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I've noticed that surfing & bodyboarding are (maybe surprisingly) VERY cognitively challenging: watching the waves, moving your body through the water to inters

I've noticed that surfing & bodyboarding are (maybe surprisingly) VERY cognitively challenging: watching the waves, moving your body through the water to intersect correctly, timing the launching of your board to coincide with a coming one and then making many micro-movements to stay on it, etc. I wonder if this is an argument for prioritizing exercises like that, with a big mentally taxing component.

elijaht 2y ago
This resonates with me - I primarily run and lift weights, neither of which require much quick thinking or movement outside of specific patterns. So while it's not my primary focus, I do try to include a few sessions of rock climbing and pickup soccer in my week. I've definitely noticed an improvement in my ability to "express" the strength/endurance since I started doing that (more agile, coordinated, sense of how to apply force, general feeling of fitness). In general I feel like novelty in exercise is understudied/appreciated
- hammock 2y ago
  >novelty in exercise "Cross training" Although usually it is more about the physical qualities than the neurological ones
gloryjulio 2y ago
Yes, body mind connection is a real attribute in sports science. All kinds of exercises help the brain too
agumonkey 2y ago
Complex balancing, shifting viewpoints, concurrent decision making.. all felt extremely beneficial to stimulate the brain
- bubaumba 2y ago
  sure, how about chess? bad news, even champions show no exceptional skills outside of chess world. the same goes for tetris players. in other word specialized training does not result in general abilities by default. I'm not saying is not beneficial or bad. but athletes and dancers aren't the smartest people for a reason.
  - sevensor 2y ago
    But what about chess boxing? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_boxing https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_boxing
dyauspitr 2y ago
If you do it for a while it becomes a thoughtless process though. I no longer have to think about when to start paddling to catch the wave, I just know without any active thinking. Same with the balance, my muscles just know what to do.

elijaht 2y ago

This resonates with me - I primarily run and lift weights, neither of which require much quick thinking or movement outside of specific patterns. So while it's not my primary focus, I do try to include a few sessions of rock climbing and pickup soccer in my week. I've definitely noticed an improvement in my ability to "express" the strength/endurance since I started doing that (more agile, coordinated, sense of how to apply force, general feeling of fitness). In general I feel like novelty in exercise is understudied/appreciated

hammock 2y ago
>novelty in exercise "Cross training" Although usually it is more about the physical qualities than the neurological ones

gloryjulio 2y ago

Yes, body mind connection is a real attribute in sports science. All kinds of exercises help the brain too

agumonkey 2y ago

Complex balancing, shifting viewpoints, concurrent decision making.. all felt extremely beneficial to stimulate the brain

bubaumba 2y ago
sure, how about chess? bad news, even champions show no exceptional skills outside of chess world. the same goes for tetris players. in other word specialized training does not result in general abilities by default. I'm not saying is not beneficial or bad. but athletes and dancers aren't the smartest people for a reason.
- sevensor 2y ago
  But what about chess boxing? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_boxing https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_boxing

dyauspitr 2y ago

If you do it for a while it becomes a thoughtless process though. I no longer have to think about when to start paddling to catch the wave, I just know without any active thinking. Same with the balance, my muscles just know what to do.