It’s great if you’re doing traditional sports or are already physically active, but if you aren’t at all athletic, you might be wondering why people like sports, and even more, go for the extreme. Dopamine, the body’s pleasure chemical, is behind all these. Exercise is a great way to release dopamine, making people feel rewarded.
But why do some people prefer going for extreme adventures? Simply because these adventures offer more benefits than you can think of. In fact, extreme sports or activities provide more benefits than traditional ones, like your regular basketball, soccer, or running. They have advantages that not even the regular sports can meet.
Here are some reasons you should try going to one extreme activity or more at least once in your lifetime:
Improves the way you manage fear
If fear usually paralyzes you from responding effectively, you might want to practice effective ways to manage it. There are many ways to put your anxiety under control, but one quick way is to engage in extreme sports. No first-timer for bungee or airplane jumping wouldn’t feel fear. But when you find that you can safely make it to the other side, it will significantly help reduce your worry for the next time.
Enhances your concentration
When you take part in extreme sports, such as airplane jumping, there’s no space for mistakes. Any error on your part can be potentially dangerous, which is why extreme activities can push you to your mental and physical limits. It teaches you not to easily lose your cool, hence, changing the chemical work of your brain.
A study backs this up by observing that it’s the release of neuropeptide Y (NPY) in Special Forces that let them survive better when faced with a crisis. NPY is a natural anti-anxiety chemical that the body produces in huge amounts when pressured so that it can perform much longer, even when under stress.
Allows you to move your muscles and burn more calories
Doing something that’s usually not part of your daily schedule or physical stunts can make your muscles feel sore, but this is just an indication that you’re working the muscles you usually don’t use or using them a different way. Engaging in an extreme sport allows you to use various muscles, which is good for your health.
If you’re looking for the most effective way to burn your calories, then extreme activities are your best choice. Skateboarding in itself can already burn 500 calories in an hour and much more when you ride your board not just on flatlands but also the complicated surfaces.
Increases your sense of balance
Extreme activities can significantly increase your sense of balance. But do think twice about engaging in an intense activity if you have medical conditions or natural clumsiness that can impede your balance. If you have any conditions that can affect your balance, you can still engage in such sports but not the difficult parts. When skateboarding, you can opt for flats than hilly ones.
Other examples include bull or horse riding. If you’re good at balance, go ride bulls and horses, wearing your cowboy costumes with customized belt buckles for added effects. If you’re not sure you have a good balance, then you can go for pony riding instead since they are smaller than horses. Being a wobbly rider may only lead you to accidents, so choose to play safer.
Provides social opportunities
Humans crave socialization. Extreme sports offer this opportunity since most of them are done with other people. For instance, jumping out of a plane may seem solitary. But for most people, they choose to jump together with their friends.
Extreme Sports You Might Want to Explore
The list of extreme sports may be endless, but one thing is common about them—they give the most powerful yet humbling experience.
Have you heard about psicobloc? This is about climbing walls of sea rocks, then diving right into the ocean. You’ll need to be skillful at swimming here so you can then swim to the shore.
Volcano boarding sounds like a huge dare, too. It’s just like snowboarding but on a sand surface. This sport lets you slide down the dune of a volcano’s hillside. Most people prefer to do this in Nicaragua, considered the safest place for volcano boarding. Here, you’ll be able to slide down 80 kilometers per hour if you wear the mandatory protections.
What else do you have in mind? Try other most common extreme sports, such as surfing, skydiving, and canyoning, and see how they can significantly lift your spirit and well-being.
