offer you.

Now, what are the benefits of going surfing?

Surfing is a truly excellent fitness activity. The sport of surfing is capable of providing both aerobic and anaerobic exercise components. It requires that the surfer make excellent use of his or her upper body as a result of stroking through the waves, getting out on the waves and then balancing the lower body and the legs in order to ride the wave all the way into shore. Surfing, then, demands a great deal of body balance and body control, and these demands are going to strengthen the interaction that exists between your mind and your body. The surfing environment, the open ocean, is going to help to protect you from injury that occurs as a result of error.

People that go surfing are going to develop a back that is fit and square, shoulders that are strong, back muscles that are strong and legs and arms that are strong.

In order to get all of the full benefits associated with using surfing as a method of exercise, there are a number of skills that you are going to need to develop. The skills that need to be developed for the purpose of surfing include:

• Improvements in balance, because you will rely heavily upon balance while standing on the board,
• Paddling and swimming, because you will spend more time paddling and swimming than you will spend on the board riding waves when it comes to surfing,
• Duck Diving, because this is how to ride through waves or to prepare for an oncoming wave,
• Spring Paddling right into a wave, which is an important part of surfing,
• Standing up quickly and with balance on the board, so that you do not end up wrecking before you even get to ride your wave,
• Turning on the board without falling,
• Controlling the movement of the board as well as exiting the wave in question,

If you do not already know how to swim or need to improve your swimming capabilities, taking lessons in a surf school is typically a good way for you to go.

Photo Credits: Svedek

Originally posted 2009-08-24 03:13:52. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Related Posts

• Guide to Choosing a Surfboard Are you just learning how to surf, or are otherwise looking to purchase a new surfboard? One of the most difficult decisions to make when it comes to surfing is choosing the best board for you. There are a variety of different factors that are going to influence your choice......
• Review of the Sunova Nitro, 7S Superfish, Webber Fatburner, and More Surfboards With thousands of different manufacturers and distributors of surfboards, it can be difficult to learn how to find the best surfboards. After riding some of the best surfboards from the greatest brand names out there, here are some of the best surfboard reviews. Sunova Nitro - The Nitro surfboard from......
• Surfing 101 If you are planning on taking up surfing, or just want to brush up on your surfing techniques and skills, you should start with the following list. This surfing 101 list is meant to be a no nonsense beginner's guide to getting started on the water. This includes safety for......
• Early History of Skateboarding Skateboarding goes back a lot farther than people might think. The roots of the sport can be traced back to roughly some point in the late 1940's to the early 1950's. It started as a past time for surfers when there were no good waves to ride. The early boards......
• ABEC ratings: Is higher really better? Pt. 2 Now do you see what I mean by these tolerances being mangled by the first few minutes of riding down the sidewalk? The pressure of you riding, along with the shocks of bumps and the cracks in the sidewalk will quickly add a lot more eccentricity to this groove, but......

Related Websites

• Exercise for kids When most adults think about exercise, they imagine working out in the gym on a treadmill or lifting weights. But for children, exercise means playing and being physically active. Kids exercise everyday in gym class at school, after school at soccer practice, and even wrestling around the house with their......
• Debunking 3 Common Myths About Swimming [caption id="attachment_282" align="alignleft" width="240" caption="The number one swimming myth is..."][/caption] When you think of a sport that someone can choose to pursue, you might not immediately think about "swimming." You might think about more popular sports like football, golf, or basketball. But swimming is still widely popular from a high......
• Surf Spots in the San Francisco Bay Within 20 minutes of Pacifica in California, there are three really popular surfing spots. Ocean Beach is located in San Francisco, Linda Mar is located in Pacifica and the Jetty at Half Moon Bay is located at Half Moon Bay. Ocean Beach is truly unbelievable when it comes to surfing.......
• Snowboarding Glossary Continued Mosquito Air - This involves the front hand reaching to behind the front leg, grabbing the board's heel edge just between the bindings. The front knee should be bent so that it is touching the tuck knee style of the board. Mute - This involves the front hand grabbing the......
• Strength Training for a Triathlon Strength training is capable of being a vitally important part of the training program for all triathletes. Maximizing the quality of your workout should be your prime objective when it comes to developing a solid strength program that is going to benefit your triathlon progress. There are a wide variety......

Online Stores

• Body Mass Measurement Monitors Pedometers Gym, Workout Yoga Exercise Fitness
• Wave Bathtub Whirlpool & Spa Bath Home Store
• New Balance Womens Shoes

If you liked this article, vote for it on del.icio.us and stumbleupon.



Categories:

Consider This, Surf Skate Wake, Surfing

Tags:

aerobic and anaerobic exercise, back muscles, body balance, cross training, fitness activity, improvements, interaction, legs, open ocean, riding on a wave, square shoulders, surfing environment, surfing time, water sport, waves