Sunshine, waves and a bit of an adrenaline rush -- what's not to love about surfing? Not only does the sport connect you with nature, but also with people who share the waves. "In the water everyone is equal regardless of what they do for a living or where they live," Bruce Gabrielson, master level NSSIA-certified surfing instructor, tells The Huffington Post. But the benefits of the sport go far beyond a fleeting thrill and some relaxation. Riding waves offers a cardio workout from paddling, strengthens the shoulders and back, and amps up leg and core strength, once you begin to stand for longer periods of time. (And there is even ongoing research to yet-unknown health benefits of recreational surfing.) "Surfing is the ultimate meditation and the ultimate rush -- I don't know many other sports that offer both feelings at once," Johnie Gall, surfer and founder of outdoor women's site Dirtbag Darling, tells The Huffington Post. But maybe your impression of surfing has always been that it's a bit inaccessible.

That you need to have a certain know-how, or fancy gear, in order to partake in the sport. Well, we talked to the experts to remove the veil of the unknown, to get you on the board and out in the water. Here's what a beginner surfer needs to know: The surf's up all over the country, even if you're landlocked. West Coast surfers head to California's Santa Cruz, San Clemente and Linda Mar Beach. Those in the East flock to Ocean City, Maryland, and Montauk, New York. And even New York City dwellers can catch some waves at Rockaway Beach, just 25 miles outside of Manhattan. But you don't need to live on a coast to ride a board. For Midwesterners, big lakes, like Lake Michigan, offer surfing opportunities as well. It's probably best to take a few lessons and make sure that surfing is your sport before investing a bunch of cash into surf supplies. Once you do decide you're ready to commit to the waves, most beginners start out with a longboard more than 9 feet long, Gabrielson tells The Huffington Post.

Gall says that while most beginners go for a "foamie" (a board made out of foam that's generally more stable than a regular board, and hurts less if it hits a surfer during a wipeout), she suggests investing in the real deal if you're committed to surfing. "You can find good deals on used surfboards on Craigslist, especially in coastal towns, and take it to a repair shop to fix up the dings and dents," she says.Vertical Blind Spacer Repair Unless you're one of the lucky ones with warm waves -- like those in Hawaii -- or you have the cold water tolerance of a polar bear, you'll likely want to invest in a wetsuit. Evasion Toilet BowlWetsuits keep you warm by trapping a thin layer of water between your body and the suit, which your body heats to a more comfortable temperature. Homes For Sale At Robson Ranch Arizona

While wetsuits come in many shapes, sizes and styles, the thickness of a suit is measured using two numbers. The first number refers to the thickness of the material around your torso, and the second number refers to the thickness around your limbs. A wetsuit for warmer waters might not have fabric on the arms and legs, and is called a "shorty." But since most beginner surfers aren't going to start the sport in the colder off-season, "a 3/2 millimeter full suit and a two millimeter shorty are the best wetsuits for the spring, summer and fall," Gabrielson says, meaning the torso of the suit would be 3 millimeters thick (or 2 millimeters for the shorty) and the material around the limbs would be 2 millimeters thick. He also recommends newbie surfers use a rash guard to prevent skin chafing. Rash guard is a polyester, nylon and sometimes spandex shirt that looks similar to a running T-shirt or long-sleeve T-shirt. When worn under a wetsuit, it can provide an extra layer of warmth and prevent rubbery wetsuits from chafing near the seams, or in other places they may rub.

Whether you're prepping for your first surf session or simply want to improve your skills, you don't actually need waves to train. Here are a few exercises you can do at home that will improve your technique on the board: Getting up and riding a wave can be tough if you're a first-timer, no matter how much time you put into preparatory training. We talked to a few expert instructors and surfers to see what tips they had for getting up -- and staying up -- on a surfboard: It's not all smiles and waves out there. Despite the go-with-the-flow attitude many pros exhibit, surfing is an extreme sport, with plenty of dangers that beginners should be aware of. Some basic safety instructions from Gabrielson include: When choosing a surf spot, always scope the waves, assess the other surfers and formulate a plan before paddling out. "Look around and usually in any given surfing area there will be the top spot with high-level surfers. There will be another area, just off to the side of them, where people of good ability, but a little bit lower, will be sitting in.

A little bit further down the beach will be the newbies," Cullen tells The Huffington Post. "This is a great place to hang with surfers of your same ability. It's easy to make friendships with people surfing at your same level and not be self-conscious." So long treadmills, we're going rogue! This story is part of our Go Rogue series, where you'll find beginner guides to the outdoor sports you've always wanted to try. All photos from Getty Images unless otherwise noted. Surfing Technique Surfing Beginner Surfing Learn To Surf Where To SurfElmore Leonard, the beloved crime novelist whose acclaimed best-sellers and the movies made from them chronicled the violent deaths of many a thug and con man, has died.Leonard, winner of an honorary National Book Award in 2012, died Tuesday morning at his home in Bloomfield Township, a suburb of Detroit, from complications of a stroke. His researcher Gregg Sutter announced the 87-year-old’s death and said that he was surrounded by family when he died.

His millions of fans, from bellhops to Saul Bellow, made all his books since 'Glitz' (1985) best-sellers. When they flocked to watch John Travolta in the movie version of 'Get Shorty' in 1995, its author became the darling of Hollywood's hippest directors. And book critics and literary lions, prone to dismiss crime novels as mere entertainments, competed for adjectives to praise him. Passed on: Elmore Leonard, pictured here in September 2012, died on Tuesday due to complications from a stroke His more than 40 novels were populated by pathetic schemers, clever conmen and casual killers. Each was characterized by moral ambivalence about crime, black humor and wickedly acute depictions of human nature: the greedy dreams of Armand Degas in 'Killshot,' the wisecracking cool of Chili Palmer in 'Get Shorty,' Jack Belmont's lust for notoriety in 'The Hot Kid.'LEONARD HITS THE BIG SCREEN: HIS BOOKS THAT BECAME FILMS3:10 to Yuma                     Get ShortyThe Big Bounce               TouchStick                                       Jackie Brown52 Pickup                            Out of Sight

'When something sounds like writing, I rewrite it,' Leonard often said; and critics adored the flawlessly unadorned, colloquial style. As author Ann Arensberg put it in a New York Times book review, 'I didn't know it was possible to be as good as Elmore Leonard.'Leonard spent much of his childhood in Detroit and set many of his novels in the city. Others were set in Miami near his North Palm Beach, Florida, vacation home.One remarkable thing about Leonard's talent is how long it took the world to notice. He didn't have a best-seller until his 60th year, and few critics took him seriously before the 1990s.He had some minor successes in the 1950s and '60s in writing Western stories and novels, a couple of which were made into movies. But when interest in the Western dried up, he turned to writing scripts for educational and industrial films while trying his hand at another genre: crime novels. Old school: Leonard became best known for his crime novels that were adapted for films, like Get Shorty, £:10 to Yuma, and Out of Sight

The first, 'The Big Bounce,' was rejected 84 times before it was published as a paperback in 1969. Hollywood came calling again, paying $50,000 for the rights and turning it into a movie starring Ryan O'Neal, that even Leonard called 'terrible.'He followed up with several more well-written, fast-paced crime novels, including 'Swag' (1976). Leonard was already following the advice he would later give to young writers: 'Try to leave out the parts that people skip.'In 1978, he was commissioned to write an article about the Detroit Police Department. He shadowed the cops for nearly three months. Starting with 'City Primeval' in 1980, his crime novels gained a new authenticity, with quirky but believable characters and crisp, slangy dialogue. But sales remained light.Donald I. Fine, an editor at Arbor House, thought they deserved better and promised to put the muscle of his publicity department behind them. and in 1985, 'Glitz,' a stylish novel of vengeance set in Atlantic City, became Leonard's first best-seller.

Hollywood rediscovered him, churning out a succession of bad movies including the humorless '51 Pick-up' starring Roy Scheider. Its director, John Frankenheimer, failed to capture the sensibilities of Leonard's work, and his ear missed the clever dialogue.It took Barry Sonnenfeld to finally show Hollywood how to turn a Leonard novel into a really good movie. 'Get Shorty' was the first to feel and sound like an Elmore Leonard novel. Back in the day: Leonard started his career in advertising but then turned to crime writing, and while he was not initially met with much success, his later work became fodder for Hollywood (pictured in 1983) Then Quentin Tarantino took a turn with 'Rum Punch,' turning it into 'Jackie Brown,' a campy, Blaxploitation-style film starring Pam Grier. But Steven Soderbergh stayed faithful to Leonard's story and dialogue with 'Out of Sight.'Writing well into his 80s, Leonard's writing process remained the same.He settled in at his home office in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, around 10 a.m. behind a desk covered with stacks of paper and books.

He lit a cigarette, took a drag and set about to writing — longhand, of course — on the 63-page unlined yellow pads that were custom-made for him.When he finished a page, Leonard transferred the words onto a separate piece of paper using an electric typewriter. He tried to complete between three and five pages by the time his workday ended at 6 p.m.'Well, you've got to put in the time if you want to write a book,' Leonard told The Associated Press in 2010 of the shift work that was befitting of his hometown's standing as the nation's automotive capital.Leonard had sold his first story, 'Trail of the Apache,' in 1951 and followed with 30 more for such magazines as 'Dime Western,' earning 2 or 3 cents a word. At the time, he was working in advertising, but rose early to work on his fiction before trudging off to write Chevrolet ads.One story, '3:10 to Yuma,' became a noted 1956 movie starring Glenn Ford, and 'The Captives' was made into a film the same year called 'The Tall T.' But the small windfall wasn't enough for Leonard to quit his day job.

('3:10 to Yuma' was remade in 2007, starring Russell Crowe.)His first novel, 'The Bounty Hunters,' was published in 1953, and he wrote four more in the next eight years. One of them, 'Hombre,' about a white man raised by Apaches, was a breakthrough for the struggling young writer. When 20th Century Fox bought the rights for $10,000 in 1967, he quit the ad business to write full time. Working til the end: Leonard (left) worked on the television show 'Justified' starring Timothy Olyphant (center) 'Hombre' became a pretty good movie starring Paul Newman, and the book was named one of the greatest Westerns of all time by the Western Writers of America.Soon, another Leonard Western, 'Valdez Is Coming,' became a star vehicle for Burt Lancaster. But as the 1960s ended, the market for Westerns fizzled. Leonard wrote five more, but they sold poorly, and Hollywood had lost interest.Leonard was born in New Orleans on October 11, 1925, the son of General Motors executive Elmore John Leonard and his wife, Flora.The family settled near Detroit when young Elmore was 10.

The tough, undersized young man played quarterback in high school and earned the nickname 'Dutch,' after Emil 'Dutch' Leonard, a knuckleball pitcher of the day. The ballplayer's card sat for years in the writer's study on one of the shelves lined with copies of his books.After serving in the Navy during World War II, he majored in English at the University of Detroit. He started writing copy for an advertising agency before his graduation in 1950.He married three times: to the late Beverly Cline in 1949, the late Joan Shepard in 1979 and, at the age of 68, to Christine Kent in 1993. He had five children, all from his first marriage.His son, Peter, followed in his father's path, going into advertising for years before achieving his own success as a novelist with his 2008 debut, 'Quiver.'In 2012, after learning he was to become a National Book Award lifetime achievement recipient, Leonard said he had no intention of ending his life's work.'I probably won't quit until I just quit everything — quit my life — because it's all I know how to do