Why Paddle Boarding is a Great Workout
On the surface, Paddle boarding appears to be a leisurely, relaxing water activity, which it definitely can be. What if you are looking for an activity that can help you to get in shape, is paddle boarding going to help you get fit? The short answer would be yes. Paddle boarding or SUP is an activity that requires physical activity causing one to use physical exertion and burn calories. A rough estimate is that one would burn around 250 calories for leisurely paddling around the water for an hour.
Can you lose weight paddle boarding?
Research suggests that burning 3500 calories equates to a loss of a pound. Of course, there are many factors that go into weight loss like diet and metabolism rates, so these are hypotheticals.
So, if you maintain your current diet and engage in physical activity that burns 500 calories a day, you’ll be dropping a pound a week.
With all that being said, leisurely paddling around a lake for an hour will definitely help aid in burning some of those calories, but it’ll be more of a supplemental workout, than a full-on weight loss work out.
To take it a step further, walking for around 60 minutes typically burns around 330 calories. Just strolling along the water may end up being more for enjoyment than a weight loss routine.
Motivation Boost
Just being involved in an activity that provides some physical fitness, could give you that extra boost needed to get on your journey to optimal health.
Going to the gym can seem like drudgery for many of us, so it’s important to find fitness activities that we actually enjoy doing. If we like it then we will keep coming back for more.
Surrounding yourself with other SUP enthusiasts and getting out frequently on your paddle board, will help you to build that self-esteem that can make you want to push further in other areas of your life, including staying fit.
Is SUP a good workout?
Just because you may not be burning a ton of calories paddling around the water, doesn’t mean that it isn’t a good workout.
If you’ve ever been on a SUP, you immediately can feel the recruitment of a lot of your core and lower body muscles to aid in keeping your balance.
This is what happens just standing up on your board, think of how your abs and back muscles will continue to work as you move from side to side with a paddle while maintaining your balance.
Strengthening your core has often been an afterthought in many workouts, but the importance of Core training has been emphasized more over recent years.
Here are some ways that Core workouts, like SUP can be beneficial:
Reduce Injury
I’ve suffered from chronic lower back problems throughout most of my adult life. Having back pain can literally be crippling.
You don’t realize how important your back is until you have problems with it. Being involved in exercises that help strengthen my back muscles is huge in keeping me pain free.
Having strong muscles help to keep my spine in proper alignment, reducing the chance of vertebrae’s shifting to cause strain on the nerves.
When you are strengthening the muscles of your lower back and core it will help improve posture. Having proper posture also will help to keep your back pain free.
Work Harder
The core is the powerhouse of your body and if it’s strong it’ll allow you to accomplish more in your workouts.
Power is more easily transferred to other muscles of your body when your core is functioning at a high level.
Improve Daily Functioning
So much of what we do consists of movements from our core like stooping, bending, reaching, sitting, standing, and walking.
As we improve our core functionality, it will help us to continue to carry out our daily living without strain.
Protect Vital Organs
Having a conditioned core can help protect things like the spinal cord, intestines, kidneys, stomach, veins, and arteries that are critical for the bodies functioning.
Feel Good
Just maintaining a fit core can help you to feel good about yourself. Feeling confident with your body can help boost your self-esteem.
How can I create an increased calorie burn with my SUP
You may have noticed that I’ve been referring a lot to a laidback approach to paddle boarding, which may not provide you with the calorie burn you’re hoping for, so then what can you do?
One thing in fitness that is great for creating a more intensified workout is creating resistance. Things like bands or moving in water are a few types of added resistance to help create an intensified calorie burn.
Something that comes to mind that can create resistance in paddle boarding is waves. Riding your SUP in the ocean or river rapids can help you to work harder, hence helping you to burn more calories when riding.
Another great way to burn more calories on your SUP is to utilize a workout routine.
For example, It could be something like warming up by paddling for 30 minutes at a normal pace, then doing something like SUP Yoga for 20 minutes, followed by racing around the water as fast as you can go for 20 minutes.
Just incorporating a mix of things to get more of a full workout can aid in burning calories.
Fitness Machine on Water
Hobie sells a recreational paddle board that becomes a fitness apparatus on water. You can create an experience that becomes similar to pedaling a bike or also similar to a stair climber while out on a paddle board.
The handlebars can easily be removed to convert back to a standard paddle board. This board creates a ton of possibilities when it comes to burning calories on the water.
To Summarize, just taking a stroll out on the water may not be the sole means to drop you down a pants size, but is a great supplemental addition to your workout regimen.
SUP can provide an extremely valuable core workout to incorporate with some of the cardio exercises that you may be doing on land.
Adding a few things can create a highly productive calorie burn on the water if that’s your goal. All in all, SUP is an activity that provides fitness benefits to riders in a variety of ways.
Please comment below on anything that you enjoyed from this post or how SUP has helped you stay physically fit.