Paddle Board Exercise Benefits: 7 Real Health Benefits
There is no doubt that when you engage in any physical adventure, you want to reap as many benefits as possible. Therefore, you will be happy to know that there are many stand up paddle board exercise benefits.
Tell you what, there is a paddle boarding before and after. The after will not look anything like the before. You will be toned, muscular and more confident.
Don’t believe it?
You should try it. You see, when you take SUP, you engage the core fully. Therefore, you do not use the arms alone as you would, say, when kayaking. In the case of stand up paddle board exercise, you use the entire body.
Keep reading to see the benefits that you will enjoy when you undertake paddle board exercises.
7 Paddle Board Exercise Benefits
Stand up paddle boarding is a good way to get your regular exercise. Just like rowing, when you paddle, you will be getting many health benefits.
Let us look at a few of them here:
1. You get your cardio exercise
One of the paddle board exercise benefits that you will enjoy is that you will get a good dose of cardio exercise.
Some of the popular cardio workouts include rowing, cycling, indoor spinning, treadmill running and many others. Paddling SUP exercises rank up there close to the top with rowing.
What is the importance of cardio exercise? It is very good for improving the health of your lungs. It is also very good for your heart rate and circulatory health.
Just as with any other workout, the longer you can work at it, the better you become and the more the health benefits you are going to enjoy.
2. You work out and tone your muscles
Many people ask: what muscles does paddle boarding work? Well, first, the obvious muscles that are going to benefit a great deal are the upper arm ones.
However, unlike kayaking, which only works out the upper arm muscles, the SUP exercises the core and even the lower limb muscles. The reason for this is that you engage the core a lot since you paddle the board standing.
Therefore, if you have been asking: is paddle boarding good for you, you know this is the real deal. It not only gives you great exercise, but it also lets you enjoy crazy fun. As far as surface water sports go, this is the easiest one to learn.
3. Toning muscles: What does paddle boarding tone?
Paddle boarding body transformation is real. Since you engage the entire body in your workout, you will find that you are able to tone the abdominal muscles, the back, the core, thighs, arms and others.
Because of the fun that you get with this sport, you hardly feel any strain at all. When you get on that board, always remember that it is like someone paying you to do something that you like. You are doing it for the fun, but the health benefits still kick in.
4. SUP exercises build stamina
Nothing is as exhilarating as stepping out on your board and coming back home with hours of exercise under your belt. Of course, every day that you go out to paddle board, you get better and you enjoy even more fun.
5. SUP exercises help to strengthen the joints
While some exercises such as treadmill running and indoor cycling are said to have a low impact on the joints, stand up paddling is the real deal.
In fact, it can help to strengthen the joints of seniors and people who have had one sort of surgery or other. If you have had hip, knee or leg issues, stand up paddling might help you.
6. Paddle boarding can help you lose weight
Paddle boarding weight loss is real and so simple by the way. Since SUP exercises are full body involving the lower and upper body, you are going to lose weight.
Every paddle stroke that you make represents a certain number of calories burned. Stand up paddle boarding for an hour can burn between 360 and 485 calories per hour. In fact, it burns more calories than running or kayaking.
If you combine stand up paddle boarding with a good, nutrient-rich diet, you will not only lose weight, but you will also keep it lost.
7. Psychological benefits of paddle boarding
If you have been having stress, anxiety and other mental issues, you will enjoy the psychological benefits of paddle boarding.
Research shows that when you engage in exercise, your system secretes the feel-good hormones that it secretes when you have sex.
When dopamine, adrenaline, serotonin and other feel good hormones increase in your system, the stress hormone cortisol reduces considerably.
Once you have mastered how to maintain your balance on the paddle board, you are going to enjoy doing yoga on the board. It is going to help you de-stress and clear your mind.
Conclusion
Do you have to be fit to paddle board or to enjoy the paddle board exercise benefits?
Well, this water sport is so easy to do that irrespective of your age, shape and weight, you can do it. Of course, heavier people will have a bigger challenge maintaining their balance.
If they fall in the water, they will fall harder. But … you need not be fit to enjoy stand up paddle boarding.
Such are the SUP exercise benefits. As you have seen, they are physical as well as psychological. Therefore, get out there and hit the water.