» Health & Fitness

A workout to improve your surfing

kris — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 17:22:09 +0000

Have you ever missed a wave because you were out of breath or because you just weren’t paddling hard enough? Well, here’s a surf workout that’s designed for building core strength. They say 10 minutes 3 days/week. You can read more about this brief workout at surfersvillage.com.

Book explores the healing powers of surfing

kris — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 17:46:36 +0000

"After spending two years in bed with Lyme disease, Steven Kotler had lost everything: his health, his job, his girl, and, he was beginning to suspect, his mind. Kotler, not a religious man, suddenly found himself drawn to the sport of surfing as if it were the cornerstone of a new faith." Read entire review

I haven’t read this book (just the review), but it sounds really interesting. The fact that the author looked to the waves and found a cure for his physical and mental illness is impressive. His exploration of the science behind it all makes it that much more compelling to me.

Guide to Ocean Friendly Seafood

kris — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 15:52:05 +0000

Not all seafood is good for you. In fact, some seafood can actually be bad for you and the environment. Here’s a cool guide that tells you how eco-friendly your favorite type of seafood is. The guide also indicates whether there is a health advisory for each species. Pretty nifty.

Link

Failing to regularly reapply sunscreen might be bad for you

kris — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 16:02:36 +0000

Scientists have reason to believe that if you don’t reapply sunscreen after having been in the sun for two hours, then you might be better off not using sunscreen in the first place. Going without sunscreen is certainly not advised, so the take-away here is to be more diligent about reapplying. Check out this brief article that overviews their research.

Link

Study finds 1.5M people per year get sick from Cali beaches

kris — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 11:00:28 +0000

The LA Times reports that an environmental economist at UCLA, in partnership with Stanford University, recently published a study concluding that each year 1.5 million people get sick from visiting California beaches. The study goes so far as to estimate that all those illnesses cost the economy up to $414 million annually.

“Researchers estimated that healthcare costs for beach pollution illnesses ranged from $21 million to $414 million. Those estimates included not only direct losses, such as lost time at work, costs for medical treatment or doctor visits, but also hypothetical costs that beachgoers would be willing to pay to avoid getting sick.”

Usually when economists set out to model the cost of something, it’s because they’ve got some sort of agenda. In this case the agenda appears to be justifying the cost of cleaning up the beaches, so people won’t miss work because they get sick from going to the beach.

Surfers hate it when there’s a water quality advisory at their favorite spot. When the waves are really good, we often roll the dice and paddle out in spite of the risk of contracting some sort of gnarly illness. It’d be great if this study prompts lawmakers to pass legislation that’s designed to promote cleaner beaches, so we can surf without the worry. Realistically, however, that will probably take a while, so in the meantime we should all do our part to keep the water clean.

http://www.earth911.org is a decent place to check the water quality at your local beach and also has information on what you can do to keep the water clean.

Surfing promotes a stronger mind and body

kris — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 22:17:15 +0000

CNN has an article about how surfing helps people stay in shape both physically and mentally. It also points out some of the physical impairments that long-time surfers face.

For anyone, who’s ever paddled a surfboard in the ocean at least once, this article states the obvious. If you’ve never surfed and are considering surfing as a way to get into shape, please be careful. You need to be in decent physical condition before you paddle out into the waves. There are some good exercises that you can do on land that will strengthen the muscles that you’ll need when you’re charging the waves. If it’s been a while since you’ve been swimming, then I’d recommend putting in some time at your local pool.

Surfing requires a lot of effort. An article (on p. 96 of the April 2006 edition of Surfshot) states that when surfers are in the water they spend 48% of their time paddling. Paddling a surfboard through the surf requires a considerable amount of strength and energy. And if you don’t have the strength and energy to navigate your board through the surf, then you’re putting yourself, as well as everyone else in the water, at significant risk of being injured.

Surfing takes a lot of dedication, but it’s worth it for a number of reasons: it’s fun, it brings you closer to nature, and it keeps you in shape. Just remember that it’s no duck walk out there. People, who make surfing look easy, have been doing it for a long time, so keep that in mind when you decide to charge the waves.

Another thing to keep in mind if you’re considering taking up surfing . . . . surfers typically don’t surf just to stay in shape. We surf because it’s impossible not to surf. It’s a way of life and a good one at that. Go catch a wave and you’ll see what I mean.