If you’re a San Diego resident, it’s time to give surfing a shot. You may not know it, but you’re living in one of the best places in the US for surfing!
Maybe learning to surf has never crossed your mind, and having access to gorgeous beaches and great waves doesn’t compel you to get out there. What if we told you that surfing is highly beneficial for your body, mind, and social life?
Taking surf lessons isn’t just about adding a new skill to your repertoire. It’s about taking charge and improving your life each time you make the choice to catch a wave.
Want to learn more? Read on for seven amazing benefits of learning to surf that you won’t want to miss.
1. Surfing Strengthens Muscles
What if we told you that you could get a cross-training-style workout without hitting the gym? What if we told you that you could pick a physical activity that’s so fun and rewarding that it barely feels like working out, even though you’re strengthening all of your major muscle groups?
When you’re learning how to surf, you’ll likely notice some post-workout soreness. That’s because you’re using your neck muscles, arm and shoulder muscles, leg muscles, and core muscles to get out there, pop up, and maintain your balance.
2. Surfing Boosts Heart Health
Our heart is another muscle that has a seriously important job to do, but often gets overlooked when we’re thinking about physical fitness. In addition to eating well and keeping stress low, increasing your heart rate with the right exercise is a great way to boost your heart health.
As you may know, the American Heart Association suggests that we get 30 minutes of moderate to high-intensity exercise five days a week. When you start taking surf lessons, you unlock the ability to partake in some truly blissful cardio. From paddling to popping up to falling off and climbing back on the board, surfing will get that heart rate up without a doubt.
3. Surfing Improves Coordination
If you’re young and able-bodied, you might take things like balance and coordination for granted. The reality is that as we get older or develop disabilities, we can start to lose some of that balance and coordination, making us more prone to falling and sustaining serious injuries.
By taking up surfing, you continue to practice those skills. You’ll quickly learn how much balance and coordination it takes to pop up and stay up on your surfboard when heading into a wave. By improving those skills now, you decrease the chances of losing them later in life.
4. Surfing Provides a Confidence Boost
We know what you’re thinking: how would surfing for the first time, when you’re guaranteed to take some spills, increase your confidence? The first thing surfing does is provide what we think of as an ego check. When it’s you and your board against the mighty ocean, you’re better off feeling humbled and respectful than prideful and concerned with what other people think.
This is the real key to the confidence boost that you’ll experience when you learn to surf. Sure, it always feels good to improve your skills, but surfing provides a more important life lesson than that. Surfing teaches us that all we can do is try our best, take the risks we want to take, and stop worrying about how we might look doing it.
5. Surfing Increases Mindfulness
One thing that we always tell our new students is that surfing requires all of your attention. If you don’t want to get hit by an unexpected wave or lose your balance, you will have to keep both mind and body tuned into what’s going on around you. As a result, surfing is a great way to practice mindfulness.
Mindfulness comes with some undeniable benefits, like reducing stress, increasing your attention span, and helping to break old and harmful habits. If you’ve been looking for a way to overhaul the way you live your life, consider learning to surf. By developing a regular surfing practice, you’ll start to feel the impact in all aspects of your life.
6. Surfing Creates Community
If you’ve ever taken a stroll down a San Diego beach, you’ve likely noticed groups of people heading down to the water with boards under their arms. While some of the pros prefer solitary surfing, it’s always recommended that new or hobbyist surfers go out in a pack. This increases your safety by ensuring that plenty of people are paying attention to where you are in the water.
As a result, learning to surf grants you access to a tight-knit and welcoming community. You can meet new people and form strong bonds over your shared love of the ocean. You can even join clubs and organizations that plan surfing trips and regular meetups.
7. Anyone Can Learn to Surf
When we ask San Diego residents why they haven’t learned to surf, they often tell us that they don’t think they have the right skills. Some feel that you can only surf if you started at a young age. Others assume that in order to surf, they’d need toned muscles and excellent coordination before getting started.
The truth is that there are different types of surfing and beginner’s lessons to accommodate people of all ages and abilities. As long as you commit to your lessons and maintain your physical fitness, you can get better at surfing at any time.
Learning to Surf in San Diego Can Change Your Life
Now that you know the unbeatable benefits of surfing, what are you waiting for? Learning to surf in San Diego can change your life for the better by improving your health, lowering your stress, and broadening your community.
Don’t waste time and book your surf lesson now!
