Skateboarding is a fast-paced sport. The speed and momentum of your board can take you into a state where everything flows smoothly. You make jumps and flips as if flying like an eagle above the clouds.
Although this sounds fun, is skateboarding good for your brain? Yes, skateboarding is good for your brain. This sport can help your brain make better decisions and reduce stress and depression while giving you healthy exercise. It also makes you empathetic towards others and has better self-respect.
So does skateboarding. It can help not only improve our physical state but also helps in removing our mental fatigue. Let us learn about the benefits you can gain from skateboarding.
Let’s Discuss “Is skateboarding good for your brain and how” One by One.
As mentioned earlier, skateboarding can improve your brain in many ways. Below are the 13 benefits we will talk about here.
01. Freedom
Olympic silver medallist Kelvin Hoefler once said, “Skateboarding is freedom.” and I agree with him. He says that you don’t need to wait for anyone to pass you a ball or anything. It means that to enjoy skateboarding; you don’t have to wait for anyone.
You can do whatever you want with your skateboard. Circle around the block or jump downstairs. The choice is yours. Of course, having friends can be fun but having fun by yourself is possible in skateboarding.
Rather than stressing or being sad that no one is there to play, you can do skateboarding by yourself. An easy way to stay happy and keep your brain stress free.
02. Fun working
Skateboarding can be an excellent method to get in shape. Cruising around your deck is significantly more fun than engaging in intense physical sports such as running or cycling. Contrary to popular opinion, skateboarding can burn up to 2100 calories every week of skating an hour, depending on your weight.
Fun working keeps you happy and stress-free. Instead of doing boring exercises, you can skateboard daily to stay in shape.
03. Teaches Patience
When you first start to learn skateboarding, you will have lots of trial and error. Through enough patience and practice, you will be able to learn to move faster. Doing complex stunts that seemed impossible will feel like a piece of cake to perform.
The ability to keep moving and not give up even though I keep falling taught me to be patient. I learned to be patient by practicing skateboarding.
04. Teaches flexibility with others
No matter your proficiency at skateboarding, 99 percent of other skaters will support you. Whenever I landed a new trick, I got cheers and high-fives from my friends. It’s an incredible feeling that will make you appreciate the community even more.
It’s a tradition passed down in the skating culture through the generations. Being thrilled and supportive of your colleagues inspires you to be supportive of others, and it’s odd how it works.
05. Teaches Practice
As mentioned earlier, skateboarding teaches you to have patience, but the critical thing to do is practice during that time. Being patient and not doing anything will keep you stuck in your place.
Imagine, if I patiently keep practicing my stunts and the moves to perform, I will slowly reach a level of mastery. Through skateboarding, I believe you can learn the importance of practice. With more practice, your stunts and moves become better as well.
06. Improves Creativity
There are no skateboarding rules, allowing you to come up with new stuff to attempt. Sure, there are trends, such as tricks every skater wants to learn.
How you perform the tricks and how you appear while executing them are more important than the tricks themselves. Creativity is the key to good skating, and I suggest you focus on expressing your individuality and exploring new ways to enjoy skateboarding.
Skateboarding, like other forms of art, provides an outlet for us to decompress, express ourselves, and even meditate.
07. Increases Self-respect
Skating is all about improving, and it’s not about outperforming everyone else but about exceeding yourself. When I first started skateboarding, there were so many things to learn. With endless activities to complete right away, this sense of progress gave me a sense of direction.
Skateboarding allowed me to overcome my shyness and stop caring what others think. I suggest you attempt new things and leave your comfort zone. Through that, you will increase your confidence and self-esteem, and you will gain self-respect for yourself.
08. Inculcates Bravery
Nobody has ever taken their first steps onto a skateboard without fear of injury, nor have i. Fear is constantly lurking in the back of my mind, whether trying new tricks or riding in unfamiliar places.
Frequently your initial effort will be difficult. Once you’ve mastered a complex skill, you’ll find it almost as easy as walking. I suggest you repeat such tricks and stunts, and they will bring about bravery you never had before skating.
09. Relieves Stress and Depression
Skateboarding forces you to be in the present. This is vital in a culture where people always stare at technology and absorb too much information. It is stressful to think about what they did or did not do the day before and what they need to do the next day.
When you skate, you will feel your problems and stress vanish almost instantaneously because your mind is so focused on your board. You won’t worry or think about anything else.
Skating requires complete focus and attention from both the body and the mind at all times. I suggest you become one with your skateboard and have it act as an extension of your body.
Endorphins are brain chemicals released while riding a skateboard. This substance aids in the relief of stress, anxiety, and sadness.
10. Teaches You to think about consequences
Skateboarding with practice becomes faster and faster. You move like the wind, and there is no stopping. Doing continuous stunts while maintaining speed prevents you from stopping your boarding. But you have to think swiftly.
I suggest you consider the paths to take and the stunts to perform without hurting yourself or your board. You will think ten steps ahead this way. This helps you think about the consequences not only in skateboarding but also the results of your action in your life.
11. Teaches you to help others
Becoming proficient at skateboarding made me more empathetic toward new skaters. I feel their struggles as I have passed those moments in my life and have improved through the experience.
Thus it becomes easy for me to help others by being emotionally supportive or giving hints and tips for improving others.
12. Teaches multi-tasking
Playing this fast-paced sport made my mind run faster to make swift decisions. Finding possible routes and performing stunts without stopping go together whenever I am skateboarding.
Besides finding routes, I must look for obstacles ahead of time. Staying aware of stray objects or other people on my path can disrupt the flow. Thus it forces me to do multi-tasking while I am skateboarding.
13. Keeps a person active
Skateboarding is an excellent exercise for people of all ages, and Skateboarding keeps you moving regardless of age. Even jumping on a cruiser and riding about town may be fun.
If you used to skateboard but don’t want to do the tre-flip 7-stairs, I suggest you merely ride the board. That can be a lot of fun, and you’ll want more once you’ve tasted how much fun it is.
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Conclusion
Is skateboarding good for your brain or not? Now you know the answer. A fun and healthy sport, skateboarding can help you improve in many aspects. You get a better physique while enjoying the sport. Mental functions also improve through skateboarding. But it does not end there.
Aside from getting all the health benefits, you also get social benefits. Becoming part of a larger community by helping others make you empathetic. You also improve your self-image by practicing skateboarding.