Skydiving Benefits?
We hear it a lot, folks. That question is pretty specific — and we understand why.
Indeed, the benefits of skydiving and the benefits of participating in any challenging physical activity are very related. Since skydiving is a sport — not just a thrill ride, and not just a bucket-list item to check off — skydiving benefits go far beyond the adrenaline. Sport skydiving is an activity worthy of a place in any healthy lifestyle and can benefit your life immensely. Here’s why.
1. You’ll move more gracefully in everything else you do.
Proprioception is the kinda-magic set of interrelated skills that human beings use to know where our bodies are in space at any given moment, and skydiving’s 3D environment helps us develop those skills very quickly and efficiently. Proprioceptive sense is the neuromuscular phenomenon that allows you to know where all the parts of your body are in space. It gives you the ability to safely maneuver your body around your environment. It gets your parts working as a whole, strengthens those parts in the most integrated way, and keeps your whole from bumping into everything in the immediate vicinity.
Powers of proprioception are generally pretty stealthy. We don’t notice them for the highly developed skills they are; we assume they’re just an inherent feature of the person we’re observing. We notice strong powers of proprioception when we’re impressed by someone who demonstrates physical grace: an amazing slam-dunk; a swanning rollerblader; a yogini moving through a challenging vinyasa with balance and ease. When those powers are underdeveloped, we notice it as “clumsiness” and “klutziness.”
Make no mistake, Y’all: proprioception is a skill, and there are lots of activities that dial it in. Any sport requiring precision works out that proprioceptive capacity. We’d like to bring your attention to the fact, however, that skydiving is special. Because skydiving requires the body to be taken out of the standard feet-on-the-ground orientation, it gets proprioception working on a whole new level. Skydiving is like adding weight and reps to a neuromuscular workout. It’s really good for you. (And it’s really fun!)
2. You’ll get a workout.
Speaking of workouts: Skydiving is a regular workout, too! It’s no treadmill run at a franchise gym, but if you’re working hard on a sports skydiving routine, you’ll be getting fitter and stronger with every skydive.
Even if you’re just a casual jumper, there’s work-work-work-work-work involved: Lugging around your skydiving equipment, packing your parachute, walking through the details of each jumps with your skydiving friends, jogging back to the next load from a landing at the other side of the field…it all adds up, more than you might imagine. You can expect a day at the dropzone to require about as much nutritious fuel and fresh water as a day of easygoing hiking.
3. You’ll get smarter, too!
Ask any sport skydiver: There’s a distinct meditative element to skydiving. Skydiving brings its athletes into a space of great clarity and dips your brain in a bubbling cauldron of endorphins. The act of jumping out of airplanes strengthens confidence, hones problem-solving chops and provides a context for addressing stress in a healthful way. Perhaps most importantly, the sport of skydiving brings lots of fulfilling friendships along with it, adding endless enrichment to our lives both on and off the dropzone (aka skydiving center).
Want to experience these fantastic skydiving benefits? You know how to get in on this! Come up to our big, blue gym! We’ll be happy to give you a tour. Looking for skydiving near the Bay Area, we have you covered at Skydive California!
