Are you tired of going to the gym or running? Maybe it’s time to look for a new way to workout. How about stand up paddleboarding? All you need for this increasingly popular sport is some basic equipment and a nearby lake, river, or beach to get going.
SUP is good not just for your body, but for your mind too. So, in this post we’ll take a look at all of the best health benefits of stand up paddleboarding. Whether you want to find a new way to explore, find a better way to burn calories, or you’re looking for a new sport to replace an old one while you’re travelling, there are so many reasons to love stand up paddleboarding. Let’s check them out!
You’ll lose weight
One of the key reasons that many people start exercising is to lose weight. And stand up paddleboarding will help you do just that! Regular boarding, which is the gentlest and most chilled out workout, still burns twice the number of calories that an average walk at 2.5mph. It’s somewhere between 300 and 450, which is the equivalent of a healthy and balanced breakfast or lunch.
But that’s only the beginning. Other forms of more strenuous and intense SUP can burn a whole lot more. SUP yoga can burn 500 calories in a session, while SUP surf can burn as many as 700. We’ll talk more about both of those sports later. Once you’ve mastered the basics and really feel competitive with the sport, you could even give SUP racing a go. That will really help to bring weight down since it can burn more than 1,000 calories per hour!
It’ll work on all the muscles
Exercise isn’t all about losing weight though. As long as you feel good and look healthy, weight doesn’t matter too much for some. The good thing about SUP is that it works on your body’s muscles – especially the core.
After a few months of stand up paddle boarding, you may start to notice a six-pack developing – and who doesn’t want one of those?!
As well as your core, SUP works on a lot of muscles that may have long lain dormant in your body. Legs and knees are working overtime to keep you upright on the board, which in turn improves your balance and stability – as do the muscles in your back. Shoulders and arms are getting a generous workout too to propel you through the water. If you want to feel great, there are few better and easier ways to go about it than SUP.
Great cardio
Just when you thought there couldn’t possibly be any more physical health benefits to stand up paddleboarding, let us mention your heart. This ties into your muscles always being on the move. Because of this, your heart is working to pump blood around your body and this speeds up your circulation. The cardio aspect of paddleboarding is a long term benefit. Good heart health is important in later life too, and putting the work in now will reduce the risk of many health shocks later in life – such as strokes, heart attacks and diabetes!
It’s low impact
Stand up paddle boarding can burn a lot of calories (depending on which way you do it) but don’t expect that tired and achy feeling when you’ve finished. Why not? It’s low impact. Though regular paddleboarding is an extremely gentle workout, it does use pretty much every muscle in your body, without damaging them. Like swimming, it can speed up the healing process. So, SUP is a great form of exercise to try out if you’re coming back from a long term injury too.
You can do a range of different sports
If you find that you’re starting to get bored of regular paddle boarding after a while (that’s unlikely, but it does happen), then just change up how you’re using your board. There’s seemingly no limit to what you can do on a paddle board!
If you’re looking for a way to relax, you could try SUP yoga. This not only helps you to improve balance and flexibility, but it’s also great for your mental state. And, there are a number of poses you can do which suit being on a paddle board. Alternatively, you can go SUP fishing. It may not burn many calories, but it’s a tranquil way to relax in nature.
At the more intense end of the scale, you could attempt SUP surfing or paddle board racing. Just make sure that you have the right board for it!
It benefits your mental health too
Last but not least, paddle boarding doesn’t just benefit your physical health. We’ve already touched on it when we mentioned SUP yoga, but it’s a great way to improve your mental health too. Being surrounded by nature can make your thinking calm and clearer. And in an ever-busier world, you shouldn’t take that for granted. One of the most soothing sports in the world, you could even put your paddle down for a bit and stop off for a snooze in the middle of an alpine lake!
Final Thoughts on the Health Benefits of Stand up Paddleboarding
If you haven’t already considered taking up paddle boarding as a new sport, we hope that these health benefits will convince you. There are few sports that can work on your all-round wellbeing, both mental and physical. Give it a go – it might just be your new passion!
