Extreme sports are captivating by nature. Find out what motivates people to do them, even putting their lives at stake.
A very interesting question frequently analyzed is what motivates people to do extreme sports. It seems curious how some experience pleasure risking their lives for a momentary adrenaline rush.
Extreme sports are those in which physical and mental capacities are pushed to the limit. They are not suitable for everyone and practicing them requires both impressive physical qualities and an iron mentality.
From the outside, extreme sports do not leave anyone indifferent and arouse all kinds of reactions from the spectators. Some of these reactions are positive, others negative, but what is clear is that they have to have something to make them so addictive and seductive.
Therefore, below we will address some possibilities about what really motivates people to do this type of extreme sports.
The adrenaline rush is addictive
If there is something that characterizes extreme sports, it is the adrenaline rush that occurs when the body is put at risk. The feeling of being alive or doing something dangerous can become addictive for people who enjoy extreme sports.
Adrenaline is a hormone that is responsible for activating the body for action, something equivalent to fight or flight dominated by the sympathetic system and released by the adrenal glands. When this runs through the blood, the muscles tense, breathing becomes short and the heart beats faster to be able to pump more blood to the organism that is in an extreme situation.
In this regard and according to a study carried out by the Central University of Ecuador, the extreme athlete is as a consequence of an interaction between genetic and personality factors . Personality factors include a taste for exploration, persistence, extroversion and positive emotions.
Try new experiences out of the routine
Many athletes appreciate having a training routine. Thanks to it they can maintain perseverance and discipline to train every day.
However, others easily get bored with regularity and need new experiences to break the routine. Extreme sports can become an opportunity to get out of the norm and have experiences that are not available to everyone.
Nor is it about people who are unable to establish a routine. Many of them have a normal job and daily obligations, but when it comes to occupying their free time they enjoy doing things that are very different from their daily lives.
It is a way to overcome fears and push yourself to the limit.
It is normal to feel fear in risky situations. Even so, on many occasions, fear is more a product of the mind than the real threat that has to be faced.
Extreme sports involve some danger, and this component is key, but they do not pose a threat if they are done carefully and responsibly. This requires learning from professionals and always having a dose of common sense to identify a situation with too much risk to life .
Every time a person embarks on a risky adventure, they are actually proving to themselves that they are capable of doing incredible things. In fact, it is very meritorious for her to expose herself to such situations just for the pleasure, without obtaining a material reward in return.
Risk sports, exciting and feared in equal measure
Extreme sports may not be for everyone, but this does not mean that those who practice them are daredevils who do not appreciate their life.
On the contrary, another way of looking at it is that people who enjoy extreme sports appreciate life so much that they want to live unique experiences that not everyone is able to dare to go through.
Be that as it may, there are many reasons why extreme sports are addictive. Adrenaline is postulated as a very strong reason, but there are also others such as the need to break the routine or a way to strengthen courage. All this is easy to narrate, but there is only one way to verify it, how to experience it firsthand.
