I'm currently doing health and exercise science and uni so hopefully I can answer that questionCarpark King wrote:Just wondering if many of you do other forms of exercise/sport besides surfing?
Speaking for myself pretty much all i do is surf..averaging about 4 surfs a week.
Occasionally i will go for a run if i haven't been able to get in the water.
Do youuussee reckon surfing is enough to keep you adequately fit and healty?
A) It depends on what type of "fit" you want?
It depends whether you are interested in cardiovascular fitness, muscular endurance, muscular strength, short burst anaerobic fitness (e.g. sprinting).
Surfing will definately give you a certain level of cardiovascular fitness from all of the paddling but generally it won't be as good as someone who does more specific endurance training that uses larger musclue groups (swimming, running, rowing).
It will also give you some good muscular endurance in your upper body and hopefully good lower back strength from all the paddling.
I remember doing a cardiovascular fitness test when all I was doing was surfing and it came up just below what is recommended for good health. I normally don't get very out of breath at all when I'm surfing mainly because its so intermittent.
Its better than nothing but it depends where you want your fitness to take you.
B) You can generally say that for reducing your risk of chronic disease (heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, hormone dependant cancers) the best protection comes from having good cardiovascular fitness.
That means exercise that uses large muscle groups, is hot, is sweaty and makes you breathe hard. This type of exercise will give you the best effect on your blood cholesterol and other systems. The problem is that the protective effect is lost after 2 weeks of not exercising so you have to make it regular.
With the benefits of exercise on the mind, well the more vigorous the exercise the more of an endorphin rush and "feel good" effect that you get.
If you just want to reduce backpain and make your body a little stronger then things like yoga, pilates or weights can be great providing that they work the right muscle groups.
The problem I seem to come accross is trying to find a type of exercise thats really vigorous on the cardiovascular side that I find fun. Thats one of the reasons that I do Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Great for fitness and its a skill to learn like surfing.